BU Bobcats survive playoff slugfest with Saskatchewan Huskies

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This article was published 22/02/2024 (574 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — In the biggest moment of Dominique Dennis’s basketball career, he looked to the man who started him on his path there.

Dennis checked in when star guard Khari Ojeda-Harvey fouled out with 73 seconds left in Brandon University’s Canada West men’s basketball playoff opener. His dad, Kevin, attending his first post-season game of his son’s four-year career called him over to the front row of the stands.

Kevin spotted a mismatch and studied how the Saskatchewan Huskies were playing his son, forcing the lefty to his right hand.

“He told me ‘When you’re going, just take the pull up, it’s there,” said the senior guard, who hit a 20-footer to ice the Saskatchewan Huskies 62-55 and move on to the quarterfinals.

“I trusted him and as I saw it rattle in I started smiling because I knew it was going to fall and I knew he was going to say something after. That’s why we play, for those types of moments.”

The Bobcats now play the No. 1-seed Victoria Vikes in the quarterfinals today at 3 p.m.

Victoria enters the game on a high, having swept Brandon three weeks ago in its home gym and beating Thompson Rivers twice to clinch the top spot.

Star guard Diego Maffia was dubbed Canada West player of the year for the second straight season while big man Aaron Tesfagiorgis earned defensive player of the year honours and Craig Beaucamp was named coach of the year.

Bobcats coach Gil Cheung knows the Vikes are a handful.

“They’re the best team in the country. They have the best player in the country, the best coach in the country, defensive player of the year … we’re just trying to keep it close,” Cheung said.

“They’re going to go out there and do what they do, our job is to hang around.”

The Bobcats hung around despite offensive struggles after back-to-back bye weeks.

They couldn’t have started colder, missing their first seven three-pointers. However, the Huskies weren’t any better, going 0-for-4 from deep as both teams reached the rim for all of their hard-earned buckets.

Jack McDonald took a foul six seconds in and another with 2.5 seconds left in the quarter on an offensive rebound, leading to a third of the Huskies’ points. Malik Lewis came off the bench and hit a pair of floaters and McDonald hit BU’s lone triple in the final minute of the frame to lead 13-12.

Brandon started the second quarter dominating the glass on both ends. This led to transition buckets and a put-back on a 7-0 run.

Sultan Bhatti scored five quick points and Dominique Dennis trilled a three to lead 28-19, but the Huskies fought back as Emmanuel Bonsu and Fisayo Moibi came off the bench to combine for 19 points.

While Brandon got into foul trouble in the first quarter, it pushed Saskatchewan to five fouls quickly in the second and benefited when Bhatti and Khari Ojeda-Harvey drew non-shooting fouls and hit four free throws, giving BU a 34-31 edge at halftime.

Brandon kept the clamps down on defence in the third, giving up just eight points while scoring 11 to lead 45-39.

BU finally felt the sting of its offensive woes when Chan De Ciman drilled a three and Kymahni Bent tapped a rebound home to give Saskatchewan its first lead, 49-48, with just less than six minutes remaining.

Travis Hamberger replied with a massive triple — his lone make on six attempts from deep — to tie it, then Bhatti and Eli Ampofo followed suit to give Brandon a lead it never gave up again.

It was tight, however, when Ojeda-Harvey picked up his fifth foul up 57-55. But Noah Nickel missed both free throws and turned the ball over on the following possession.

A hobbled McDonald, who briefly left the game clutching his right knee, returned and dove for a loose ball, drawing a foul to keep a possession alive before Bhatti drilled a jumper to make it a two-score lead in the final minute.

“(McDonald) does a lot for us. I know guys want to score, want to do this but he sticks his nose in there, so does Blake (Magnusson),” Cheung said. “They’re two guys that … when they play well for us, it moves us to another level. I’m proud of those guys. That’s a big, physical team and they tried to bully us and we held them off just enough.”

For some reason, the Huskies opted not to foul down 59-55 with 36 seconds left, letting Dennis dribble the clock down to 15 seconds before his dagger.

In many ways, the Bobcats felt they escaped.

“If you told us we were going to score 62 and win, I don’t like our chances,” Cheung said.

“But you know what? They’re one of the best defensive teams and really contained us, and we can guard a little bit too I guess. We got enough stops and it’s ugly playoff basketball, I guess. We survived to keep on playing.”

“Last time we played Sask we were making a lot of shots so they made it difficult for us,” Bhatti added. “We were trying some new things, it didn’t work out but at the end of the day, guys off the bench stepped up. We got Malik coming in big minutes, Dom made a big shot at the end.

“I knew guys were going to focus on me today so I was trying to get everybody involved. I was forcing a little bit of shots at first but I knew if everybody was involved, we were going to win the game.”

Bhatti finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds while Ojeda-Harvey added 15 points.

There may not be many believers in the Bobcats in today’s clash with the top team in the country. But they think they have a shot and that’s all that matters.

“Vic is human. They’re still human. We can beat them,” Bhatti said. “Last time we went to Vic they beat us by a lot but they were at home. Now we’re in Manitoba … it’s home for us so it’s going to be a different battle out here.”

ALBERTA 97 MOUNT ROYAL 93

In the first game of the day, Alberta survived a massive Mount Royal surge to win 97-93.

The Golden Bears led 18-2 early and 53-40 at halftime after Ethan Egert collected a rebound under his own hoop and tossed the ball 90 feet for a massive buzzer-beater to increase the Alberta advantage.

Brandon Meiklejohn led the Bears with 22 points — 19 in the first half — with Lars Ishimwe adding 20.

Keivonte Watts led all scorers with 35 points for the Cougars, who cut the deficit to one in the final two minutes, but couldn’t take the lead.

The Bears play the No. 2 Calgary Dinos today at 1 p.m.

The late game between the No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds and the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves was still in progress at press time.

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