Tyler Crayston, Brandon University Athletics

BRANDON, Man. – The Alberta Golden Bears continued their winning ways on Friday night with an 84-74 road victory over the Bobcats in Canada West men's basketball action.

Brandon and Alberta battled back and forth for the majority of the first-half, until the Bears had a 7-0 run to help them go into halftime up 38-35.

After the break, Alberta's offence caught fire turning a 42-41 lead into a 54-41 advantage. BU trimmed the 13-point deficit down to four, but trailed 62-54 at the end of the third.

The Bobcats continued to chip away and were down 70-66 with just over six minutes to go.

Andre Kelly, the son of Bobcat legend Jude Kelly, came through in the clutch for Alberta down the stretch.

Kelly sunk a huge layup with 4:05 remaining to give his team a 78-69 lead, forcing the Bobcats to call timeout. The bucket came on the heels of two missed free throws by Kelly.

"I just forgot about that moment and played my game," said Kelly. "I try not to dwindle on those moments and just get straight to the next play."

Brandon got the game to within six with a minute and a half to go, but that is as close as they got.

Kelly finished with 19 points, while Brody Clarke added a double-double for Alberta with 23 points and 14 rebounds.

The Golden Bears have won seven straight and sit with a conference record of 10-and-3.

Meanwhile, Tyvon Cooper collected a game-high 26 points in a losing cause for the Bobcats, while Jaleel Webb was next with 17 points.

The Bobcats went just 7-for-32 from the three-point line and saw their record slip to 2-and-11.

"We did do a way better job across the board, but we were missing a lot of shots," said fourth-year Bobcat Josh Bell. "If we are not knocking down shots, especially when we are open, it is going to be pretty hard to stay in the game, regardless how hard we are working."

Brandon and Alberta meet in the rematch on Saturday night at the HLC.

(Photo courtesy: Milana Paddock)