The University of Regina's men's basketball team couldn't complete what would have been a massive upset on Saturday, leading late but eventually losing 98-92 in overtime to No. 5-ranked UBC in a Canada West game in Vancouver.

Despite trailing by as many as 19 points in the first half, the Cougars battled back with a big second half and took a five-point lead - their largest of the contest - after Alex Igual's triple with just under two minutes to go in the fourth. But UBC battled back with a layup and a triple by Phil Jalalpoor, and a jumper from the top of the key by Igual at the buzzer - which would have been his third game-winning shot of the season - rimmed out to send the game to overtime.

UBC never trailed in the extra period, and the Cougars weren't able to recover after back-to-back threes by Conor Morgan and Isaiah Familia gave the Thunderbirds a seven-point lead midway through overtime. The Cougars missed what would have been a game-tying three-pointer late, and a free throw by Jalalpoor made it a two-possession game with under 20 seconds to go. Jalalpoor hit two more free throws to ice the win for UBC.

Jalalpoor ended up leading all players with 31 points and also tied for the game lead with six assists, but it was Morgan that again stole the show for UBC. After collecting 36 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's win, Morgan scored 29 on Saturday while dominating the glass with 20 rebounds and adding five assists for good measure.

Regina (7-3) was led by Brian Ofori, who had 25 points, seven rebounds, four blocks, three assists, and three steals as the fifth-year forward was all over the scoresheet. Shawn Lathan added 17 points, Igual scored 16, Brandon Tull had 15, and Samuel Hillis scored 11 points in 17 spirited minutes off the bench for the U of R. Benjamin Hillis scored eight points while tying Jalalpoor for the game high with six assists.

Despite the two losses to a strong UBC squad this weekend, the Cougars will still count the first half of the Canada West schedule as a success. At the December break, they're fifth in the Canada West standings, have played the toughest schedule in the conference in terms of opponent winning percentage, and are second to only Calgary with a .636 RPI.

Regina's next games will be at the Phoenix College Holiday Classic in late December. The Cougars will square off with South Mountain Community College, Cochise College, and Howard College at that tournament before returning to the conference schedule on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 at home against Mount Royal.