Alex Igual's long two-pointer with 2.1 seconds left on the clock gave the University of Regina's men's basketball team a big 89-87 road win over the Manitoba Bisons on Saturday night at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
With the game tied and Manitoba guard Keiran Zziwa contesting, Igual took a shot from the right wing just inside of the three-point line. Igual's shot bounced high off the far rim before falling in for the game-winning shot.
Manitoba had a shot at the buzzer for the win, but a long three-pointer by Justus Alleyn rimmed out.
"I thought we competed well last night with the obvious exception of seven minutes in the third quarter, but tonight we were consistent on both sides of the ball for all 40 minutes," Cougars head coach
Steve Burrows said. "It was a gusty road win and a good team effort from top to bottom. We got some contributions from guys that we're going to lean on all year – Brandon (Tull), Alex (Igual), and Brian (Ofori) – but we also got great minutes from guys like Ben (Hillis) and Sam (Hillis) and Nigel Warden. There were a lot of things to like tonight."
While the Cougars led for most of the night, they had to overcome a late run by Manitoba that saw the Bisons turn an 82-74 lead for Regina into an 83-83 tie with two and a half minutes to go. But Manitoba was never able to grab the lead in the fourth quarter, with both Zziwa and Dharmjit Dhillon missing three-pointers on the possession immediately preceding Igual's game-winning bucket.
Igual went 5-for-9 from three-point range and led the Cougars with 20 points, while
Brandon Tull scored 18 points and
Brian Ofori and
Samuel Hillis both had 15 points. Shawn Lathan had the game's only double-double, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds while also leading the Cougars with five assists.
Alleyn led Manitoba with 24 points in a losing cause.
The Cougars (1-1) will now prepare for their home openers next Friday and Saturday at the U of R. They'll face Fraser Valley, which sits at 1-3 after starting the season with two road losses at UBC and a home split with Mount Royal.
