CALGARY – For the second night in a row, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies used a fourth quarter comeback to good effect with Lawrence Moore capping off a dominant final frame by grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring with just 0.3 seconds left on the clock to give Saskatchewan the 84-83 win over the Mount Royal Cougars in Calgary on Saturday night.
The win makes Saskatchewan's spot in the postseason a little more secure as they now hold a record of 9-7 on the season and are currently tied for seventh in the Canada West.
Moore was instrumental in the comeback effort, putting up 20 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. The fifth year also put up a double-double, adding 12 rebounds to his scoring totals. JT Robinson and Alexander Dewar also had big games for the visitors putting up 22 and 11 points respectively.
Glen Yang was the leading scorer for MRU, he put up 22 points on nine of 14 shooting. He also added four steals, putting together a huge night for his last home game. Matthew Guinto was also big for the Cougars, scoring 17 points and dishing out four assists. The Cougars offense was on all night, shooting 49% from the field while adding 10 made threes. LJ Hegwood and Patrick Vandervelden both made big contributions to the team's effort on the night, combining for 23 points, and 10 rebounds.
The Huskies were led by Robinson and De Ciman in the first half. Robinson put in 11 points, while De Ciman had eight thanks to his two three-pointers. Saskatchewan took 16 free-throws in the first half but struggled only making 10 of those 16.
Mount Royal came out of the halftime break on fire. They started the quarter on a 15-6 run, growing their lead into double-digits and taking control of the game. Their offence stayed hot throughout the quarter, shooting 53% from the field and 43% from deep. Their offensive prowess helped them take a 13-point lead into the final 10 minutes.
Saskatchewan came into the fourth and went on a 7-2 run, cutting the Cougars' lead to under 10 with six minutes remaining. Moore found his footing on the offensive end, scoring nine points in the first six minutes, leading the comeback effort.
The Huskies managed to cut the Mount Royal lead all the way down to one heading into the final three minutes. They held the Cougars to only seven points heading into the final stretch of the game.
After a Cougars' basket, Moore hit another three to tie the game with two minutes left. Mount Royal wouldn't give up as they responded with a 4-0 run after layups from Guinto and Yang to retake the lead.
Now trailing by four, the Huskies looked to close the gap and steal a win on the road. After multiple possessions both ways and offensive rebounds galore, De Ciman hit a three with 20 seconds left, cutting their deficit to one.
After two missed free-throws from the Cougars, the Huskies had nine seconds to draw up a play and win the game out of a timeout. After a tipped ball out of the timeout, mayhem ensued.
The Huskies secured the loose ball and took the ball to the rim, where they missed their first two shots, but Moore grabbed another offensive rebound and put it in with 0.3 seconds remaining, winning the game for Saskatchewan.
The Huskies now head back home for a series with the Golden Bears from the University of Alberta, set for Jan. 25 and 26 inside the PAC.
