Moses Adede

‘Horns host ranked Huskies with playoff lives on the line

2/4/2015 3:57:00 PM

Lethbridge – With their playoff aspirations hanging in the balance, the Lethbridge Pronghorn men's basketball team faces a tough challenge, hosting the CIS fifth ranked Saskatchewan Huskies in the final home games of the conference schedule.
 
The 'Horns and Huskies will hit the hardwood at the 1st Choice Savings Centre Friday night at 8:00pm and Saturday night at 7:00pm. Both games will also be streamed live on http://canadawest.tv.
 
With only four games remaining, the 'Horns (6-10) are three games back of the Manitoba Bisons for the final playoff spot, but with the Bisons holding the tie-breaker between the two teams, the 'Horns will have to win the spot outright.
 
The Huskies (12-4) on the other hand, enter the weekend on an eight-game winning streak and sit tied with the Victoria Vikes atop the Pioneer Division standings. The Huskies haven't lost since November 29th, when they dropped a 99-75 decision to the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver to close out the first semester of action.
 
Statistically speaking, this weekend's match-up is as much of a mismatch as the standings would indicate and the 'Horns will have their work cut out for them. The Huskies sport the third ranked offence in the conference, scoring nearly 83 points per game, while the 'Horns are ranked 12th, scoring just over 76 points a night.
 
At the defensive end of the floor, the 'Huskies sit eighth (76.2) in Canada West and the 'Horns are ranked 13th, allowing 79.9 points against per game.
 
Individually, the 'Horns have four starters averaging double digits in points per game with Brandon Brine continuing to lead the 'Horns offensive charge. Brine sits 10th in conference scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game. American post Brent Watkins is second on the 'Horns with 14.4 points per game and sits ninth in the conference in rebounding, averaging 7.8 rebounds per contest. Rob Olsen and Jared Baker round out the 'Horns top four averaging 11.8 and 10.6 points per game respectively.
 
For the Huskies, five players are averaging double digits in points a night. 6'6" American forward Dadrian Collins leads the Huskies with 14.9 points per game. Matthew Forbers is second with 13.8 points and Mike Scott is chipping in with 12.7 points per game.
 
The 'Horns will head out on the road next weekend, traveling to Edmonton to face the Alberta Golden Bears in the final weekend of the regular season.
 
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