Brandon rookies hang tough in loss to Lethbridge

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This article was published 18/11/2024 (575 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Most rookies watch a few nights like Saturday from the comfort of the bench before being caught in the middle of the action.

Darko Karac and Nathan Saldo not only played during the Brandon University Bobcats’ near-incredible comeback, they orchestrated it.

It’ll go down as an 89-81 loss and a lesson for the youngsters, taught by a veteran-laden Lethbridge Pronghorns side that improved to 4-0 on the Canada West men’s basketball season at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday, dropping BU to 1-5.

Their 20-plus minutes each are somewhat a product of necessity for coach Gil Cheung managing his young roster, but Karac and Saldo likely won’t see their minutes drop after Saturday’s effort.

“Me and the rookies, we always talk about how this year we want to go all out for the seniors,” Karac said after posting seven points and five assists.

“Start of the regular season, I was pretty sloppy on the defensive end and that’s why my minutes were cut short.

“I started picking up on the defensive end and it started to translate, making it easier on the offensive end and my teammates trust me more too.”

Saldo posted a career-high 10 points on 50 per cent shooting with four rebounds. The Edmonton native filled an unusual role, essentially playing centre on defence as Jack McDonald missed his third straight game with the ankle injury he picked up in Regina on Nov. 8.

Such is life when you’re six-foot-four on one of the smallest teams in the league.

“I’m playing a bit out of position right now but whatever it takes to help the team win,” Saldo said, adding Lethbridge exploited it well at times.

“When they’re up, they slow it down and pick away at mismatches. “[We] definitely [prefer] a more fast-paced style, which we’re trying to play because obviously, we’re smaller so we’re trying to outrun teams. We had a bunch of turnovers in the first half but it’s better than playing slow.”

The Bobcats looked about 50 pounds lighter on their feet to start the game than they did Friday.

While Jack-Henry Fox-Grey beat them down in the paint for four early buckets, the Bobcats responded on the other end by testing the Pronghorns’ interior defence and finding success.

Sultan Bhatti and Karac torched their defenders for a few early layups, opening up Dewayne Thompson for a three.

BU stole the ball twice and immediately head-manned the ball for easy scores. Bhatti nailed a three to tie it after trailing all quarter, then Brandon gave up a 7-0 run to enter the second down 28-21.

Travis Hamberger and Thompson hit a pair of treys to cut into the lead, then Hamberger hauled down an offensive rebound and got it to Thompson for a pretty layup as Brandon made it a one-possession game.

Lethbridge scored just as easily most of the half, though. Angelo Mbituyimana seemingly watched lanes open wide in front of him for free layups.

He finished the half with a team-high 12 points and his team up 48-43.

After Bhatti hit a three early in the second half, the Bobcats didn’t make a field goal for more than five minutes as the Pronghorns enjoyed a 16-2 run and carried a 76-61 lead into the fourth.

“When we play, we feel like it’s never over. We were talking about [how] we need to chip in,” Saldo said. “It started with the bigs, getting them out of the way, we just needed to grab the rebound. I feel like if we limited their possessions we should have come out with the ball game.”

The Bobcats gave up an open three, then made their push. Bhatti completed a three-point play, Saldo nailed two triples and Hamberger laid one in on an 11-0 run to trail 79-72 just four minutes into the quarter.

Scoring slowed down for a few minutes, then Hamberger made his fourth from beyond the arc to cut it to 84-79.

But the next three possessions went as badly as they could for the Bobcats. Fox-Grey walked in for an easy two, then Saldo was called for a clear-cut moving screen before Kymani Pollard hit a wide-open dagger from deep to go back up 10 with two minutes to go.

That was the game.

“We have to just come out for the second half, start off games better,” Karac said.

“We’ve got to start games better, we’ve got to finish games better. We play through a bunch of spurts.

“We play really good for a certain amount of time, then play really bad. It’s not a winning formula.”

Bhatti led all scorers with 30 points and 11 rebounds, hitting five of eight three-point attempts.

Mbituyimana paced Lethbridge with 22 points and 17 rebounds while Fox-Grey posted 21 points and Pollard chipped in 13.

The Pronghorns beat the Bobcats 50-36 on the glass and outscored them 52-30 in the paint.

Brandon made 14 of 33 triples while Lethbridge hit seven of 19.

The Bobcats host the Alberta Golden Bears next weekend.

“We had a pretty bad start but I don’t think we’re a 1-5 bad team. We’re a lot better than the way we’ve played so far,” Karac said.

“We’ve got to compete hard at practice and treat it like a game so that when we come to the game it’s easy.”

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