Brandon hot and cold all semester

The streakiest team in Canada West men’s basketball last year is back to its old ways.

The Brandon University Bobcats proved they can hang with the best but lose to the rest on any given night and continued that trend with a Jekyll-and-Hyde first half.

The Bobcats knocked off the defending Canada West champion Calgary Dinos once, lost to the last-place Saskatchewan Huskies once, and split four of their six regular-season weekends.

For a team that went 7-13 last year and barely made the playoffs, they’ll take 6-6 at the break.

“We’re happy with 6-6; we played well enough to be 8-4,” said Bobcats head coach Gil Cheung. “We put ourselves in a good position.

“I thought our guys made good adjustments every weekend, a lot of new faces, younger guys … Our leadership group, Travis (Hamberger) and Sully (Sultan Bhatti), have been really good with the younger guys. It’s been a really tough schedule, travel-wise.”

The Bobcats started the pre-season with their usual Regina trip to face the Cougars and Lethbridge Pronghorns.

Then, they did something different, flying to Newfoundland to face Memorial and Laurentian.

BU hosted Algoma the week before the regular season, which featured six straight weekends.

Brandon beat Manitoba and lost to Winnipeg on its opening-weekend swing trip, then split Lethbridge and Calgary.

It lost both to Alberta, swept Regina and split Saskatchewan.

NEW FACES

Going into the year, it was hard to project this Bobcat team as much better than last year.

However, even Munroop Gill and Arjun Hehar might not have predicted the breakout rookie seasons they’re having.

Gill had a solid pre-season, earning minutes that he certainly made the most of. The Surrey, B.C., product is 10th in the conference with 16.4 points per game, shooting 52 per cent from the field and 37 from three-point range.

Cheung said a lot of schools try to make players fit their system, but he wants to give them freedom to do what they do best, especially on the offensive end.

“We’ve never tried to pigeonhole him,” Cheung said. “He’s crafty, he finds ways to get behind the defence and finds ways to score. He’s been a big impact for us.

“I’m not bringing you out here and trying to change who you are … at the end of the day, he’s probably 5-9, 140, and he’s had a great first semester.”

Hehar has been quieter but even more efficient, a red-hot 44 per cent from beyond the arc. He dropped 32 on just 11 shots in BU’s 102-99 overtime loss to Saskatchewan.

Import guard Malik Brown stepped right into the starting lineup and contributed a steady 10 points per game before injuring his ankle in practice and missing the last two weekends of the first half.

VETERANS LEAD

Of course, the Bobcats still go as Bhatti does.

The second-team all-Canadian has taken another step this year, sitting top five in Canada West in points per game (19.6, third), rebounds (9.9, second), assists (6.0, first) and steals (2.2, fifth).

He’s moving the ball around more and being the leader Cheung wasn’t sure he’d ever become.

“You guys have no idea,” Cheung said. “From Day 1, picking him up in Winnipeg, dropping him off in (residence), and him literally not being sure if he’s going to survive the day to embracing the community and being a leader for us, (he’s been) the face of our program for the last couple of years.

“He’s having a player of the year season.”

Hamberger has added 12.1 ppg, and while he has still struggled to shoot the three at times, he has delivered his biggest performances in the toughest games, scoring 23 in a win over Manitoba, 17 on 70 per cent shooting to beat Calgary, and 19 to cap BU’s only weekend sweep of the semester against Regina.

“We can walk into any gym in the country and know we have two of the hardest workers in that gym,” Cheung said.

“I don’t know if anyone puts in more time than Travis and Sully.”

In the paint, Max Winters may not be new to the team, but he’s a fresh face in the starting lineup. The third-year from Neelin High School has been the replacement for both Blake Magnusson and Jack McDonald to protect the rim and rebound when Cheung wants to play bigger.

While the six-foot-eight forward averages just 5.2 points on 14.3 minutes per game, Cheung has been impressed with how he stepped up.

“He’s one of our smartest guys and one of our hardest workers. He’s put in time, and he deserves his minutes. We ask a lot of him. We ask him to defend the post, to help defend ball screens and try to get on the glass a bit,” Cheung said.

“He’s shot the ball pretty well for a kid who literally never shot a three for how many years … he’s been exceptional for us, for a local kid who’s paid his dues and grinded it out for three years.”

MOVING FORWARD

The Bobcats have a tough second semester, starting with home games against the Wesmen on Jan. 9-10.

They have a bye, then visit the Mount Royal Cougars.

BU hosts MacEwan on Jan. 30-31, then closes the regular season at Manitoba on Feb. 6-7.

They’re the top-scoring team in the Prairie Division at 84.7 points per game, shooting a league-high 36.7 per cent from deep.

They give up 81.8 ppg, with both scoring numbers elevated by the increased number of possessions as a result of the tempo they play with.

So far, it’s working and has them a few wins away from a guaranteed playoff spot.

“We know our identity, we know who we are, we’re comfortable with who we are,” Cheung said.

“Our job’s to get better every week and put together good games, good quarters and go from there.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com