Late push powers Pronghorns to victory
By Woodard, Dale on February 8, 2020.
Dale Woodard
Lethbridge Herald
When things were tight, the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s basketball team found another gear.
The Horns downed the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack 86-77 in Canada West play Friday night at the 1st Choice Savings Centre.
In a game of lead changes, the Horns put up some key stops and turned them into late buckets for the win that improves them to 9-10.
It also gives them the chance to finish the regular season at .500 as the teams wrap up the weekend and regular season in the rematch tonight at 7 p.m.
“It was definitely back and forth,” said Pronghorns head coach James McKinnon. “The boys just stepped up in the final three or four minutes and strung it together. We got some good defensive stops and then offensively we executed to perfection.”
The close score set the table for an entertaining finish, but McKinnon felt it was a little closer than he would have liked.
“I don’t like it as a coach, per se, but it was good to see the boys prevail in a situation where we have to take care of every position,” he said. “We have a few victories in a couple of games like that against some of the bigger schools. So to put it together and get a win showcases we’re able to do it in finals.”
The Horns look to close out the regular season with a sweep tonight and meet a second-half goal as well.
“We really want the sweep, that will put us at 10-10 and get us to .500, which is a bit of a goal that we set for the second semester,” said McKinnon.
“Do we think they’ll come back? Of course they will. They have a bunch of seniors and a bunch of fifth-year guys and they’re going to come out ready to roll. But I think with the way we played tonight I think we’ll wear them down relatively quickly and hopefully we can open up the floodgates in the second half.”
Colton Gibb led the Horns with 26 points, while Jeff Rodehutskors went 7-for-10 from the field and 17 points.
Chad Oviatt with 10 points and five blocks and Kyle Peterson finished with 14 points and nine assists.
“So it was really another balanced attack by us,” said McKinnon.
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