Box Score

Lethbridge – Needing a single victory to clinch a playoff spot, the Lethbridge Pronghorn men's basketball team did just that, downing the visiting UBC Thunderbirds 95-80 at the 1^st Choice Savings Centre Friday night.
 
The 'Horns return to the post-season after a one year hiatus and improve to 12-5 on the season, while the Thunderbirds slip under the .500 mark at 8-9.
 
Alex Fletcher and Logan Reiter led the for the way 'Horns with matching 25 point nights, while Brandon Brine chipped in with 17 points.
 
A balanced T-Birds attack, with all players scoring at least one basket, saw Harpreet Randhawa come off the bench to lead his team with 13 points, and Andrew McGuinness was the only other T-Bird to hit for double digits with 11 points.
 
Looking to clinch a playoffs spot, the 'Horns raced out to 14-4 lead early and in what would turn out to be a theme for the night, the T-Birds followed with a run of their own and reeled the score back in to a one possession game.
 
The 'Horns were scorching hot in the opening quarter, shooting an impressive 68.8% from the field, including four-for-eight from behind the arc to put up 28 points. Not to be outdone, the Thunderbirds shot the ball well in the opening 10 minutes as well but not quite at the Pronghorn rate as UBC put up 22 points on 9 of 16 from the floor for 56.3%.
 
An early three from Isaiah Solomon coming out of the break cut the 'Horns lead to three but that would be the highlight of the second quarter for the T-Birds as the 'Horns poured in another 21 points and held the Thunderbirds to only 12 second quarter points and a 15 point lead at the half.
 
Returning to the first quarter form, the 'Horns upped their lead to 20 points before the third quarter was a minute old, but T-Birds showed some resiliency and the third quarter proved to solve nothing and the 'Horns remained 15 with 10 minutes to play.
 
Continually chipping away at the 'Horns lead from the start of the fourth, the T-Birds came down from as many as 22 in the third quarter, bringing the game back to single digits, down eight with five minutes to play but  that would be as close as the comeback would come.
 
The 'Horns shot at an efficient clip most of the night, finishing the night 54.7% from the floor. They also closed the night out only missing one free throw all night, concluding the night 15 of 16 from the charity stripe. UBC finished the night with a decent 40.5% from the field but a poor shooting second quarter, where they were 3 for 17 cost them on this night.
 
The 'Horns will host the Victoria Vikes tomorrow night to conclude the weekend set, while the Thunderbirds will travel north to Calgary to face the Dinos. Tip-off for both games is set for 7:00pm and both will be streamed live on http://canadawest.tv.