Chalk it up to a little experience for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's basketball team.

Coming off an 0-2 weekend against the Trinity Western University Spartans in Langley - a pair of losses that brings the 1-3 Horns' losing streak to three games - the Pronghorns head to Brandon to face the 3-1 Bobcats Friday and Saturday.

The Horns kept it close against the Spartans last weekend, but were ultimately topped 90-85 in overtime Friday and 77-72 Saturday.

"It was close games, for sure, and what you can take away from that is experience," said Pronghorns head coach Jermaine Small. "I think that's going to help us moving forward. I thought some of our turnovers down the stretch kind of hurt us and could we have been better at the foul line? For sure. But I give them credit, too. It was (the Spartans) home opener and it gave them some energy.

"But for us, it's getting the new guys acclimated to the level of play and moving forward that experience last weekend will help us this weekend and keep building our identity."

The Pronghorns 1-3 record has them tied for 13th in the Canada West with the Saskatchewan Huskies.

Offensively, the Pronghorns sit in 11th in the Canada West with 78.8 points-per-game and are currently 14th defensively, giving up 87.3 points-per-game.

The Pronghorns are led by Kymani Pollard's 18.3 points-per-game (12th in Canada West scoring), while Shae Gibb and Jeff Rodehutskors are averaging 13.3 and 12.5 points-per-game, respectively.

Rodehutskors 7.3 rebounds-per-game is tops on the Pronghorns, while Jack-Henry Fox-Grey is averaging 6.5 boards per game.

Through four games Brandon is 3-1 and in an early-season log jam for second place in the Canada West with the Mount Royal Cougars, Regina Cougars, Trinity West Spartans and the Victoria Vikes.

The Manitoba Bison lead the early charge at 4-0.

Heading into the third weekend of the season, Small noted his team's scrappy mentality.

"What I really like about our group is that we fight," he said. "Whether we're down 10, 20 or two, we continue to fight and for the new guys, I think they've caught onto that fairly quickly. We play until the horn and there's no time on the clock. I think moving forward that's a really good thing. We know it's a long game and we never give up.

"We had lots of different contributions, especially from our point guard, Kymani. He was really good the first night (against the Spartans) and the second night was kind of tough with fouls. But I think moving forward this group understands we have to focus on what we can control and just play hard to the end."

After facing Victoria and TWU to start the season, the Horns look forward to another out-of–province test they weren't getting during the pandemic.

"I've never been to Brandon, obviously (due to) COVID," said Small. "Shae and Avery Hutcheson have been there and we're going to lean on their experience of playing there. You have to go in there and it's like a playoff game. They play well at home. So it's just leaning on their experiences and with Jeff, on any given night he's a tough match for the opposing team. It's going in there with a Game 7 mentality and playing as hard as we can."

The Bobcats have two players averaging over 20 points-per-game, led by Anthony Tsegakele (22.5) and Jahmaal Gardner (21.7), good for fifth and eighth in league-scoring, respectively.

Sultan Haider bhatti sits third on the Bobcats with 17.3 points-per-game, while Khari Ojeda-Harvey is averaging 15.5.

Haider bhatti is shooting an impressive 15-for-19 from the three-point line for a success rate of .789.

Tsegakele has pulled down 38 rebounds for 9.5 per game. Haider bhatti has 31 boards, good for 7.8 per game. 

Small said neutralizing the likes of Tsegakele and Gardner will be key this weekend.

"We just have to make it tough on those guys. They have obviously proven they can score. Anthony has been an all-star for the last two or three years. We just have to make it as tough as possible. Every weekend you're playing guys who are all-stars. We have our work cut out for us, but we look forward to the challenge."