Lethbridge – The Lethbridge Pronghorn men’s basketball team’s (7-9 CW) playoff hopes took a huge hit with two losses last weekend in Manitoba.  The ‘Horns return home this weekend to host the Brandon Bobcats (4-12 CW), where they’ll be singularly focused on winning and staying alive in the playoff race.
 
Trailing the Winnipeg Wesmen and Saskatchewan Huskies by four games with only six games remaining, the ‘Horns are no longer in control of their own destiny and will need some help if they are to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
 
Heading into the final stretch of his Pronghorn career, ‘Horns leading scoring Derek Waldner has a chance to leave the program with his name among the best to ever don the blue and gold. Entering this weekend, Waldner is only 18 rebounds short of becoming the school’s all-time leader. Nick Baldwin is the current rebounding leader in Pronghorn history with 812.
 
Waldner also surpassed the 1000 point mark for his career last weekend and currently sits in ninth spot on the Pronghorn list with 1014 points scored. He is averaging 16.4 points and 10.8 rebounds this season, placing him 12^th and 2^nd respectively in the conference this season.
 
For the Bobcats, the 2012-13 season has been a difficult one and they were already eliminated from post-season contention but that doesn’t mean they’ll hand games to anyone. Last Saturday the Bobcats upset the previously nationally ranked Huskies.
 
While the Bobcats are ranked next to last offensively, they hold the eighth ranked defense in the conference, allowing 76.6 points against a night. Brandon is only scoring on average 67.6 points per contest.
 
Similarly to the ‘Horns, the Bobcats have five players averaging double digits in points a game and Ali-Mounir Benabdelhak leads the way with 14.2 points.
 
Tip-off for both Friday and Saturday night’s contests are scheduled to follow the women’s game at 8:00pm at the 1^st Choice Savings Centre. Both games will also be webcast on www.canadawest.tv.
 
The ‘Horns will head out on the road next weekend to face the Regina Cougars before facing the surging Calgary Dinos in a home-and-home series to wrap up the conference schedule.
 
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