REGINA, Sask. – Julian Spear Chief-Morris tipped in his own miss with two-tenths of a second remaining in overtime to give the University of Lethbridge a 93-91 win over the Regina Cougars on Friday night in Canada West men’s basketball action at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

After University of Regina rookie Travis Sylvestre’s three-pointer tied it up at 91-91 with 10 seconds left in overtime, Spear Chief-Morris raced downcourt and attempted a floater in the lane. His shot was no good, but he followed up on his own rebound to score the go-ahead bucket.

The Cougars actually had a chance to tie it up despite the game clock showing just 0.2 seconds remaining, but Connor Burns’ attempted redirection of Darius Mole’s 90-foot inbounds pass rimmed out.

Spear Chief-Morris was 12-for-21 from the field, 4-for-8 from three-point range and ended up with a team-high 28 points for the Pronghorns. Five other Lethbridge players broke into double figures, including Logan Reiter (14 points), Alex Fletcher (13), Derek Waldner (13), Chaz Johnson (12), and Morgan Duce (10). Waldner added a game-high 16 rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Paul Gareau had a huge game for the Cougars, going 16-for-24 from the field and ending up with 37 points while pulling down 12 rebounds to collect a double-double. Connor Burns also had a titanic double-double for the Cougars, grabbing a team-leading 15 rebounds scoring a career-high 28 points – none of which were bigger than the two free throws he hit with eight seconds remaining in the fourth to send the game into overtime.

Lethbridge controlled the game early, as Spear Chief-Morris scored 11 points in the first quarter alone as the Pronghorns led 24-13 after the opening 10 minutes. The Cougars chipped away at the double-digit lead, drew even on a pair of occasions in the second, and trailed by just one at the half.

The two teams traded leads early in the third quarter, but it was Lethbridge that held onto a single-digit lead for almost the entire remainder of the game. The U of R’s two-point advantage in the first minute of the third quarter was actually the last time the home side had the lead. The Pronghorns led by as many as eight points in the fourth but the Cougars fought back, finally drawing even after the Burns free throws with eight seconds left.

After the free throws with the score tied 79-79, Lethbridge turned the ball over late which led to a desperation three-point heave by Gareau which was no good.

The Cougars had to come back in overtime as well, as Lethbridge collected the first five points of the extra period. The U of R drew even with a minute remaining after a layup by Gareau, but Duce’s jumper from the paint put the Pronghorns back up. The Cougars sent Alexi Frigon to the line after a missed three-pointer, and Frigon hit one to give Lethbridge a three-point lead.

Gareau continud the wild final minute with a layup to get the Cougars back to within one, and sent Spear Chief-Morris to the line after a foul. Spear Chief-Morris missed both, but – in a play which might very well have made the difference in the game – Frigon collected the offensive rebound off the second miss to put Lethbridge up three, leading to Sylvestre’s triple and Spear Chief-Morris’s last-second heroics.

Lethbridge (10-9) stays alive in the Prairie Division playoff race, but will need big help on the out-of-town scoreboard as the Pronghorns are two wins back of fourth-place Calgary (12-7) and fifth-place Winnipeg (12-8) in the standings.

The Cougars (6-13) and Lethbridge will meet again at the CKHS on Saturday night (8:00).

NOTES: Gareau’s 37 points are the second highest total in his career and tied for the seventh best single-game effort in University of Regina history.

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