Bhatti bids farewell to HLC in style

Sultan Bhatti’s last game on the Healthy Living Centre floor was a memorable one.

He started hot and poured it on late, dropping 36 points as the Brandon University Bobcats (8-10) eliminated the MacEwan Griffins (3-15) from Canada West men’s basketball playoff contention with a 96-84 decision on Saturday.

Bhatti added 10 rebounds and five assists while fellow fifth-year Travis Hamberger chipped in nine points and a game-high 12 helpers.

“It’s Senior Night. Shoutout to Trav, shoutout to Sully, those are my guys. We came off with straight energy, we wanted to win this,” said Youri Cange, who scored 11 of his 12 points in the first five minutes.

“In practice, they’re pushing everybody. Even if you make a little mistake, they’re on your ass. They want everybody to be better.”

The Bobcats secured a playoff spot ahead of this Friday and Saturday’s regular season contests against the host Manitoba Bisons (11-7).

Bhatti and Cange did all the damage for BU early, scoring its first 19 points to lead by six.

Munroop Gill knocked down a pair of contested shots in the paint before Bhatti added five for a red-hot 13 points in the first quarter.

For MacEwan, Job Janda and Diego Presingular combined for 18 points in a high-scoring opening frame. Brandon led 29-26 through 10 minutes.

Pablo Carvajal made two floaters to put Brandon up nine early in the second quarter, and the lead stayed around there for the rest of the half.

It took Hamberger some time to get rolling, but he caught fire in the second quarter, hitting all three long balls he attempted, putting Brandon ahead 55-43 at halftime.

Bhatti pushed BU up 16 before a 7-0 MacEwan run in a low-scoring third quarter. Max Winters answered with a pair of smooth buckets in the paint, helping Brandon stay up by 12 at 71-59 heading to the fourth.

Bhatti scored a quick five points to stretch the lead to 13, but Presingular led MacEwan on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to three for the first time since the first half with five minutes to go.

However, this Bobcat team has been in enough close games, lost enough and learned enough to stay composed and do what they do best in crunch time.

Bhatti hit a triple, then Gill added a layup, then both did the same again on a 90-second scoring flurry to go back up double-digits.

Bhatti took a heat check from 30 feet, and of course he made it to lead 89-74 with three minutes left, all but putting it out of reach.

“We actually locked in,” Cange said, adding the key was staying composed.

“We know they’re going to go on a run, we’re going to go on a run but it was the couple of stops we had, couple of steals, getting the rebounds, that’s what helped us.”

» See Tuesday’s Sun for a feature on Hamberger.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com