BU Bobcats enjoy home-court heater in first half

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This article was published 23/12/2023 (740 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There might not have been more than 18 people who believed the Brandon University Bobcats would be where they are now seven weeks ago.

Those 18 players, coaches and staff of the Bobcats men’s basketball team took the losses of their two best players in stride, rattled off seven straight wins and now sit fourth in the Canada West standings.

The streak started on the road against the nationally-ranked Manitoba Bisons, and it wasn’t even close. Suddenly, a team with no shortage of self-belief felt it could take on the world. Three teams visited the Wheat City during the next three weeks — none managed to take a game off the Bobcats.

“To get those results was big for us,” said Bobcats head coach Gil Cheung. “Everyone’s embraced their role and their roles have expanded so everyone’s liking that too. We’re happy to be where we are right now.”

“I think going in you told me September 1 we’d be 7-3, I’d definitely take it. We had a tough schedule with U of M, Calgary, Regina’s undefeated. I think we played pretty well considering some of the losses we’ve had personnel-wise too. The guys have stepped up, they’ve taken on the challenge and we’re not the deepest team in the conference, but we play an exciting brand of basketball and had a pretty good first half.”

HOT START

A year ago, this season would have been Brandon’s championship window.

A solid veteran corps of fourth- and fifth-years with top-end talent maybe one other Canada West team could match would have been touted as a legit contender to send BU back to nationals for the first time in 17 years.

Star forward Anthony Tsegakele was named Canada West defensive player of the year, Jahmaal Gardner earned a third-team all-star nod, then the 12-8 Bobcats won a playoff game before dropping a triple-overtime thriller to the host Winnipeg Wesmen, who reached the U Sports championship tournament.

After that, Tsegakele signed a professional contract in France and left a gaping hole in the Bobcats lineup. The morning of the regular season opener, Gardner inked a deal in Morocco.

Brandon had every right to be shellshocked and get blown away but hung around with virtually no game plan that didn’t include its leading scorer.

What happened next — a blowout of the Bisons, then sweeps of Thompson Rivers, Calgary and Trinity Western — says a lot about the guys still there.

NEW LINEUP

Eli Ampofo not only became a starter in his fourth year, but a primary option after three seasons as a “Three-and-D” guy.

He remained one of the most efficient scorers in the country, leading all of U Sports with 62.5 per cent three-point shooting while averaging 15.1 points per game.

Khari Ojeda-Harvey, now the lone American in the backcourt, upped his scoring output to 21 ppg and remarkably earned two Canada West player of the week nods in a row.

Sultan Bhatti didn’t magically grow past six-foot-four, but through effort and heart is third in Canada with 11.4 rebounds per game and 15th with 4.5 assists per contest.

“Travis (Hamberger), we expected to be our sixth man and play 18 minutes. Now he’s playing 32 and averaging 12 a game.

“If the conference stopped today, (Ojeda-Harvey) would probably be MVP of the conference, him and (Victoria’s Diego) Maffia. I don’t know who I’d trade Khari for, I wouldn’t trade him for anybody right now. I don’t think I ever would. He’s scoring over 20 points a game, all the decisions he has to make for us every possession as well.”

Australian import Jack McDonald rounds out the starters, averaging 8.9 points in 24.8 minutes.

Ampofo and Ojeda-Harvey have taken over games when necessary. Bhatti’s job is quieter than when he spent the first semester shooting over 60 per cent from deep in 2022-23 but Cheung has been impressed with him for other reasons.

“The way Sully carries himself has shown his maturity on and off the court. It’s not so many peaks and valleys, he’s more steady in the way he communicates,” Cheung said.

Hamberger came up with a massive game-winning bucket in overtime against Thompson Rivers off a give-and-go from big man Blake Magnusson, who couldn’t handle more than a few minutes without foul trouble early in his career but is chipping in 12 solid minutes a night now.

Dominique Dennis has taken his backup point guard role in stride and led the second unit in big games to put the Bobcats in a position to either coast into the playoffs or gun for a first-round bye.

They’re third in the conference in offence at 83.6 ppg, after losing 40 ppg between Gardner and Tsegakele. One big reason they’re four games above .500 is now they’re 10th on the defensive end with just 80.2 ppg allowed.

MOVING FORWARD

The Bobcats are enjoying a break right now but will snap back into action in 2024 with the most important week of the regular season.

The Wesmen (7-3) come to town on Jan. 5-6 tied with the Bobcats for fourth. While the ratings percentage index (RPI) determines seeds for the championship — which is all at the University of Manitoba from Feb. 21 to 25 — those two games could be a massive swing if one team sweeps the weekend.

“It’s crazy when you’re thinking about playoffs in games 11 and 12, but only having 20 games in your schedule, every game is a must,” Cheung said, adding it’d be ideal to have an extra bye week to get back in the groove. “That first weekend’s going to be ugly.

“The biggest thing for us is getting them moving and remembering our sets, remembering our plays, defensive coverages and putting them in game situations as fast as possible.”

Brandon heads to Saskatchewan (6-4), then hosts MacEwan (0-8) in a pair of must-win games, and closes the season with back-to-back British Columbia trips to Fraser Valley (3-5) and Victoria (5-1).

“I’m not really worried about them. I hope we get better,” Cheung said. “You just want to be playing better and better and be healthy going into the post-season.

“The second half of the year we hope to do the same things, take care of home court and prepare ourselves and place ourselves in a situation where we can hopefully get into the playoffs, have some success and try to make a run.”

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