The University of Regina's men's basketball team took a 96-88 win over UNBC on Saturday night, giving the Cougars a weekend road sweep over the Timberwolves and extending their winning streak to five consecutive games.
 
The Cougars now hold a 5-1 record and sit in fourth place in the Canada West standings behind only Lethbridge (8-0), Alberta (6-0), and Calgary (7-1).
 
Regina led by as many as 25 points in the second half before UNBC whittled the lead all the way down to seven late in the fourth quarter, but it was a case of too little, too late for the Timberwolves as by that point there was only minute left to go. The Cougars went 5-for-6 from the stripe in the final 35 seconds to seal the win.
 
Shaquille Harris and Shawn Lathan (pictured) led Regina offensively, both finishing with 18 points. Lathan also led all players with 12 rebounds to collect his third double-double of the season. Alex Igual added 16 points for the Cougars, while Brandon Tull scored 14 and Benjamin Hillis chipped in with 10 points while leading all players with seven assists. Brayden Kuski came off the bench to score 11 points in just 14 minutes played.
 
The Cougars did much of their damage from the free-throw line, where they went 33-for-46 (72%) as a team. Igual took 12 trips to the line, hitting nine of them.
 
James Agyeman and Jovan Leamy led UNBC with 24 points and 23 points, respectively, as the Timberwolves drop to 2-6 on the season.
 
Kuski helped get the Cougars out to a hot start in the first quarter, scoring nine of his 11 points in the opening period to help Regina get out to a 22-13 lead after 10 minutes. The Cougars continued the momentum with a 17-6 run in the second quarter, helping them build up a 42-25 halftime lead.
 
The Cougars took their largest lead of the game in the third after a Harris triple – one of his four on the night – put them up 64-39, but UNBC's offence got moving from there. The Timberwolves scored 17 points in the final four minutes of the third and 32 more in the fourth, but weren't ever able to get any closer than to within seven points of Regina in the late going. A three by Agyeman with a minute to go made the score 88-81, but the Cougars responded immediately with a big three-point play by Lathan that helped derail any thought of a wild UNBC comeback.
 
The Cougars will now prepare for home games next Friday and Saturday against unbeaten Lethbridge. The Pronghorns have run the table so far with two wins each over Brandon, MacEwan, Mount Royal, and Thompson Rivers.
 
Both of those games will tip off at 8:00 PM at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

NOTES: Tull is now ranked No. 9 in career points in school history after passing Jamal Williams ... Tull has 1202 points after tonight's game, 87 short of eighth-place Brenan Schwartz (1289) and 105 behind seventh-place Kevin Gilroy (1307).