Bobcats primed for play-in game against Spartans

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This article was published 19/02/2025 (290 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon University Bobcats are trying to extend an unusual trend on Friday.

Regardless of their record in December, they’ve reached the Canada West men’s basketball playoffs for the fifth year in a row and are seeking their fourth-straight opening-round win.

Whether or not they’re the favourite on paper, the Bobcats (7-13) played their best in February and will need to as they face the No. 5 Trinity Western Spartans (12-8) in Calgary on Friday at 3 p.m. CT.

The winner plays the No. 4 seed and host Dinos (16-4) on Saturday in the quarterfinals at 8 p.m. CT.

The Bobcats don’t care about being the lowest seed in the tournament. After all, UNBC was 12th last season and won a bronze medal. Regular-season records no longer matter.

“I feel like everybody resets but nobody wants to see us because we’re getting better at the right time,” said Bobcats star Sultan Bhatti.

“The advantage is they didn’t play us this year. We didn’t play them too but they don’t know how we play.

“One day we can be one of the worst teams and the next day we can be one of the best teams. They don’t know what to expect and I feel like this weekend we’re going to be the best team.”

In 2022, BU went 2-14 but since everyone took part in the playoffs they took advantage and upset the UNBC Timberwolves. The following year, they knocked off the Fraser Valley Cascades on the back of 22 three-pointers, then came up a point shy of the final four in a triple-overtime thriller against the Winnipeg Wesmen.

They ousted the Saskatchewan Huskies in an ugly 62-55 battle in 2024, before falling to the eventual champion Victoria Vikes but stayed competitive into the fourth quarter.

Travis Hamberger played in all of those games. The fourth-year guard from Richmond, B.C., simply feels his group has been better prepared for these neutral-site games.

“Whenever we play against someone new it’s kind of like we don’t know them but at the same time they don’t know us,” Hamberger said.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, we just shoot the ball,’ but when it actually happens in person … it shocks them.

“If we’re able to throw the first punch, we get hot, we get rolling, it really helps us out.”

It does more than that — it dictates the Bobcats’ success. While you can’t win a game in the first quarter, they’ve yet to come back from any major deficits to win a game this season.

BU needs to be sharp on defence on Friday as TWU is one of the top three-point shooting teams in Canada West at 34.4 per cent. It averages 78 points per game to BU’s 73, though it’s partly due to a weaker Pacific Division outside of 20-0 Victoria and 15-5 UBC.

“Their players are very talented individually. I go home and see these guys all the time, I’m hooping with them in the streets, in open gyms, stuff like that,” Hamberger said.

“I know what they’re capable of. They all have their own play styles and they’re tall and physical as well. Everyone on the team can shoot and if they’re not shooting, they’re probably really well built, six-foot-four, can get to the rim.”

The primary threat is Jerric Palma, who averages 17.4 points per game, with Josh Belvin at 16.1.

David Mutabazi scores the bulk of his 12.6 ppg getting to the rim and Marcus Shankar poses as another threat behind the arc.

“They like to shoot the ball a lot,” Bhatti said. “They got a seven-footer (Connor Platz) in the paint blocking everything so we’ve been working the whole week on shooting mid-range, pull-ups, floaters.

“On the other side, I don’t think they can guard so we just gotta be able to play defence and score.”

The Bobcats have been in playoff mode for weeks. Their season could have been over if they didn’t steal a win in Winnipeg, so Hamberger hit a huge three with a second left to win the opener before losing by 39 the following night.

Brandon secured its first sweep of the season when it needed both wins over Saskatchewan to make the post-season.

Rookie guard Youri Cange carried the Bobcats in the first one with a game-high 18 points, including four threes in a row in the third quarter.

“It was big because Friday I was already dealing with a sprained ankle so I knew I was going to be more of a passer,” Bhatti said.

“Me, Travis, Dewayne (Thompson) weren’t making our shots. Then Youri stepped up and we just kept giving him the ball. He started scoring and it opened it up for everybody.”

Hamberger injured his ankle late in the game and couldn’t go the following night, so Jakarri Lindsey played a season-high 34 minutes of relentless defence, especially down the stretch as Brandon led by 17 but didn’t score in the last eight minutes until Bhatti hit two free throws with 8.8 seconds remaining.

Thompson was the go-to guy in the second and third quarters as he put up 17 points to create a big enough cushion.

“That’s the good thing about our team,” Bhatti said. “You don’t know who’s going to have a good day.”

Bhatti said his ankle feels better, while Hamberger was back at practice Tuesday before the Bobcats hit the highway Wednesday morning.

He’s confident he’ll be good enough to go on Friday.

“I was sweating, I was itching, I couldn’t sit still, I was always fidgeting a bit,” Hamberger said of Saturday’s game.

“I just want to be out there with my guys playing and I want it bad this weekend.”

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