BU men earn first weekend sweep

A younger Travis Hamberger might have been rattled by watching his first four shots rattle out.

But the fifth-year guard calmly shook them off and kept shooting while cranking up the intensity on the defensive end.

Hamberger caught fire, dropping a game-high 19 points and leading the Brandon University Bobcats (5-5) to a 77-62 victory over the Regina Cougars (3-5) in their Canada West men’s basketball game at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday.

The same went for fellow fifth-year Sultan Bhatti, who missed a few forced shots before taking a step back and waiting for open looks to knock down 18 points to go with seven assists.

“It’s really just experience,” Hamberger said.

“If we miss our first couple, we gotta get to our spots and make it easy for us to get into our rhythm.

“I feel comfortable with the ball in my hands. I feel like I’m a scorer, but I’m also a creator. I can create opportunities, I can draw attention, I feel really comfortable this year bringing up the ball.”

It was the slowest start to a Bobcat game all season as they trailed 4-0 when Munroop Gill finally hit a shot four minutes in. Gill added a three-pointer to take the lead on the next possession, and the chippy game featuring as many fouls as made shots continued.

Darko Karac drained a trey off the bench to go up 14-10, but Regina milked a mismatch with big man Kaz Dornstauder for six points to tie it 14-14 through 10 minutes.

It stayed close for the first five minutes of the second quarter, then the Bobcats got hot. Bhatti kept them close with a few shifty layups before Hamberger hit a three and Arjun Hehar added a three-point play to lead 32-25.

Isaiah Bay replied with a trey to limit BU’s lead to 32-29 at halftime.

That’s more often a quarter score than a half for Brandon

The Cougars took a brief lead after a pair of long balls by Ajang Tong and Ben Kamba.

But Hamberger rattled off 10 of 13 Bobcat points to put them up eight late in the third.

The Bobcats took a 54-49 advantage into the fourth quarter, then raced away.

Bhatti went back to his old ways as a lethal spot-up shooter, dropping a quick seven points while BU added a few transition buckets to stretch the lead to 67-53 with just five minutes remaining.

The Bobcats were content trading baskets from there to cruise to their first weekend sweep of the season.

“We know coming out the second night, our bodies are going to be hurting, we’re not going to have the legs to shoot, but keep pushing,” Hamberger said.

“We didn’t go away from our game plan from (Friday). We got to the paint, created open shots for each other, and it wasn’t falling in the first half but second half we got our legs underneath us.”

Gill finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Kamba led Regina with 19 points.

The Bobcats hit 10 of 29 threes while the Cougars made seven of 34.

BU visits Saskatchewan next weekend to close out the semester.

“Don’t go away from what we’re doing every single weekend preparing so far,” Hamberger said. “We’re in the gym with O (assistant coach O’Neil Gordon), taking care of our bodies and being sharp from Monday to Thursday.”

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