Box Score REGINA, Sask. – The University of Regina's men's basketball team improved to .500 on the season with a 98-87 victory over the Brandon Bobcats on Saturday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
For the second straight night it was Jonathan Tull leading the Cougar offence, as the fourth-year transfer finished with a season-high 29 points and also pulled down 11 rebounds for his first double-double in a U of R uniform. Now 5-5 on the season and riding a three-game winning streak, the Cougars have pulled into a tie for the seventh and final Pioneer Division playoff berth heading into the December break.
 
Saturday's game saw three lead changes in the first quarter, but the Cougars finished the opening period on a 13-0 run and led for the rest of the game – though Brandon made it interesting down the stretch. Regina held a 43-37 advantage at the half and took a seven-point lead into the fourth, but Brandon had an answer after the Cougars went up 81-69 – the 12-point advantage being the biggest lead of the final period – as the Bobcats went on a 12-4 run capped by a three-point play by Ali-Mounir Benabdelhak that made the score 85-81 with three minutes to go.
 
But that was as close as Brandon got. The Cougars got a layup from Travis Sylvestre and two free throws from Matthew Augustine to go back up by eight, and six more free throws in the final two minutes by the Cougars helped them pull away down the stretch.
 
All five Cougar starters hit double figures in points for the second consecutive game. Besides Jonathan Tull's 29, the U of R also had a 20-point , six-rebound effort by Sylvestre and 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting by Brandon Tull. Will Tallman finished with 13 points, while Augustine ended up with 11.
 
After 22 points on Friday night, Brandon's D.J. Jordan capped off an impressive weekend with 26 points for the Bobcats (1-9) on Saturday. Jordan was 10-for-19 from the field overall and hit two triples, while Benabdelhak finished with 16 points and both Earl Thompson, Jr. and Kenonte Ramsey had 15.
 
Both teams will now take a break from the Canada West schedule until January. The Cougars will be back in action in late December at the Wesmen Classic non-conference tournament, which will see them play three games at the University of Winnipeg from Dec. 28 to Dec. 30.