BRANDON, Man. – Sultan Haider Bhatti was a bright spot for the Bobcats in their season opening loss to the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday night.
 
Bhatti scored a game-high 26 points in his Canada West debut after playing previously at Vanier College in Quebec where he was a provincial champion and league all-star.
 
"I felt good and guys were looking for me," said Bhatti. "I did not want to play selfish, I was making my shots, but we lost unfortunately."
 
The Huskies used a balance offence to pick up the victory with six players reaching double figures. Alex Dewar came off the bench and provided a spark for Saskatchewan with a team-high 21 points.
 
"It was nice to be back in the first game since COVID-19," said Dewar. "It helps to have a supportive team and coaches that energizes you and once you get that first basket, they have confidence in me and that gives confidence to myself, so it is just a domino effect."
 
Maxwell Amoafo added a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Huskies, who scored 31 first-quarter points and led 49-37 at the halftime break.
 
A three-pointer by Anthony Tsegakele cut Brandon's deficit down to 11 points midway through the third quarter, but Saskatchewan quickly replied with a 7-0 run to squash the Bobcats' comeback.
 
The two teams meet again in Saturday's rematch at 7 p.m. at the Healthy Living Centre and can be seen on www.canadawest.tv presented by Co-op.