Tsegakele, Tulkki BU’s best in January

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This article was published 03/02/2022 (1507 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Anthony Tsegakele just about led the Brandon University Bobcats to two massive upsets in January.

The second-year forward put up 18 points and 19 rebounds in a 96-88 overtime loss to Regina on Jan. 15, then posted 26 and 15 on 11-for-13 shooting as Saskatchewan came from behind to win 84-80 on Jan. 22.

Tsegakele is now a two-time recipient of the Bobcats male athlete of the month award. Guard Reetta Tulkki won the women’s honour for the first time, BU announced Wednesday.

“(Tsegakele) continues, despite wins, losses, he carries himself the same way,” said BU head coach Gil Cheung.

“… At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where we play, I know I have the toughest, hardest working kid … Some days he misses free throws, he messes up and turns it over and you want to lose your mind sometimes, but at the end of the day, he is genuinely the nicest student-athlete we have here. “He’s our hardest worker, he deserves it and his numbers speak for themselves.”

The Gatineau, Que., native averaged 20 points and 13.5 rebounds in four games in January. He’s now tied for fourth in Canada West at 18.3 points per game and leads the league with 12.8 rebounds per contest.

Tsegakele would trade the numbers for wins, however, which the Bobcats are sorely lacking. They’re on a five-game losing skid and sit last in the East Division at 1-11. While close only counts in horseshoes and curling, Cheung says a loss is a loss but feels the group still learned valuable lessons in those tight games.

“Last week (at Saskatchewan), we learned how to keep guards in front of us, more physical guards,” Cheung said. “Against Regina, we learned how to rotate with guys playing five-out a little bit better. That’s what we’re trying to add on to us for this week, next week, playoffs and then try to make a run and get hot at the right time.”

That right time is somewhat up in the air.

U Sports announced nationals will take place three weeks later than originally scheduled. They’re now set for March 31-April 3 in Kingston, Ont., (women) and April 1-3 in Edmonton (men).

The Canada West playoffs are set to start Feb. 25 in Calgary, with four teams emerging from that weekend and battling for the conference crown the following one.

There would be a near month layoff before nationals, and there are still plenty of postponed games to make up. Canada West could push the post-season back one or more weeks soon.

That will include Tulkki and the winless BU women’s team (0-12).

The Finnish import capped the first semester by making 12 of 24 three-point attempts in two losses to Winnipeg. She drew more attention from opposing defences in January, scoring 35 points on 13-for-42 shooting (5-for-21 from three).

Bambury said the rookie’s game has become about more than scoring.

“As she gets more and more comfortable with the role she has and the expectations placed upon her as an import and as an older player, the biggest thing is her leadership,” Bambury said.

“She’s taken on a much more vocal role both on the court and off. I think she’s teaching a lot more than she did at the beginning of the year and it’s really coming through.

“Especially in our zone, the way she’s able to move, talk and help her partner at the top of the zone move, she has really made a leap that way. Adding that to her finding her stroke, we’ve been over the moon.”

The BU women’s games are postponed this week due to COVID-19 protocols — they are one player shy of the eight required to take on Regina this weekend — and they’ll be down one for the rest of the season as Bailey Johnson left the team in January.

The six-foot-one forward from Warman, Sask., suffered a couple of injuries during the first semester and was concussed during a pickup game on Jan. 3. She said the recovery from the head injury wasn’t going as well as planned and it was the best decision to step away.

“I built such good relationships on and off the court so that was definitely one of the hardest things to cope with, was the fact that I wasn’t going to see them every day,” said Johnson, who had to sit out in 2018-19 as she worked to become academically eligible. She played 16 games in 2019-20, starting five and averaging 4.8 ppg.

“(Former head coach) Novell (Thomas) was such a big part of getting me into BU in the first place and I kind of felt I wasn’t doing him justice by taking a step away. But I also know he would be the same in the way, that I need to focus on my physical health more than anything else.

“… James was such a great coach and I still believe that. He’s a great person, great coach and that’s what made the decision the hardest.”

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