December 1 - The University of Regina’s men’s basketball team brought its Canada West record back up to .500 on Saturday night after defeating the Manitoba Bisons by an 86-76 margin at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

Manitoba’s only lead of the ball game came after Isaac Ansah gave his team a 2-0 lead early in the first quarter. The Cougars quickly took the lead and, despite a third-quarter charge by Manitoba in the third quarter, didn’t trail the rest of the way.

The win moves the Cougars’ record to 5-5 on the year. Regina is in second place in the Great Plains Division, one win ahead of Winnipeg (4-6) and four wins ahead of fourth-place Manitoba (1-9).

“I’m very pleased to end the first half with a win,” Cougars head coach James Hillis said. “It’d be looking like a much different season if Manitoba had been only two games back entering the Christmas break.”

For the second consecutive game, shooting guard Jeff Lukomski led the Cougars in points. Lukomski scored 25 points, 13 of which came in the fourth quarter alone. Adam Huffman came off the bench to score eight points and grab eight rebounds in 19 minutes of play. Kris Heshka also turned in a solid game for Regina, scoring 16 points and pulling down a game-high six offensive rebounds.

Ansah, who entered the game ranked as Canada West’s fifth-leading scorer, piled up 26 points in a losing cause for the Bisons. Forward Darcy Coss had 13 points and added eight rebounds for Manitoba.

The Cougars will return to action on Jan. 4 and 5 at home against Thompson Rivers and Fraser Valley.

Manitoba will visit Jamestown College on December 14 and North Dakota State College of Science on December 15 and then participate in the Wesmen Classic from December 28-30. The Bisons resume Canada West regular season action on January 3 at Winnipeg.

NOTES: Lukomski leads the Cougars with an average of 17.6 points per game … Jamal Williams entered the game tied for fourth in Canada West in rebounding and now has 79 on the season.

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