Edmonton - Fifth-year guard Daniel Ferguson scored a game high 26 points to lead the No.8 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears’ basketball team to an 85-77 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns Saturday night at the Saville Community Sport Centre in Edmonton.

The Golden Bears also got double-digit points from Jordan Baker (14), Rob Dewar (14) and Matt Cardoza (12), while Baker also picked up a team high nine rebounds.

Lethbridge was paced by 24 points from Daryl Cooper, as well as 15 points and 10 boards from Dominyc Cooper and nine points and 12 rebounds from the hands of Derek Waldner.

With the win, Alberta jumps into a tie for first place in the Prairie Division, along with the Manitoba Bisons, each with an 8-4 record. Saskatchewan follows closely behind at 7-4, while Victoria leads the Pacific Division at 10-2. Alberta split their two games against Manitoba earlier this season, but is 2-0 against the Huskies.

Lethbridge slides to a 5-7 record and are tied for fourth place in the Prairie Division with the Brandon Bobcats. The top four teams make the playoffs, and the Pronghorns will need a pair of wins next weekend when they host the 4-8 Calgary Dinos.

On Saturday night in Edmonton, Alberta and Lethbridge kept it close throughout the game, as the Golden Bears really only gained control of the scoreboard in the second half. Although Alberta had leads of 10 and 12 points throughout the contest, Lethbridge always found ways to draw back to within a couple of possessions, including late in the fourth with Alberta up by 10. A quick Pronghorn bucket, followed by a steal on the in-bound, and another bucket, followed by a successful free-throw, halved the Alberta lead in under 10 seconds of play.

The Golden Bears earned a slim lead through the opening 10 minutes, but a resilient Pronghorns’ team matched Alberta bucket for bucket in the second quarter to trail by just two points, 42-40, at halftime.

Coward led Lethbridge in scoring in the first half, putting away 12 points and nine rebounds in a very effective half of basketball. In fact, Coward almost had as many boards by himself as the Bears’ had as a team (14). Ferguson and Cardoza paced the Alberta first half attack with 15 and 10 points respectively.

Baker, the second leading scorer in CanadaWest, picked up the scoring slack in the second half, scoring 11 of his 14 total points in the final 20 minutes. Dewar, who played well for Alberta on Friday night before fouling night, also added six points in the second half, but ultimately fouled out to end his night prematurely.

Although the Bears had their fourth quarter lead shrunk to single digits late in the proceedings, they maintained possession of the ball, forcing Lethbridge to continually take fouls, sending Alberta to the line for charity shots. Both Ferguson and Cardoza sunk late attempts from the line to regain Alberta’s scoreboard ownership, and eventually cement the win at 85-77.