Box Score

Lethbridge – While it was not pretty, the Lethbridge Pronghorn men's basketball team did just enough to hold off the UBC-O Heat 81-76 at the 1^st Choice Savings Centre.
 
The 'Horns were led by a balanced attack with six players reaching double digits, including all five starters. Coming off the bench, the Horns were led by the energy of Austrailian Brandon Brine, who led the team with 18 points and eight rebounds. Post Brent Watkins chipped in with 13 points, while senior guard Morgan Duce recovered from a poor shooting first half and scored all 11 of his points in the second half to keep the 'Horns on top.
 
Landry Nadyitwayeko kept the Heat within striking distance in the second half, scoring a game high 26 points on a smoldering 9 of 11 from the field, including an amazing stretch where he missed just once from behind the arc on eight shots. Mitch Goodwin and Yassine Ghomari each had 16 points in the loss.
 
In a clash of styles, the 'Horns wanted to push the pace up the court, while the Heat settled into more of a half court set and relied on shots from behind the arc and it nearly worked. The Heat shot 30 times from three point land and hit on exactly half of those shots, but the difference was the 'Horns offensive rebounding and their ability to get second chance shots. 
 
Despite holding the lead from the mid-way point of the opening quarter until the final buzzer, the Pronghorns never felt comfortably ahead.  After holding a slim leads of 21-17 and 41-34 after the first two quarters, the second half turned out to be a back and forth affair.
 
Every time the 'Horns tried to separate themselves from the Heat in the third quarter, the Heat would respond, coming down the floor and hitting a three. Ndayitwayek and Goodwin were deadly from behind the arc in the third, Nadyitwayek hit from beyond the arc on three consecutive rushes down the floor and cut the lead to a single point before the 'Horns hit back-to-back shots to end the third with a five point cushion.
 
After Logan Reiter opened the fourth with a three of his own, the Heat were right back at it, this time with Goodwin coming down the floor and hitting consecutive three-pointers. 
 
The 'Horns finally went on a nine-point run to extend their lead to 11 and it looked like they would finally impose their will but the Heat would just not go away quietly, cutting the lead back to five, but that was as close as they would get.
 
With the win, the 'Horns move back above the .500 mark at 4-3, while the Heat remain winless and drop to 0-7.
 
The 'Horns will be back on home court tomorrow night, hosting the Thompson Rivers WolfPack at the 1^st Choice Savings Centre, tip-off is set for 7:00pm.

The Heat will go looking for their first win of the season in Calgary tomorrow night, facing the Calgary Dinos. Both games will be streamed live on http://canadawest.tv.
 

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