Bobcats drop OT thriller

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This article was published 16/01/2022 (1526 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If Brayden Kuski’s three-quarter-court bomb to end the third quarter didn’t take the wind out of the Brandon University Bobcats sails, his five points that followed had every right to.

The sharpshooter had the Regina Cougars men’s basketball team up 13 points with eight minutes left in a Canada West weekend sweep.

“We needed to regather ourselves,” said Bobcats rookie guard Travis Hamberger. “… We knew if we came out flat, it’d be game over.”

The young Bobcats, missing two of their six non-rookies, roared back on a 25-12 run to force overtime. Experience prevailed as the Cougars won 96-88 at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday, but it was a fantastic response from a team that got blown out by 31 a night earlier.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” said captain Anthony Tsegakele, who recorded an 18-point, 19-rebound double-double. “… At times we had four freshmen and especially in this league going against these teams with a lot of veteran guys, it’s not something easy to do. I’m proud of Travis, even Ian (Gasana), first start (Saturday) for him so he stepped up to some hard defence on one of the better ball-handling scorers.

“It speaks more so volume to the young guys and the potential we have, what we can be as a team in the future.”

Brandon (1-9) wasn’t moving slowly out of the blocks a second night in a row.

Dominique Dennis kicked off the track meet with a 32-footer to beat the shot clock, then rattled home another three.

The teams combined for 28 points in the first four minutes and change, before anything resembling defence made an appearance.

At a decided disadvantage in the size department, Brandon did well to keep Regina’s bigs out of the paint. They were content with that, however, as six-foot-five Carter Millar dropped nine of his 11 first-quarter points from beyond the arc and Hayden Collier added a triple.

The Cougars (7-3) led 24-18 after the first.

A night after the Bobcats started flat and finished flatter, they found another gear. Ben Hillis picked Anthony Tsegakele’s pocket but Sultan Bhatti chased him down for a ridiculous block, pinning his layup against the backboard.

Brandon’s ball movement looked better than it had all season in the second quarter. The game slowed down for the first- and second-year filled Bobcats as they faked passes to make passes and faked shots to make timely shots.

Nick Barnard hit a late triple to put the Cougars up 42-35 at the half.

The Cougars started to pull away early in the third but Blake Magnusson came up with a sweet reverse layup, then the six-foot-eight forward drilled a three from the top of the key to cut the lead down to 54-45.

Hamberger connected for three of his career-high 11 points to get BU within four, then Tsegakele turned a Dennis steal into a ferocious two-hand jam, drawing a foul and completing the three-point play. Dennis torched Millar for a layup the following possession and Brandon was suddenly up 57-56.

Brayden Kuski replied with a three, then tossed up a three-quarter-court prayer that banked in at the buzzer to put Regina back up 62-57 heading into the fourth.

“I actually thought it was deep at first but funny enough, every single practice I jokingly throw those up, the half-court, three-quarter-court shots, so I was happy to see one go in,” Kuski said.

“It was huge because they were making a push in the third there, they were kind of kicking our ass a little bit.”

Kuski knocked down another deep ball to kickstart the final frame, then a layup to give the Cougars a 70-57 advantage and force a Gil Cheung timeout.

Bhatti and Hamberger’s triples brought Brandon back. Gasana kept the air raid going with a trey, then Bhatti hit two more absolutely clutch, contested threes to tie it 82-82 and narrowly missed the game-winner in regulation time. One break at any point in the previous 40 minutes could have let Brandon avoid a disappointing overtime fate.

But Tsegakele, who made just five of 20 shots, wouldn’t pinpoint any particular play he’d like back.

“With ‘ifs’ we could change the world,” he said. “… Maybe cut down some turnovers, try to get extra shots but other than that we got the shots we wanted. There’s a couple of easy ones I missed and should have finished that I usually finish. I’m really proud of the guys but unfortunately, we didn’t come out with the W.”

Hillis stepped up with the first five points of the extra frame, however, then sprung Josiah Thomas for a breakaway layup to go up 89-82.

Regina maintained the lead, and a Dennis dunk offered little consolation.

Dennis had a game-high 22 points, with Millar and Kuski posting 21 and 20, respectively.

While one win in 10 games is frustrating, the young Bobcats turned a mental corner.

“We were just talking about it in the locker room after the game,” Hamberger said. “We’re a bunch of first-, second-years coming out, playing against fifth-year guys and we’re already doing this much. It’s not just now: We’re looking to the future as well and hoping to go far in the future. We’ll keep on building, keep on getting better, day by day.”

The Bobcats head to Saskatchewan next to take on the Huskies on Jan. 21 and 22.

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