Heat unable to make baskets in Prairie cold

Mercurial point guard James Lum was a thorn in the Cougars side Friday night, scoring 18 points and thieved 3 steals. (Photo by Alex Hill)

Men’s Basketball (Canada West conference play)

Friday, January 10, 2014          SCHEDULE & RESULTS | BOX SCORE

CKHS, Regina, SK

REGINA, SK – The University of Regina’s men’s basketball team saw a late 16-point lead evaporate to just four with under a minute left, but the Cougars were able to hold on to a 72-64 win over UBC Okanagan on Friday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

It looked as if the Cougars had things well in hand when Travis Sylvestre’s three-point play gave the home side a 64-48 lead with under four minutes left, but the Heat went on an 11-0 run to narrow the gap to just four. Brandon Tull stopped the run with a layup to get the lead back up to six, and after a stop by the Cougars, Brendan Hebert hit a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to seal the win.

“We battled as a team at the start of the game,” commented Heat forward Michael Zayonc post-game. “But we had too many mental lapses late, and we were unable to close the game off with a win.”

Most of UBC Okanagan’s offence came from Yassine Ghomari and James Lum, who scored 19 and 18 points, respectively. The Cougars made an effort to take away the three ball, holding sharpshooter Landry Ndayitwayeko to just four points, as he only attempted four shots in the game.

The Heat handily won the battle of the boards versus U of R as they out-rebounded Regina 45-36, 17 of UBC Okanagan's rebounds came on the offensive glass. However the hard work on the boards did not pay off on the scoreboard as the 17 offensive rebounds led to just  14 second chance points, and 35% shooting on the evening.

Tull led all players with a career-high 24 points, while Hebert ended up with 10 points and nine assists as the fourth-year guard fell just short of a double-double. Will Tallman did register a double-double – his first as a Cougar – with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Kade Marra added 10 points in just 11 minutes off the bench as well for the home team in the winning effort.

The first half featured some big runs by both teams. The Cougars scored 14 of the game’s first 18 points to build up a double-digit lead by the five-minute mark of the opening quarter, but a huge 18-0 run by UBC Okanagan gave the Heat an eight-point advantage early in the second. The Heat’s lead reached nine at several points in the second, but the Cougars closed the half with 12 consecutive points capped by a Tull triple at the buzzer to give the U of R a 33-30 advantage in the half.

The streaky play continued in the third, as a 14-0 run gave the Cougars a 14-point lead late in the quarter. UBC Okanagan cut the lead down to seven early in the fourth, but were held scoreless for a three-minute span in the final period while Regina built the lead up to 16.

Regina was able to come back on the Heat in the second quarter, as UBC Okanagan had built a nine point lead midway through, but struggled to score due to the absence of Stuart Wallensteen, as the post was forced to exit the game due to an ankle injury. He returned in the third quarter but by then the Cougars led by nine.

“Stu rolled his ankle and had to get it taped before he could come back in,” explained Zayonc. “It really hurt us because having him in the game really opens up the whole floor for our team.”

The loss drops the Heat’s record to 2-9 on the season as they’ll now prepare for a road game at Brandon on Saturday night. The Cougars (3-9) will be back at the CKHS next weekend with home games against Winnipeg on Friday and Saturday.

 - With notes from Braden Konschuh (Regina Sports Information)