Pronghorns spread the ball around in victory

By Dale Woodard on December 7, 2021.

The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s basketball team headed into the holiday season not only with a pair of wins, but also in the spirit of giving.

The Horns swept the MacEwan Griffins last weekend, completing the sweep with an 87-50 win Saturday night following a 106-64 decision Friday night that sends Lethbridge into the semester break at 3-5.

That puts them in fourth place in the Canada West Central Division.

And in the theme of the holiday season, the Pronghorns were in the spirit of sharing, at least when scanning the stats sheet after the pair of games and adding up the assists.

“(Friday) night we had 29 and tonight we had 19,” said Pronghorns head coach Jermaine Small “So it’s more of them sharing the ball and it always feels good when you see guys make shots. Our team, I feel when we score we play better defence. It’s good to end the semester on a high note. I saw improvements here and there and we got guys in, so I’m happy.”

After leading the Pronghorns in scoring the previous weekend in Calgary against the Mount Royal Cougars, De’Andrae Pierre once again paced the Horns with 28 points, while Jeff Rodehutskors added 15.

Pierre had four of those 19 assists Saturday, while Junior Mercy and Angelo Mbituyimana each added five. Mercy and Mbituyimana also had three steals each.

“We had a couple of weeks where we knew we weren’t performing up to the level we were capable of,” said Rodehutskors, who also earned the double-double with 11 rebounds and shot seven-for-11 from the field. “I think we knew that these were going to be two big games. Obviously, their record is what it is, but we knew coming in this weekend we had to set ourselves up for success in the second semester by coming and taking care of business.”

“Now we can look forward to letting our bodies recover a little bit, but go on a high note.”

On Saturday night, the Horns came out blazing, jumping to a 31-10 lead after the first quarter.

They led 52-26 at halftime on their way to the win.

“I’ve talked to them more and more about playing the whole 40 minutes and starting the game with consistency,” said Small. “I feel that we got off to a good start.”

Rodehutskors said a quick start like the one they enjoyed Saturday is good for the young Pronghorns squad.

“If we’re out and running and we have the momentum on our side we do anything, especially in our gym. I was talking to one of our alumni the other day and I said it doesn’t matter who we play, we can beat anyone in our gym. We get out and get the momentum going, the young guys get excited and the crowd gets going in our gym and we can do anything.”

When they’re distributing the ball, Rodehutskors noted the Horns become an even tougher opponent.

“We’ve been struggling to share the basketball and I think it’s not a lack of confidence in each other, it’s just getting comfortable and I think it’s a really positive sign to see all of us getting touches,” he said. “We need to realize we don’t have one guy we’re going to go to every night. We have a bunch of guys who are going to have different nights throughout the season. So when you have six or eight guys averaging 10 points a game, that’s a hard team to guard.”

The Pronghorns shot 48.6 per cent from the field, 37 per cent from three-point range and 53.8 per cent on free throws.

Now the Pronghorns step away for an extended seven week break.

“It’s good to have a break now,” said Small. “Obviously the focus now is school. We want guys to knock it out of the park and we just need some rest.”

“Some of our guys are banged up right now, so it just makes it a good time for the break and time to evaluate ourselves and know where we can get better.”

“We’ve been practising hard since the start of September and that’s about three months now,” added Rodehutskors. “So it’s just letting the bodies recover, take a few weeks and get back at it after Christmas and be ready to go in the third week of January when we have Mount Royal.”

The Pronghorns kick off the 2022 portion of their season Jan. 21 and 22 against the Cougars.

Heading into the break, the Alberta Golden Bears lead the Canada West Central Division, while the Manitoba Bisons, Regina Cougars and Saskatchewan Huskies are tied atop the East Division at 5-3.

The UBC Thunderbirds lead the West Division at 10-0. The Victoria Vikes are in second place at 7-1.

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