BRANDON – The Brandon University men's basketball team opened their 2016-2017 Canada West home schedule in fine fashion on Friday night by beating the UBC Okanagan Heat 82-69.
 
The Bobcats came out with determined energy and went on a dominating 11-0 run to open the contest. Brandon continued their tremendous start with a 16-4 advantage before finishing the first quarter with a 25-13 lead.
 
The second quarter was a bit more back and forth and Brandon was up 41-32 at halftime.
 
After the break, the Bobcats had another offensive outburst with a 10-0 run. They outscored the Heat by a 27-15 margin in the third quarter and held strong for the remainder of their home opener.
 
"It was a great crowd and we are excited to get the win," said coach Gil Cheung. "We had a great week of practice and we had quality possessions. We have continued to get better since we started training camp in the fall and hopefully there is more success to come."
 
Tyvon Cooper collected a team-high 22 points for Brandon, while Chris Stanhope scored 16 points and John Paul poured in 12 points for the BU men's team.
 
Earl Thompson Jr. finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds as the Bobcats improved to 1-and-2.
 
Aldrich Berrios was the top scorer for the Heat with 22 points as UBC Okanagan slipped to 1-and-2.
 
The Bobcats look for back-to-back wins on Saturday night when they host the Heat in the rematch at 7 p.m. at the Healthy Living Centre.