A big Saturday night at the Healthy Living Centre for the Brandon University basketball teams.
Kaela Cranston collected a game-high 25 points as the Lady ‘Cats picked up their first-ever win at the HLC with a 70-63 victory over the UBC-Okanagan Heat.
"With about six minutes left we could have just packed it in. We didn’t. We kept digging in, we kept fighting and we believed that we’d hit shots and get defensive stops and that’s what happened," coach Novell Thomas told CKLQ’s Tyler Crayston. "We’re happy to get a win. It’s so hard at this stage of the game to get wins. We got to fight for every one."
Cassie Cooke added 21 points while Stephanie Haynes had 10 points for BU who upped their record to 3-9 on the season.
On the men’s side, Brandon extended their winning streak to three in a row by upending UBC-Okanagan 74-66 behind a game-high 21 points from Ali-Mounir Benabdelhak.
"We had two solid games. We beat a very good Thompson Rivers team. They’re a team that could possibly host a playoff series and we beat a scrappy team on a second night, back-to-back," said coach Gil Cheung when reflecting on the weekend to start the second-half. "It’s coming together."
Emerick Ravier recorded 20 points while Jordan Reaves was next with 17 points for BU who sit at 4-8 and are six points back of the final playoff spot in the conference’s Prairie Division.
"Everybody can help, everybody can put his talent on the court. Everybody trusts each other and I think that’s why we start to be good in the second semester," said Benabdelhak.
It’s the first home sweep for the BU hoops teams since the 2008-2009 season.
Meanwhile, the BU volleyball teams had mixed results against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack to close out a weekend road series in Kamloops.
Shanlee McLennan had 10 kills and three aces to lead Brandon to a sweep of TRU for a second straight night.
Set scores were 25-16, 25-18 and 25-12.
Victoria Dakin added eight kills for the Lady ‘Cats who are off to the best start in the program’s history at 11-3, which is good for second-place in the standings.
On the men’s side, the defending conference champion Bobcats are .500 on the season following a straight sets loss.
Set scores were 32-30, 26-24 and 25-23.
Sebastien Steigmeier scored 19 kills while Dan Boutwell added eight kills and six blocks for Brandon who slipped to 7-7.
