Brandon stuns defending champion Calgary

The Brandon University Bobcats already proved they don’t care how good anyone says their opponent is.

On Friday, they took it to another level as BU (3-2) knocked off the defending Canada West men’s basketball champion Calgary Dinos 92-86 at the Healthy Living Centre.

BU already beat Manitoba, which was ranked No. 2 in the pre-season coaches poll, and has now handed Calgary (2-1) its first loss of the season.

“We had our scout and a lot of the new guys, like Travis (Hamberger) says, we’re dogs. We don’t back down from anything. We come in every game ready to play,” said import guard Malik Brown.

“Since Manitoba, we come out right away, punch them in the mouth first.”

The Bobcats started slow but rattled off a quick 7-0 run to lead 14-13, and another to go up 23-18 as Arjun Hehar came off the bench to lead all scorers with seven in the frame.

Brandon hit four of seven threes, and if it wasn’t for six early turnovers, it would have led by more than just 23-20 through 10 minutes.

The second quarter was gritty on both ends, as neither team created much separation on offence or scored 10 points for the first six minutes.

Travis Hamberger got BU going with a tough drive as he split a pair of defenders for an acrobatic layup.

Hehar did more than just score, fighting for an offensive rebound and kicking it out to Brown for a three-ball, then knocking down one of his own.

On the other end, nine Dinos hit the scoresheet, but none had more than six points, and they made an abysmal one of 10 free throws in the half.

As a result, BU led 44-36 at the break.

Brown said the key message at halftime was “win the first three minutes,” and the Bobcats did that.

Max Winters started the second half by rattling home a trey and giving BU a double-digit lead, then poking a ball away to spark a fast break bucket by Youri Cange.

Winters then contested a shot, forcing an air ball and another runout for BU to score again and entice a Calgary timeout down 51-36.

Hamberger drilled a triple right after the timeout, but the 18-point edge didn’t last long as the Dinos woke up, rattling off a quick six points to avoid it getting out of hand.

Calgary worked its way to the free-throw line to generate points while Brandon’s bench kept stepping up. Darko Karac drilled a step-back three, Munroop Gill hit a reverse layup, then Hehar knocked down his fourth long ball.

BU took a 73-58 advantage into the final frame.

“It’s amazing to see it, honestly,” Brown said.

“Roop and Arjun, they’re probably the best rookies I’ve ever played with. They come in every single time ready to play their hearts out.”

Brandon completely slowed down on offence, though, and couldn’t make a thing as Calgary chipped away on an 8-0 run in three minutes.

The Bobcats finally got out of the funk by doing what they do best: Run. Gill and Bhatti combined for a quick six points on three transition plays to go back up 12.

The same process was repeated as U of C cut it back to seven with two minutes to go.

Calgary’s Mrigendra Dhaliwal knocked down a three-pointer in the final minute to make it 84-80.

They started playing the foul game from there but Brandon hit enough free throws to stave off the comeback bid.

Brown felt it got close not because BU played too slow, but because the offence was simply too stagnant.

“We need to realize sometimes we have the lead and there’s no need to rush,” Brown said.

“We can slow it down. Sometimes we get too greedy, push the ball too fast and that’s when we get the turnovers. We play our best basketball when we get the ball moving.”

Bhatti finished with a game-high 18 points and 15 rebounds after just two points in the first half, thanks to a 9-for-10 mark from the line.

Hamberger had 17 and Gill added 16.

Martynas Sabaliauskas led Calgary with 17 points.

The Bobcats committed 17 turnovers to the Dinos’ 10, but their 11 threes to the visitors’ six made the difference.

The rematch is today at 7 p.m.

BU VOLLEYBALL: The Bobcats men’s volleyball team battled back from a two-set deficit, beating the host Saskatchewan Huskies 3-2 on Friday.

Tom Friesen had a match-high 19 kills and four errors for BU, with Liam Pauls adding 14 kills, six errors and two aces. Isaiah Mamer led Saskatchewan (2-5) with 15 kills and six errors.

The women’s match ended after deadline.

The teams meet again today.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Instagram: @thomasfriesen5