Jonathan Tull scored 28 points and Travis Sylvestre had 24 as the University of Regina's men's basketball team took an 85-76 win over No. 10-ranked and previously undefeated Calgary on Friday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
The Cougars led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter before a big 9-0 run by the Dinos gave the visitors a one-point lead at the midway point of the second. But the Cougars had an answer, scoring the next seven points on a quick two-minute run to take the lead back for good. The U of R pushed the lead up to 14 at one point in the third and held a two-possession lead for the entirety of the second half, but Calgary did its best to make it interesting towards the end.
Sparked by fine play off the bench by L.J. Hegwood, Calgary scored six straight points to get to within six with 1:22 left – and immediately got the ball back after Jonathan Tull was called for an offensive foul while trying to clear Hegwood away after the inbounds pass. But Calgary's Johny Verrone had his three-point attempt blocked by Brandon Tull, who made his finest play of the game to recover the ball and finish the fast-break layup while being fouled despite losing his balance in the paint.
Calgary got the deficit down to six on two other occasions, but six free throws and a Sylvestre jumper from the paint in the final minute helped the Cougars put away the win.
"I was exceptionally happy with the way we competed tonight," Cougars head coach Steve Burrows said. "We needed to get contributions from other guys tonight and we got exactly that from guys that played more of a role than they have so far this season."
One of those players was Matthew Augustine, who got just his third career start and played a career-high 35 minutes, smashing his previous high of 19 set in a game at Trinity Western last season. Mostly tasked with guarding Calgary star Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, Augustine also hit a key triple in the fourth quarter and finished the game with five points and six rebounds before fouling out late.
Jonathan Tull's game-high 28 points came mostly from the stripe, as the fourth-year transfer from Acadia University was 6-for-18 from the field but hit 15 of his 20 free throws for his season-high 28 and also added a team-high eight rebounds. Sylvestre's 24 points – which came on 10-of-15 shooting including 2-for-3 from three-point range – equalled his career high, which was set the last time the Cougars played Calgary.
Brandon Tull finished with 15 points for the Cougars, while Will Tallman had eight points and six rebounds. Four of the U of R's five starters played at least 34 minutes, with Brandon Tull only ending up with 29 because of second-half foul trouble.
Ogungbemi-Jackson had 26 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists for the Dinos, who also had a 10-point performance from Philip Barndt. Calgary, which came into Friday with an undefeated record after starting the season off with two wins each over Winnipeg and Brandon, moves to 4-1 on the season and falls into a three-way tie with Alberta and Manitoba for second place in the Pioneer Division.
The Cougars (2-3) currently sit alone in the seventh in the early Pioneer Division standings.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night (8:00, canadawest.tv) at the CKHS.
NOTES: The win was the U of R's first over a ranked team since a 78-72 win last season over then-No. 8 UBC in what was head coach Steve Burrows' first Canada West game ... Jonathan Tull now ranks fourth in Canada West with an average of 20.8 points per game through the first five games of the conference schedule.
Tull, Sylvestre lead Cougars to win over No. 10 Calgary
REGINA, Sask. – Jonathan Tull scored 28 points and Travis Sylvestre had 24 as the University of Regina's men's basketball team took an 85-76 win over No. 10-ranked and previously undefeated Calgary on Friday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
The Cougars led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter before a big 9-0 run by the Dinos gave the visitors a one-point lead at the midway point of the second. But the Cougars had an answer, scoring the next seven points on a quick two-minute run to take the lead back for good. The U of R pushed the lead up to 14 at one point in the third and held a two-possession lead for the entirety of the second half, but Calgary did its best to make it interesting towards the end.
Sparked by fine play off the bench by L.J. Hegwood, Calgary scored six straight points to get to within six with 1:22 left – and immediately got the ball back after Jonathan Tull was called for an offensive foul while trying to clear Hegwood away after the inbounds pass. But Calgary's Johny Verrone had his three-point attempt blocked by Brandon Tull, who made his finest play of the game to recover the ball and finish the fast-break layup while being fouled despite losing his balance in the paint.
Calgary got the deficit down to six on two other occasions, but six free throws and a Sylvestre jumper from the paint in the final minute helped the Cougars put away the win.
"I was exceptionally happy with the way we competed tonight," Cougars head coach Steve Burrows said. "We needed to get contributions from other guys tonight and we got exactly that from guys that played more of a role than they have so far this season."
One of those players was Matthew Augustine, who got just his third career start and played a career-high 35 minutes, smashing his previous high of 19 set in a game at Trinity Western last season. Mostly tasked with guarding Calgary star Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, Augustine also hit a key triple in the fourth quarter and finished the game with five points and six rebounds before fouling out late.
Jonathan Tull's game-high 28 points came mostly from the stripe, as the fourth-year transfer from Acadia University was 6-for-18 from the field but hit 15 of his 20 free throws for his season-high 28 and also added a team-high eight rebounds. Sylvestre's 24 points – which came on 10-of-15 shooting including 2-for-3 from three-point range – equalled his career high, which was set the last time the Cougars played Calgary.
Brandon Tull finished with 15 points for the Cougars, while Will Tallman had eight points and six rebounds. Four of the U of R's five starters played at least 34 minutes, with Brandon Tull only ending up with 29 because of second-half foul trouble.
Ogungbemi-Jackson had 26 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists for the Dinos, who also had a 10-point performance from Philip Barndt. Calgary, which came into Friday with an undefeated record after starting the season off with two wins each over Winnipeg and Brandon, moves to 4-1 on the season and falls into a three-way tie with Alberta and Manitoba for second place in the Pioneer Division.
The Cougars (2-3) currently sit alone in the seventh in the early Pioneer Division standings.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night (8:00, canadawest.tv) at the CKHS.
NOTES: The win was the U of R's first over a ranked team since a 78-72 win over then-No. 8 UBC in what was head coach Steve Burrows' first Canada West game ... Jonathan Tull now ranks fourth in Canada West with an average of 20.8 points per game through the first five games of the conference schedule.