Sunday 5 December 2010

Cougars ride Heshka's 30 to first road win

Led by a game-high 30 points and 12 rebounds from 6'7" Kris Heshka, including 9 in the fourth quarter, the Cougars erased an early 4th quarter two point deficit with a game-deciding 17-5 run to grab a character-building road win over Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton.  Heshka, the fifth-year senior who has fought foul trouble all season long and played only 19 minutes due to fouls on Friday night, exploded for a big game inside and helped the Cougars rally from a 17 point halftime deficit. 

6'1" fifth-year guard Jeff Lukomski added 21 points for Regina while 6'6" Marek Downarowicz had all of his 12 points after halftime including a key "and 1" during the fourth quarter run.  The Cougars had finished the third quarter on a 15-4 run led by Heshka and Downarowicz but the Bears scored the first 4 points of the fourth.  But the Cougars forced 5 Alberta turnovers in the run and grabbed their largest lead to that point on a conventional "and 1" by Lukomski to lead 82-72 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. 

Regina led by 12 late when the Bears put together their final push, culminated in a three by 6'8" Jordan Baker (12 points before fouling out).  But Heshka put the final dagger into the Golden Bears comeback with a clutch jumper late in the shot clock to restore the lead to 5 with 55 seconds left and Alberta got no closer.

6'4" Daniel Ferguson led all scorers with 32 points before fouling out and propelled runs of 15-3 to end the first quarter and 9-0 to end the first half as the Golden Bears looked to run away from the Cougars for the second consecutive night.  However the Cougars jumped out of the second half gate with a 12-0 as the Bears were whistled for 6 fouls in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the third quarter.  Back-to-back 3's by Ferguson restored a 9 point Alberta lead, which would be their last large lead as the Cougars started there 15-4 run to lead by two after three quarters. 

6'7" Paul Gareau added 14 points (5 in the fourth) and 5 rebounds for Regina while 6'3" Todd Bergen-Henegouwen added 16 points and 6 rebounds for Alberta, which was whistled for 26 fouls on the night.

No Box Score listed as of yet

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