A layup by University of Regina guard
Benjamin Hillis with 12 seconds left gave the Cougars an 86-85 win over Manitoba on Saturday night in a Canada West men's basketball game at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
Trailing by one, Regina's
Carter Millar deflected a pass near midcourt and it went right to Hillis. Hillis sent it up to Millar on the break, and Millar fed it right back to Hillis who slashed through the lane for the bucket.
Millar then blocked an attempted three-pointer by Manitoba's Malik Irwin in the dying seconds, and an errant pass by James Wagner went out of bounds and sealed the win for the Cougars.
The win gives Regina a split after the Bisons opened up the weekend series with a 76-72 win on Friday, but it sure didn't look like the Cougars were in any position to win the game midway through the fourth. Manitoba led by 11 at that point and still had a nine-point advantage after a pair of Irwin free throws with two and a half minutes to go, but those turned out to be the final points of the game for the Bisons. The Cougars got a layup by
Greishe Clerjuste, trimmed the lead to five with a pair of free throws by
Samuel Hillis, and then made it a one-possession game after
Myles Hamilton did some good work inside to secure an offensive rebound and a bucket. Manitoba threw the ball away on the inbounds pass following Hamilton's bucket, leading to a score by
Samuel Hillis that brought the Cougars to within one and set the stage for his younger brother's game-winning basket seconds later.
"I have few words to describe that one," Cougars head coach
Steve Burrows said. "We did enough things well down the stretch to give us an opportunity and we maintained our composure. Obviously we were fortunate to get that one done."
Hamilton finished with a team-leading 18 points in the win, while
Brayden Kuski and
Kameron Vales both shot well off the bench for the Cougars. Kuski hit a pair of triples and scored 14 points, while Vales was 3-for-6 from three-point range and scored 12.
Samuel Hillis ended up with 13 points, with
Greishe Clerjuste chipping in with 12.
The loss overshadowed a monstrous game by Manitoba's Wagner, who was 10-for-13 from the field and led all players with 26 points. He also pulled down nine rebounds to fall just short of a double-double, while Rashawn Browne added 18 points for the Bisons. Manitoba (3-5) will play host to league-leading and defending national champion Calgary next weekend.
Now 5-3 on the year, the Cougars will have next weekend off. They'll take the court next at home against MacEwan on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
