The University of Regina's men's basketball team defeated the Brandon University Bobcats 96-88 in overtime on Saturday night in Brandon.
While the Cougars won by 31 points last night, Brandon rebounded nicely tonight to take the Cougars into overtime before ultimately falling short. The Cougars fourth-year duo of
Carter Millar and
Brayden Kuski put up 21 and 20 points, respectively, to will the Cougars to the win. The victory, along with a Manitoba Bisons loss, moves the Cougars (7-3) into first place in the Canada West East Division standings.Â
The Cougars led for most of the night until late in the third quarter when Bobcat Dominique Dennis hit a layup to give his team a 57-56 lead. Kuski responded with a three a few plays later to retake the Cougars lead. In the dying seconds of the third, Kuski heaved a shot from his own three-point line. The prayer hit the backboard and went through the basket to give the Cougars a five point lead going into the final quarter.
The Bobcats refused to go away in the fourth, coming back from a 70-57 deficit with seven minutes left to force an overtime period. Brandon's Sultan Haider Bhatti hit clutch three's on back to back possessions with under a minute remaining to tie the game at 82-82 after 40 minutes.
Regina went on a 7-0 run to start overtime and never relinquished the lead. The Cougars kept getting to the foul line and hitting free throws to ensure that Brandon could not make another comeback.
Cougars guard
Josiah Thomas scored 17 points added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Fellow fifth-year
Benjamin Hillis scored 11 points and had four steals.
Arinze Emeka-Anyakwo also scored in double digits with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Besides Dennis (22 points), the Bobcats had several other key contributors tonight including Anthony Tsegakele (18 points, 19 rebounds), Bhatti (20 points, seven rebounds), and Travis Hamberger (11 points).
The Cougars will take next weekend off before hosting the University of Manitoba Bisons on January 28
th and 29
th. Brandon (1-9) will head to Saskatoon to take on the Huskies next weekend. Â Â Â Â
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