LETHBRIDGE – Having secured a third straight playoff spot, the Lethbridge Pronghorn men's basketball team closes out the Canada West conference schedule hosting the conference leading and U SPORTS third ranked Alberta Golden Bears.
 
The Pronghorns and Bears square-off at the 1^st Choice Savings Centre, Friday night at 8:00pm and Saturday night at 7:00pm. Both games will be streamed live on www.canadawest.tv.
 
Saturday night, the Pronghorns will also participate in the Value Village Fun Drive. Fans that donate soft goods such as clothing, bedding and shoes will get free admission into Saturday night's game.
 
A Look at the Teams:
With two games to play, the Pronghorns (12-6) sit fourth in both the standings and RPI and cannot finish any lower than fourth but with one loss by both the UBC Thunderbirds and Calgary Dinos and a sweep of Alberta the Pronghorns can finish as high as second.
 
Statistically, the Pronghorns are still ranked second offensively in Canada West scoring 89.5 points per game but have dropped to 15^th in team defence, allowing 86.1 points per game.
 
The Pronghorns continue to lead the conference in free throws made with 333 and are second in free throw percentage (74%). The team also leads Canada West in steals with 13.3 per game.
 
The Golden Bears (17-1) are locked in as the number one seed and home court advantage throughout the Canada West playoffs. The Bears lone loss this season came at home versus the Victoria Vikes.
 
Winners of eight games in a row, the Bears come to Lethbridge with the top ranked defence in Canada West allowing only 63.8 points per game, nearly 10 points fewer than any other team in Canada West. Offensively, the Bears are no slouches with, holding the fifth ranked offence, scoring 84.3 points per game.
 
The Bears are also the second best rebounding team in Canada West with 47.2 per game, including a conference high 14.8 per game.
 
Players to Watch:
Senior guard Dejon Burdeaux, despite missing all six games since the semester break, leads the Pronghorns with 21.9 points per game and will be a game time decision in what would be his final regular season home games as a Pronghorns.
 
In Burdeaux's absence Zac Overwater has stepped his game up and sits second with 18.1 points per game but has averaged 23.8 points in the six games Burdeaux has missed.
 
The trio of Mamadou Gueye, Austin Waddoups and Brody Clark do the bulk of the damage for the Bears attack. Gueye leads the Bears with 15.5 points per game, while Waddoups is right behind him at 15.4 points. Clark sits third with 14.2 points per game.
 
Up Next:
The Pronghorns will have a bye next week during the Canada West play in games and wait to see who they will host in one of four Canada West quarter-finals the following week.