University of Regina Sports Information
REGINA – The Brandon Bobcats took over the lead early in the first quarter and never trailed again, finishing with a 106-97 road victory over the Regina Cougars on Saturday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
Brandon led by as many as 13 points in the second half before an 11-2 run by Regina brought the Cougars to within four late in the third. It was a one-possession affair on a pair of occasions midway through the final period, but the Bobcats hit nine free throws in the game's final minute to seal the win.
Both teams see their record move to 8-7 with the result.
The Brandon tandem of Tyvon Cooper and Jonathan Range was as advertised. Cooper finished with 27 points, nine assists, and six rebounds, while Range added 23 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
And four other Bobcat players hit double figures in scoring, including a pair of bench players in Jaleel Webb and Mikee Dosado who scored 16 points and 14 points, respectively. Pookie Saunders added 13 points, while Troy Grant finished with 10.
The loss overshadowed a career night for Regina's Brian Ofori, who finished with a game-high 29 points to eclipse his previous high of 28 set earlier this season. Brayden Kuski also had a career high in points, erupting for 13 points in the second quarter alone and finishing with 18. Samuel Hillis chipped in with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his first double-double as a Cougar.
Brandon landed the first punch in Friday's win with a quick 11-0 run in the first quarter that featured triples by both Grant and Dosado. That helped the Bobcats open up a double-digit lead and after Regina finally got the Brandon advantage down to three early in the second quarter, Cooper and Range keyed another run by the visitors that got the lead back up to double digits. Despite Kuski's outburst in the second, Brandon still took a 49-37 advantage into the halftime break.
The Bobcats led by double digits for most of the third until Kuski was again right in the middle of things for Regina. He had a pair of free throws and a layup as part of a quick 6-0 run that got the Cougars to within four, and Regina made some more noise midway through the fourth with scores on three consecutive possessions – an Ofori dunk, an Ofori layup, and a triple by Hillis cut the Brandon lead to 82-81.
But that was as close as Regina would come.
After a layup by Alex Igual made the score 99-95, Igual was whistled for an intentional foul that not only resulted in two Webb free throws, but also two more free throws by Range after Brandon got the ball back which got the lead back up to eight.
The two teams will finish off the weekend series on Saturday night (8:00) at the CKHS.