Brandon University Athletics

The Bobcat teams of 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 had back-to-back opportunities to capture the top prize in Canadian university men's basketball.
 
Brandon entered the 1999-2000 season with a lot of question marks after all five starters moved on from a year prior. The new-look Bobcats gelled together at the right moment to win their sixth straight Great Plains Athletic Conference championship.
 
The BU men swept the Manitoba Bisons in the best-of-three league final to land their 14^th consecutive berth in the Final 8 national tournament in Halifax.
 
Josh Masters had a 19-point performance as the Bobcats won the deciding game over the Manitoba Bisons 74-59 in front of 1,100 fans at a packed BU Gym.
 
"It's a big emotional win for all of us because everybody was new at the beginning of the year. No one knew each other. No one predicted us to finish this good," Masters told Kirk Penton of the Brandon Sun.
 
Brandon was seeded eighth going into nationals and took on the top-ranked Alberta Golden Bears in the quarter-finals. The Bobcats pulled off a major upset by defeating the Bears 73-57. GPAC Player of the Year and all-Canadian Earnest Bell had 31 points.
 
An iconic moment took place in the semifinals against the fourth-ranked Western Mustangs. Josh Masters hit a miraculous half-court shot at the buzzer to lead BU to a thrilling 61-58 victory.
 
The Bobcats dropped a 61-60 decision in the national final against the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.
 
Bell and fifth-year Greg Walker were named national tournament all-stars.
 
The 'Cats came back the very next season with added motivation.
 
They repeated as GPAC champions and made it 15 straight trips to nationals. Bell poured in 27 points to power the Bobcats past the Bisons 93-71 to sweep the league final.
 
"Right now, I think I'm more emotional and just really happy for six fifth-year guys," coach Jerry Hemmings told the Brandon Sun. "My emotions are with those players. I think I got the greatest job in the world at times . . . you love doing something and see these players work so hard."
 
The third-seeded Bobcats knocked off the St. Mary's Huskies 65-57 in the national quarter-final. Bell had a thunderous alley-oop dunk with nine minutes remaining and Aaron Mitchell made back-to-back three-point daggers in the closing minutes.
 
The semifinal was dramatic and Tyrone Smith came through in the clutch. He drove the lane and hit a running jumper with five seconds to go as Brandon got past Western 77-76.
 
Brandon met the top-ranked X-Men in a rematch and the two sides went the distance in the first overtime final in the event's 39-year history. The Bobcats were edged 83-76.
 
Earnest Bell and Charlton Weasel Head were honoured as national tournament all-stars.