It was still a one-possession game midway through the fourth quarter, but Mount Royal's 12-4 run lifted the Calgary-based Cougars to a 96-87 home win over the Regina Cougars on Thursday afternoon at Kenyon Court.
Greishe Clerjuste's third triple of the fourth quarter made the score 84-81 for MRU, but Mount Royal scored 12 of the next 16 points over the next two minutes to build up an 11-point advantage. The U of R scored just one field goal in the final three and a half minutes of play, and that came on a
Josiah Thomas layup with under 30 seconds to go and the outcome already all but decided.
Matthew Guinto led Mount Royal with 24 points to help his squad to its third consecutive victory to open up the Canada West schedule. Four other MRU players hit double figures in scoring including Moraeu Amadou with 13 points, Dylan Lutes with 11, and both Nate Petrone and Quinn Taylor with 10. Lutes added nine rebounds, finishing just short of a double-double.
The loss overshadowed a huge double-double by
Carter Millar, who ended up with a career-high 26 points and matched his career high with 17 rebounds. Clerjuste added 14 points for the Cougars, while
Samuel Hillis added 11 points and nine rebounds while
Matt Barnard scored 10 points.
Regina, which now sports an 0-3 conference record after opening up the year with a pair of home losses against UBC last weekend, will try to get in the win column by salvaging a weekend split with Mount Royal on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 PM MST (3:00 PM in Saskatchewan).
