CIS men's basketball Saturday roundup

Source: Jamie Howieson, Laurier Sports Info

WATERLOO, Ont. - Max Allin of Chatham, Ont., sank two free throws with one second left in the game to lift the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's basketball team past the Brock Badgers 86-84 on Saturday afternoon at the Athletic Complex.

The two late points helped Laurier snap a two-game losing skid and improve their record to 8-10 on the season. The loss dropped the Badgers to league-worst 2-16 mark.

For Allin, the late-game heroics rounded out an afternoon that saw him post his fifth double-double of the season and second in the last three games. He finished the day with a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds.

His scoring efforts also moved him into eighth all-time in the conference for career scoring with 1,665 points, passing York's Daniel Yves. He currently trails former Badger Brad Rootes by 49 points for seventh on the career-scoring list.

Allin was not the only Hawk to record a double-double on the day as Jamar Forde of Mississauga, Ont., had one of the best games of his career. Forde posted 20 points to go along with a career-best 15 rebounds as he contributed on both ends of the court.

As for the Badgers, Dani Elgadi of Waterloo, Ont., led his team with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

The win was a crucial one for the Hawks as they keep pace with the Western Mustangs for third place in the OUA West division. Both teams remain tied at 8-10 with one game remaining between the two clubs in two weeks time.

Up next though for Laurier will be a double-header weekend against the Lakehead Thunderwolves. Game on is set for Friday, February 7 at the Athletic Complex with a tipoff of 6 p.m.

Source: Dara Amin, Western Sports Info

LONDON, Ont. – Greg Morrow poured in 20 points and Eric McDonald hit two big three-pointers—one with time winding down in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime and another late in extra time—to push the Mustangs to a 77-74 overtime victory over the Waterloo Warriors at Alumni Hall on Saturday afternoon.
 
 After the game, Mustangs Head Coach Brad Campbell talked about the importance of McDonald hit the game-tying three with six seconds left in the fourth.
 
 "Although some of the game was luck—especially with Eric McDonald hitting two crucial threes—we had to get Waterloo into overtime to take the game," Campbell said.
 
 The Mustangs dealt with a 2-3 zone for the majority of the first quarter but managed to expose the inside, scoring 12 points from the floor in the quarter. Western continued to drive inside, causing the Warriors to go into penalty late in the second quarter. But after 10 lead changes in the half the score going into the third quarter was 31-33 for Waterloo.
 
 In the third, Waterloo put together their biggest lead of the game at 7:24 with a score of 41-35 but that lead wouldn't last, as the latter half of the fourth ended up being when the most crucial moments in the game took place.
 
 With 21 seconds left in the final quarter, it was a one possession game with Western down 62-61 when Greg Morrow drove the ball in the paint and scored what was thought to be a basket and a foul. Unfortunately for Western, however, the foul was a charge, giving possession to Waterloo.
 
 After that bad break, a foul was given by McDonald to put Waterloo guard Mike Helsby at the line where he would score two more points to put the Mustangs down by three with possession of the ball and 19 seconds left on the clock. At the six second mark, Mcdonald hit a three-pointer to tie the game, meaning another five minutes would be needed to decide the game.
 
 Once again going back and forth, the two teams made sure the last minute of overtime would be eventful, starting with McDonald hitting another important three to put the Mustangs up 75-74 with eight seconds left. At the five second mark, Peter Scholtes was fouled and made both shots to put Western up by three with five seconds left.
 
 Waterloo Guard Jaspreet Gill would attempt a three to tie the game with the seconds clicking down but was unable to cash in, leaving the score at 77-74 for the Mustangs.
 
 Western will have a bit of time to recover from the exciting victory before they travel to Windsor to take on the Lancers at the St. Denis Centre on Wednesday, February 5. That game is set to start at 8:00 p.m.

Source: Guelph Sports Info

Guelph, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphon's men’s basketball team were defeated by the CIS No. 7 Windsor Lancers 76-62 on Saturday afternoon at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. The loss drops the Gryphon’s record to 5-13 on the season while the Lancers improve to 13-5.

Adam Kemp (St. Catharines, Ont.) led all Gryphon scorers with 14 points and six rebounds. Taylor Boers (Belleville, Ont.) also chipped in with 13 points. Andrew Grant (Toronto) and Daniel Dooley (Burlington, Ont.) added 12 and 10 points respectively.

Windsor’s Evan Matthews led the all scorers with 22 points and 6 rebounds.

The game turned into a defensive battle in the first few minutes of the opening quarter, as stingy play from both teams limited offense. After Windsor took a 6-3 lead, Guelph’s Daniel Dooley hit a  three-pointer to tie things up. Guelph’s energy on the court was eventually rewarded as they took a 15-8 lead after a long Taylor Boers three. Guelph continued their aggressive play in the quarter, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, as the Gryphon’s tenacious play made it difficult for Windsor to get into an offensive rhythm, making them commit seven turnovers in he quarter. Andrew Grant (Toronto) led the way for Guelph in the first with a game high nine points in the quarter. Guelph went into the second quarter leading the Lancers 21-16.

Three straight baskets from the Lancer’s to open the second quarter gave Windsor the lead, 22-21, forcing Guelph to take an early timeout. The two teams exchanged baskets, allowing Guelph to tie things up at 25 with 6:55 left in the half. The fast-paced play continued throughout much of the second quarter with both teams taking turns with the lead. Soon after Windsor would start to dictate play. With 1:08 to go in the half, Windsor led 34-30. A three-pointer from Windsor’s Josh Collins just before the clock expired extended the Lancer lead to 39-32 heading into the halftime break.

Andrew Grant provided the Gryphon’s with a spark on offense early in the third. Grant scored a beautiful lay in on the Gryphon’s opening possession and then fed Adam Kemp a beautiful pass that led to Kemp being fouled by a Lancer player. Kemp made his subsequent free throws, cutting into the Lancer lead, making it 41-37 Windsor. Five straight points from the Lancer’s, courtesy of Josh Collins’ jump shooting, gave Windsor a nine point cushion, 46-37, with 4:59 left in the third. Guelph’s Taylor Boers then added five straight for the Gryphon’s, including a long three, to cut into the Lancer’s lead. Windsor started to pull away after that, using an aggressive defensive system to pressure the Gryphon’s into committing nine turnovers in the quarter. Windsor led the Gryphon’s 57-46 heading into the final quarter.

Down nine, Guelph needed a strong performance in the final frame if they had any hope of upsetting the Lancer’s. Play opened with both teams exchanging five points on the scoreboard. After this though Windsor started to run away with things, eventually going up 70-55. An and-one play from Guelph’s Adam Kemp hoped to get the Gryphon’s back into the contest, but the deficit was just too large.

Guelph tips off again at home on February 5th against the Waterloo Warriors.

Source: Ryan McKenna, Ryerson Sports Info

TORONTO - For the majority of 33 minutes, the No. 5 Ryerson Rams were leading the No. 1 Carleton Ravens, and it was an upset in the making.

But then it was the Ravens who showed why they are now 18-0 on the season, making shot after shot and avoiding the upset by pulling off a 71-68 victory over Ryerson at Coca-Cola Court.

In front of an energetic and loud crowd, Ryerson got out to an early lead in the first quarter, silencing the Carleton offence and leading 13-9 after 10 minutes.

It was Carleton’s lowest scoring start in 2013-14.

“We pride ourself on defence every night,” Roy Rana, head coach of the Rams said post-game.

“Tonight, we came out and were really focused, we executed the game plan pretty well throughout the whole game so it was a great defensive effort against a great team.”

Carleton would battle back in the second quarter, going on a 9-0 run in a span of two minutes. Ryerson wouldn’t back down as first-year guard, Adika Peter-McNeilly (Scarborough, Ont.) would nail a three-pointer to put the Rams back within one. He would add a free-throw before the end of the half and Ryerson led 28-27 at recess.

It was the first time all season that Carleton trailed at the half.

The third quarter featured back and forth play from each team, with Adam Voll (Kitchener, Ont.) stepping up big down low defensively for Ryerson in relief of Kadeem Green who was forced to the bench with four fouls.

“For a freshman, you’ve got to be encouraged about his level of compete he didn’t back down, played really aggressive, really hard, bodes well for the future for him and for our program,” Rana said.

CIS back-to-back most valuable player the last two seasons, Philip Scrubb also heated up in the third quarter. Scrubb and Peter-McNeilly went back and forth all quarter long and put on a treat for the fans. Scrubb finished with a team-high 22 points.

After Ryerson took a 51-44 lead entering into the fourth frame, the momentum started to shift in the direction of the defending CIS champion from the last three seasons. Eventually Carleton tied the game at 6:40 of the quarter after Scrubb nailed a shot from beyond the arc to make it 57-57.

The Ravens used four free-throws to take 70-65 lead with 20 seconds remaining. Then with 17.4 seconds left Peter-McNeilly hit a three-pointer to put the Rams within two.

He described the shot as something that he dreamed about.

“I had a vision that was going in before I even shot it, so like I knew it was going in,” Peter-McNeilly said. “(It was) something unique.”

A Rams foul would seal the deal as Carleton nailed both free throws to finish the night shooting 82.6 per cent from the line.

Rana was impressed with Peter-McNeilly’s play against the nation’s best. The 6'3" guard finished with a game-high 26 points.

“When he went down with injury, that really hurt us. Kind of the first day that he’s been back that he’s been feeling 100 per cent and he’s just a huge piece of our team, he’s just so calm, so cool under pressure, he’s just a great player, we’re really happy he’s with us.”

The loss drops Ryerson to 13-5 on the season, and with the push for the playoffs now in full-swing, it is crunch time for the Rams.

“We’ve got to take it every game, one at a time and hopefully just collect as many wins as we can before the next phase of our season,” Rana said.

Ryerson travels to Algoma to face the Thunderbirds next Friday, Feb. 7 and then Laurentian on Saturday. Peter-McNeilly says that this game was a momentum booster for the team.

“It’s good because we go on the road next weekend and it’s just good we’re going to have that vengence that, hey, we want to win that next game going into playoffs. We want to win that game because it’s necessary.”

Source: Kat Schwabe, Laurentian Sports Writer

The Laurentian Voyageurs Men's basketball team was looking to put an end to a three game losing streak this evening in Kingston when they visited the Queen?s Gaels. Despite leading at halftime, the Voyageurs were unable to secure the win, and fell to the Gaels 72-69.

The Gaels took an early lead, motivated after having lost to the Voyageurs by only eight points in their January matchup. While the Voyageurs got off to a shaky start, the momentum shifted in their favour in the second quarter. Queen?s struggled to score in the second quarter, while the Voyageurs, led by Josh Budd (Timmins, ON) and Tychon Carter-Newman (Brampton, ON), began to find ways to score. Heading into the halftime break, Laurentian had managed to pull ahead, holding a 36-32 lead.

The Laurentian Voyageurs continued to build their lead in the third, at one point up by 11 points. The Gaels, however, refused to quit, and managed to chip away to narrow the gap. The Voyageurs held only a two point lead after the third quarter of play, the score at 53-51.

Both teams continued to battle in the final quarter of the game. A rough, physical game, the Voyageurs missed the presence of forward Nelson Yengue (Yaounde, Cameroon) under the net, sidelined due to an injury. With less than a minute remaining in the game the Voyageurs held a slim lead, but a crucial three pointer by the Gaels and a Laurentian turnover allowed Queen?s to tie things up. Though Laurentian had an opportunity to win the game, their jumper fell just short. Queen?s managed to grab the rebound and head to the opposite end of the court, where Roshane Roberts (Vaughan, ON) became the hero of the game, sinking a three pointer to give the Gaels the 72-69 win.

The men will need to regroup and make a push for the rest of the regular season. The Laurentian Voyageurs will take on the University of Toronto February 7th at home in the Ben Avery. You can continue to follow the team at www.luvoyageurs.com, or follow them on Twitter @VoyageursMBB for up-to-date news and results.

Laurentian University's Department of Athletics is home to 18 varsity sports teams. The Voyageurs? decorated history of pride and tradition includes 62 provincial championships as well as 10 national championships in 52 years of competition.

Source; Ottawa Sports Info

The uOttawa Gee-Gees capped off a successful road weekend with yet another 107-94 win over the Varsity Blues in Toronto. Mike L’Africain had a career night for Ottawa scoring 33 points and shooting 8-11 from three point land while dishing out five assists.

After having one of their best defensive performances of the year on Friday night against the Rams, they followed it up with another good defensive effort in the first half as they held the Blues to only 36 points after 20 minutes and 11 in the first quarter.

The second half was far from the same story however as the Gee-Gees bench struggled to keep up the defensive performance seen in the first. The Blues made a push bringing the game to as close as 10 points after the Gee-Gees led by 29 points to start the fourth quarter.

 “Toronto has been playing very well lately. They played some good basketball tonight, they were able to get hot and make some shots in the fourth quarter and that forced us to play very hard,” said head coach James Derouin.

 “It’s the same old story that we have been talking about all season. We lost our focus defensively and it could have hurt us tonight. We will go back to practice and work on things so that we are ready for Queen’s next weekend. In all we are happy with the weekend because whenever you go on the road and come home with two wins it’s a positive for sure.”

L’Africain’s 33 points and five assists led the way on the score sheet for the Gee-Gees as he recorded his career high for points in a game. He was lethal from three point land, hitting eight treys in the contest. Toronto’s, Alex Hill also had a good performance scoring 34 points as he continued his dominant play.

After coming  up big defensively in last night’s game against Ryerson, Caleb Agada had another strong performance but offensively this time as he shot an efficient 6-7 from the field and recorded 14 for the Gee-Gees. Terry Thomas also contributed with 22 points, five assists and seven steals.

uOttawa will be back in action next weekend when their road trip will continue for a third and fourth game on the road. They will travel to Kingston to take on the Queens Gaels and York University on the following night. uOttawa took commanding victories against both teams as they visited Monpetit Hall a few weeks ago.

Source: Hugh Mullally, Lakehead Sports Information Director

Thunder Bay, Ont. - What began with hope ended in despair for the men's basketball team, as they were beaten 101-64 by the McMaster Marauders Saturday evening.

Things got off to a more manageable start for the 'Wolves, as they dictated the pace of the game early on, leading 14-11 late in the first quarter.

Some undisciplined play in the final minute led to a bevy of Marauder free throws, who would tie the game at 20 as the first quarter ended.

As the second quarter came to pass, the McMaster team punished the T-Wolves from distance, hitting three ball after three ball, and tallying 29 points in the quarter to lead by 16 at the half, 49-33.

While the 3rd quarter saw the visitors extend their lead incrementally, the 4th quarter was an all-out assault, out-scoring Lakehead 32-14 in front of a non-plussed Thunderdome crowd.

Lakehead's top performer was Joseph Nitychoruk with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Igor Lebov finished with 15 points.

Joseph Rocca scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

McMaster went 11-of-23 from behind the arc to Lakehead's 1-of-8.

Coach Matt Erdman:

"We started off well but we ended the second quarter with way too many turnovers and you can't afford to turn the ball over 29 times against a team like McMaster. At the end of the day, we still have a number of goals to accomplish and it starts Monday at practice.

The men's team are on the road next weekend for two games against Laurier.

Source: Clare Webb, Bishop's Sports Information Writer

SHERBROOKE, Que. – The Bishop’s Gaiters could not bounce back after an 80-67 loss to the No. 8 McGill Redmen on Thursday night in the first game of the home-and-home series.  They lost 55-48 at home on Saturday. 
 
The Gaiters struggled to find the basket, shooting just 32.8 per cent from the floor (22/67). They made 4-of-14 from three-point range (65.4%) but only 19 of 34 from the charity stripe (55.5%) on Thursday. Jaleel Webb (Montreal) led the way for Bishop's with 14 points while the big-man combo of Mike Andrews (Oakville, Ont.) and Dave Belanger (Sherbrooke, Que.) scored 11 apiece.

The Gaiters and Redmen squared off for the first time this season in Mitchell Gym on Saturday. The hosts stayed close through the first frame but the Redmen took a 16-point lead, 36-20, into the locker room at halftime.  Jona Bermillo (Montreal) knocked down two sets of free throws in the last two minutes of the third quarter to bring the Gaiters within eight.  Bermillo went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe on the night.  In the fourth quarter both teams could not convert and went scoreless for three minutes.  Chris Henny (Montreal) broke the drought to put the Gaiters down by just six with 5:21 to play.  McGill’s Simon Bibeau (St. Bruno, Que.) answer back with a three and the Redmen pulled ahead by nine.  The Gaiters were able to come within six but could not get any closer and McGill won 55-48. 

The top scorer for Bishop’s was Andrews with 11 points and five rebounds.  Bermillo had 10 points and six boards.  Bibeau lead the Redmen is scoring with 15 points and Vincent Dufort (Smith Falls, Ont.) had 11 points and 10 rebounds. 

The Gaiters are at home on Friday Feb. 7 against Concordia (6-4) for an 8 p.m. tip-off and in Montreal on Saturday Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. 

For news on the Gaiters go to www.gaiters.ca

Source: Ben Matchett, Calgary Assistant Athletic Director, Operations & Communications

CALGARY – An impressive scoring run midway through the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the UBC Thunderbirds kept pace in the playoff race with a 74-66 win over the University of Calgary Dinos Saturday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.

The win improves UBC’s record to an even 9-9 on the year, ensuring them at least a share of the final playoff spot heading into the final four games of the regular season. Calgary, meanwhile, falls to 5-13 and is out of the playoff picture after losing both games this weekend.

It had all the makings of a good night for the home side. The Dinos held a 13-point lead midway through the second quarter, the Thunderbirds’ best player, Tommy Nixon, was in foul trouble early and played just 24 minutes, and they were shooting nearly 45 per cent at half time. But their shooting went cold in the second half, and UBC went on a 17-2 run in the middle of the fourth quarter to turn a seven-point Calgary lead into an eight-point Thunderbird advantage – one the Dinos couldn’t recover from.

As Calgary’s shooters went cold in the second half, missing all 15 of their three-point attempts after the break, UBC turned things around. The T-Birds managed just 26.7 per cent in the first half and shot nearly 44 per cent in the second. And their long-range shooting was exceptional, hitting on four of seven three-balls in the second half. The Thunderbirds did a good job drawing fouls as well, heading to the line 40 times on the night against just 18 for the Dinos.

Despite playing just 24 minutes, Nixon was effective and scored a game-high 20 points of five-of-eight shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. He was joined by Kedar Wright’s 17 points in double digits for UBC, with Wright hauling down a team-high nine rebounds on the night. Former Dino Andrew McGuinness and Calgary native Jordan Jensen-Whyte added nine points each for UBC.

Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson once again led the Dinos with 18 points on the night, but he connected on just seven of his 23 field goal attempts and was 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. Matt Letkeman was the Dinos’ most effective player offensively with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, but he was also in foul trouble and played just 19 minutes. Philip Barndt scored 11 and added 13 rebounds for Calgary, while Josh Turner added eight points and Clay Mulumba pitched in with six.

UBC returns home next weekend to face provincial cousin UBC Okanagan in a two-game series at War Memorial Gym before closing the season with an important home-and-home series against Victoria. The Dinos, meanwhile, head on the road to face the Regina Cougars next weekend before ending their season against Lethbridge in a rare Wednesday-Thursday home-and-home series. Action that week will get underway Wednesday, Feb. 12 in Lethbridge, with the season finale set for the Jack Simpson Gym on Thursday, Feb. 13.

Source: Daniel Herrick, Saskatchewan Sports Information Assistant

Stephon Lamar scored 26 points to lead the No. 9 ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies to an 81-58 win over the Mount Royal University Cougars Saturday night at the PAC in Saskatoon.

Lamar went 10-for-16 from the field in the win, including a 3-for-4 performance from beyond the arc. The 2012-13 Canada West MVP added four assists on the night.

The Huskies shot 49 per cent from the floor and 42 percent from three-point range. Mount Royal shot 38 per cent and hit just four three’s.

With the win Saskatchewan improves to 14-4. Mount Royal drops to 7-11 on the season.

Ben Baker added 21 points and six rebounds for the Huskies, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Matt Forbes grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Jared Cornish was the leading scorer for the Cougars with 17 points. Cornish, Kyle Wilson and James Lefebvre all collected five rebounds.

Mount Royal jumped out to an early 5-0 lead over the nationally ranked Huskies, but Saskatchewan was quick to respond with seven straight points. The Huskies took a 20-15 lead after ten minutes.

In the second quarter the Huskies would begin to pull away. Dadrian Collins scored five straight while assisting on a Nick Foth three as the Huskies went on an 8-0 run. Stephon Lamar had 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting as Saskatchewan built up a 46-28 halftime lead.

Saskatchewan shot 52 per cent from the field in the first half to Mount Royal’s 36 percent.

In the third the Huskies built up a 24-point lead. Mount Royal cut the deficit to 16 to trail 64-48 by the end of the quarter. The Saskatchewan lead grew as large as 25 points in the fourth quarter.

Saskatchewan will be on the road for its remaining four Canada West regular season games beginning with pair against the Winnipeg Wesmen next weekend. Mount Royal hosts the Trinity Western Spartans next weekend.

Source: Mark Janzen, Trinity Western Assistant Sports Information Director

LANGLEY, British Columbia – Thanks to an impressive fourth quarter flurry, the Trinity Western men’s basketball team moved back up to the .500 mark with a 67-59 win over Regina Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.

With the game tied 52-52 with just under six minutes to play, the Spartans went on 14-0 run that gave TWU the lead for good. An alley-oop from Robert Rodriguez (Sacramento, Calif.) to Denny McDonald (Mississauga, Ont.) capped the run and the Spartans found themselves up 66-52. After that, the Cougars never threatened.

The win, coupled with Friday’s victory over Brandon, gives the Spartans its first two-win weekend of the year. Trinity Western had split its first seven weekends before losing twice against Thompson Rivers last weekend.

The Spartans are now 9-9 on the season and are tied with UBC for the fourth and final playoff position in the Pacific Division. The loss drops Regina to 3-15.

Neither team shot particularly well with both sides finishing at 33.9 per cent from the field. The difference was the free throw line as TWU was 21 for 33 and Regina was just eight for 12.

The Spartans were led by McDonald, who had 20 points and seven rebounds while going eight for 16 from the free throw line. Justin Bakuteka (Toronto) had 15 points and five boards and Rodriguez had a game-high 11 rebounds to go with seven points. Kelvin Smith (Los Angeles) also contributed 13 points and six boards.

Regina was led by Travis Sylvestre, who had 17 points and five rebounds, while Brendan Hebert and Matthew Augustine had 11 points each. Darius Mole had a team-high eight rebounds to go with eight points.

“It was probably our worst shooting night of the year but we got to the free throw line quite a bit and we had some great rebounding efforts from a couple of the guys, especially Robert,” said Spartans coach Scott Allen. “It was nice to see that he led the day. We gutted out the win and I’m really excited that we finally got two wins in a weekend.

“We found a way to win and hopefully going forward we can be more consistent.”

The teams traded points throughout the first quarter as it was Regina out-rebounding TWU 14-8 to but the Spartans winning the turnover battle, with just three turnovers to the Cougars eight. At the end of 10 minutes, TWU led 16-14.

In the second quarter, TWU took a 25-20 lead and looked like the Spartans might open a sizable lead. But then, Regina’s 3-point shooters went off. Trailing 28-23, the Cougars scored 12 straight points via the long ball and with Hebert’s second 3-pointer of the quarter, the visitors went into halftime up 35-33.

The Cougars were six for nine from beyond the arc in the second quarter while TWU was two for six. Like the first 10 minutes, the second quarter was a tale of Regina on the glass – the Cougars out-rebounded TWU 11-7 – and TWU forcing turnovers – Regina had 13 turnovers to TWU’s seven at halftime.

Regina’s Sylvestre had a team-high 15 points while TWU’s McDonald led the Spartans with nine points.

The Spartans Bakuteka scored the first five points of the second half to put TWU back in front 38-35. But it was low-scoring the rest of the way. The Spartans held Regina to just eight points in the quarter but only scored 12 themselves and led by just two points, 45-43, going to the fourth.

In the final quarter, Regina tied the game 52-52, but then the Spartans turned the tides. With a balanced attack that saw five different players score, TWU tallied 14 straight points to put the Spartans up for good. The Cougars got back to within eight points by the end of the game, but never looked dangerous.

The Spartans are on the road next weekend when they travel to Calgary to play Mount Royal Feb. 7-8 while the Cougars return home to host Calgary.

Game Notes: TWU had a 40-34 edge in rebounds…TWU had 17 turnovers to Regina’s 25.

Source: Cary Mellon, UBC Okanagan Sports Information Director

KELOWNA, BC - Clutch treys by Yassine Ghomari (Vancouver, BC) and Ryan Linttell (Kelowna, BC) late were not enough to lift the UBC Okanagan Heat men’s basketball team past the visiting Manitoba Bisons Saturday night as Manitoba claimed a 76-68 win in Kelowna.

Fifth-year Bisons 6-7 forward Dan Penner quelled the late Heat comeback with six big points in the final four and a half minutes to ice the Bison victory.

UBC Okanagan led by seven midway through the second quarter before the Bisons began stampeding past the host team. Manitoba would take the lead 25-24 with 4:25 left to play in the half and would not relinquish their lead again.

“It’s always kind of the same thing: we have to be able to respond when they go on a run, but sometimes our energy levels sink down and they go on a run,” said the Heat’s fifth-year forward Mike Zayonc postgame. “Instead, we have to maintain our energy level high and keep trying to fight through it, and unfortunately we weren’t able to go on our own right tonight.”

KidSport, in their annual fundraiser at UBC Okanagan, earned $350 off the seven three-pointers potted by the Heat ($50 was donated by the athletics department for each made Heat three-ball).

Fifth-year wing Landry Ndayitwayeko (Windsor, ON) led the Heat with 18 points on 6-13 shooting including 3-7 from the arc ($150). Adding to Landry’s three-point totals was Ghomari’s two ($100) as well as one each from Linttell ($50) and even second-year 6-9 post Stuart Wallensteen ($50). KidSport is a nationwide not-for-profit organization that wants to break down the financial barriers to sport for children.

The Heat rebounded by committee well with four players with five boards, though the Bisons would end up edging the Heat in that margin by two, 43-41.

Manitoba’s rookie standout, Andre Arruda, had a game-high 22 points on 7-10 shooting, making 5-6 three pointers. As a team Manitoba shot 43.8% from the floor and 47.4% from three-point range.

The Heat are now 3-15 on the season while the Bisons pick up their fifth win and are 5-13.

The Heat hit the road to Vancouver next weekend for a matchup at sister campus UBC and the Thunderbirds in Vancouver. Tip-off at War Memorial Gymnasium is at 8 p.m. this Friday (Feb. 7) The Bisons host the No. 4 Alberta Golden Bears for a pair of games.

HEAT NOTES: Yassine Ghomari has competed in three KidSport games for the Heat, in the three years he alone has raised $450 for the charity. (2014-$100, 2013-$150, 2012-$200).

For more info on the great work KidSport does please visit their website: http://www.kidsportcanada.ca/