The University of Regina's men's basketball team made a strong bid to become just the second to defeat Canada West-leading Alberta this year, but the Golden Bears prevailed with a 63-59 victory on Friday night at the Saville Centre in Edmonton.
 
While the Cougars took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter, Alberta went on an 11-2 run to go up by six with four and a half minutes to go. Regina had four opportunities to tie the game in the final two minutes – two on free throw attempts by Shawn Lathan and also on back-to-back three-pointers by Alex Igual and Brian Ofori – but the Cougars were never able to draw level with Alberta in the final minutes of the contest.
 
Alberta (12-1) sealed the win when Regina's Brandon Tull was whistled for an offensive foul with just seconds to go, giving the ball back to the Golden Bears with a three-point advantage.
 
The tandem of Mamadou Gueye and Brody Clarke both had double-doubles to lead Alberta. Gueye had 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Clarke picked up 20 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Shaquille Harris and Igual both had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead the Cougars, who fall to 8-5 on the season with the loss.
 
The two teams will finish the two-game weekend series on Saturday night (7:00 MST) in Edmonton.
 
NOTES: The Cougars fell from third to fourth in the Canada West RPI rankings with the loss, as Alberta surpassed them and pulled into a virtual tie with Calgary for second with the win ... UBC (.6346) remains first in RPI, followed by Calgary (.6255) and Alberta (.6254) with the Cougars checking in at .5993 after Friday's games ... Lethbridge is fifth with a .5797 RPI.