QUICKLY
Nick Barnard's career-high 33 points led the University of Regina's men's basketball team to an 81-80 victory over Fraser Valley on Saturday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The two teams were never separated by more than four points in the first half. Regina led 18-17 after the opening quarter and UFV took a 40-39 lead into the halftime break.
• UFV's Dylan Kinley got the opening two buckets coming out of the half to give the Cascades their largest lead of the game at 44-39, but the Cougars answered that with 14 straight points on a run which started with back-to-back Barnard three-pointers.
• The Cougars led the rest of the way after that push and looked to have the game well under control after a pair of Cade Mather free throws put them up 73-60 with four minutes to go, but UFV made things interesting in the late going. The visitors scored seven straight points in the final minute and a half and got as close as 79-77 when Ismael Hernandez stole a pass and took the ball the length of the court for a layup with 6.4 seconds left, but Barnard stepped up and calmly drained two free throws to make it a two-possession game with just 4.4 seconds to go. Fraser Valley hit a three-pointer as time expired to cut Regina's final margin of victory to a single point.

NOTES

• The Cougars (6-0) continue to be Canada West's only undefeated team. The conference features three one-loss teams including Victoria (5-1), Winnipeg (7-1) and the U of R's next opponent, Brandon (7-1).
• Nick Barnard was 10-for-15 from the field, hit 7 of his 11 three-pointers, and connected on all 6 of his free throws. His 33-point outing crushed his previous career high of 24, which he set in this season's Canada West opener at Trinity Western.
• Matt Barnard also hit double figures in scoring with 11 points while Lodie Kenyi finished with 10. Hayden Collier scored 7 points while leading all players with 11 rebounds.

NEXT UP
The Cougars will now prepare for a showdown between two of the top teams in the Canada West standings. They'll host Brandon next Friday and Saturday at the CKHS with game time set for 8:00 PM on both nights.