REGINA, Sask. – The Lethbridge Pronghorns never trailed in a 103-88 win over the Regina Cougars on Saturday night in Canada West men’s basketball action at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport on the U of R campus.

Three different Lethbridge players broke the 20-point barrier in the win, including Julian Spear Chief-Morris with 25 points as the fifth-year swingman led the Pronghorns in scoring for the second night in a row. Chaz Johnson came off the bench to score 23 for Lethbridge, while Derek Waldner added 20. Spear Chief-Morris also had 11 rebounds and Waldner pulled down 10 as both players registered double-doubles.

Connor Burns led Regina with 21 points and added six rebounds in the loss, while Brendan Hebert (16 points), Sterling Nostedt (14), Paul Gareau (13), and Jeremy Zver (11) also scored in double figures for the Cougars. Zver’s 11 points were a career high as the big man scored four consecutive buckets for the Cougars at one point in the second quarter.

Lethbridge jumped out to an early lead for the second game in a row, as they led 26-14 after the first quarter. They held on to a double-digit advantage for most of the remainder of the contest, as the closest the Cougars came was after a pair of Nostedt free throws brought the U of R to within six midway through the third. The Pronghorns quickly responded with a 9-0 run and held off the Cougars down the stretch for the win.

Besides the three players over 20 points, Logan Reiter (14 points) and Morgan Duce (11) also hit double figures for the Pronghorns. Lethbridge turned the ball over just three times in the win – one of which came in the last few seconds of the game as the Pronghorns let the shot clock expire with a comfortable late lead.

The Pronghorns (11-9) remain alive in the Prairie Division postseason hunt. Lethbridge will need to win twice against Calgary next weekend and hope for a gift on the out-of-town scoreboard in the form of a Manitoba victory over Winnipeg.

The Cougars (6-14) finish the season next weekend with a two-game road trip to Brandon.


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