A lethal touch from three-point land has allowed the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's basketball team to take down the top-ranked team in the Canada West.
The Horns kicked off their 2022-23 Canada West season with a thrilling 98-94 victory over the Victoria Vikes in front out a raucous hometown crowd at the 1st Choice Savings Centre.
Facing the same Vikes team that ended their playoff run last spring, the seventh-ranked Pronghorns shot a sizzling 17-for-41 from beyond the arc - a success rate of 41.5 - to get past the Vikes, who earned the number one seed heading into the new season.
"It might have taken three games to make 17 threes (last year)," said Pronghorns head coach Jermaine Small.
Leading the three-point brigade was second year guard Kymani Pollard, who drained six of 10 from beyond the arc on his way to a 29-point and Player of the Game honours, while teammate Shae Gibb went five-for-nine, including clutch back-to-back tres in the third quarter for an 83-76 lead.
Angelo Mbituyimana and Tag Layton were each 2-for-5 from the three-point line.
That proved enough to score a little payback from last spring against the team Small said he was thinking about since that quarter-final loss, also at the 1st Choice Savings Centre.
"They feel like a million bucks,' said Small of his charges. "I'm proud of them. There were times we were bending and we could have broke, but we didn't break and I always say to them "It's OK to bend, but don't break. We had a lot of contributions and even though we didn't win the glass (the Vikes out-rebounded the Pronghorns 41-28), I thought we had timely rebounds and made some free throws. It felt like they were making twos and we were making threes. That's just a mathematical thing and it just kept rolling. I'm proud of their effort, but at the same time last year we surprised Calgary at the beginning and then we lost the second night. So they know how important it is to take care of themselves and come back (Saturday) with an even better effort."
With the Horns nursing a 77-76 lead, Gibb - the product of Raymond High School - hit consecutive threes for an 83-76 lead, prompting a Victoria timeout.
The Vikes pushed late and Diego Maffia - who led Victoria with 29 points - had a three-point attempt miss in the dying seconds before Mbituyimana closed it out, hitting one of two free throws the ice the win.
But Gibb's back-to-back threes was a shot in the arm as he posted a 24 points night.
"Especially with a hometown and I thought the fans were really engaged and that gave us energy," said Small of the third-year guard. "But when Shae does that, he did it a few times last year and I really believe last years' experience, playing all those minutes, has really helped him for these types of moments. He's a guy who makes mistakes like everybody else, but he stays poised and he stays confident and he has become a quiet leader for us."
Meanwhile, Pollard added six assists to his 29-point outing.
"It's well deserved," said Small. "He's a special talent. He creates for himself, but he creates for the team as well. He's someone who is another quiet leader we have, but his ability to take over a game like he did, that's what makes him special. It's going to keep him aggressive and he's very fast with the ball as well and he's unselfish. That's what we love about him. As much as he scores and he feels good, when his teammates score, he feels just as good and that's a special player."
The Horns go for the sweep Saturday night as the Vikes look for a little payback.
"They're a very well-coached team," said Small. "They're going to make adjustments and a lot of looks we had (Friday) night, maybe we won't have (Saturday). So what we have to rely on is winning those loose balls, getting more rebounds and getting the big fellow Jeff Rodehutskors a few more touches. We know we have our work cut out for us and they're not going to going to want to leave here 0-2. So we know it's going to be a war (Saturday)."
And after Friday night's showcase from three-point land, the Pronghorns skipper is more than happy to green light his crew to let it fly from beyond the arc whenever the opportunity presents itself in the rematch.
"Absolutely," said Small. "I told our guys 'Man, if you're open, let it fly.' That's been my motto with them. 'You guys work on your shooting, let it fly. If we miss, we're going to get the offensive rebound.' Hopefully we can carry that shooting on to tomorrow and and it's good to have some home cooking."
Mbituyimana had a 14-point night, while Layton and Kevin Ibula each had 10.
Maffia led the Vikes with 29 points and Renoldo Robinson added 18. Elias Ralph hit for 13 points and Trent Monkman hit for 12.
In addition to shooting 41.5 per cent from the three-point line, the Horns shot 47.8 per cent from the field and 68 per cent on free throws.
The Vikes were 57.6 per cent from the field, 30 per cent on three-pointers and 63.2 per cent on free throws.
