Men on four-game winning streak
Jan. 25, 2010 - Regina Leader-Post
By Ian Hamilton
James Hillis believes the University of Regina Cougars are playing better.
They're certainly getting better results.
Regina's men's basketball team won its fourth straight Canada West game Saturday, handing the Brandon Bobcats a 98-75 loss at the U of R's Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport.
The Cougars had a 4-4 record at the Christmas break, but lost games to the UBC Thunderbirds and Victoria Vikes during a trip to B.C. earlier this month. Since then, Regina has swept two-game series from each of the Manitoba Bisons and Brandon to get to 8-6.
"We've been improving," Hillis, the Cougars' head coach, said Sunday. "We had a talk after the UBC game (a 97-70 loss on Jan. 8) not because we lost but because I wanted to tell the guys that I didn't mind starting the second half against the best team in the country. I thought it would be a good benchmark to see where we were at -- and we learned some things about ourselves.
"That was good for us because we want to get to that level. We want to play (UBC) again in the Canada West final and we want to get to the point where we don't have to play them again until the Canada West final."
The Cougars are now tied with the Saskatchewan Huskies for second in the Prairie Division, 2½ games back of the Calgary Dinos (11-4). Regina visits Calgary -- which has clinched a playoff spot -- for games Friday and Saturday.
The Lethbridge Pronghorns are next at 7-8, followed by the Alberta Golden Bears (7-9) and Brandon (6-10).
On Saturday, Regina used a steady diet of three-pointers to record its first sweep of Brandon since the 2005-06 season. The Cougars won 69-55 on Friday.
Jeff Lukomski was 9-for-13 from behind the arc and had 34 points, and Paul Schubach was 4-for-5 from three-point territory en route to a 20-point outing.
Schubach, who's in his fifth season with the Cougars, cracked the 1,000-point barrier for his career. He became the second U of R player to do so this season -- Jamal Williams was the other -- and the 14th in school history.
"It was Jeff's coming-out party; it was his first really good game since the football experiment," Hillis said of Lukomski, who played defensive back with the U of R Rams during the 2009 Canada West football season. "And (Schubach) was steady, just like he always is."
Regina shot 64 per cent from the floor (35-for-55), including 52 per cent (14-for-27) from three-point range. The Bobcats, who were led by Kyrie Coleman's 14 points, shot just 40 per cent (28-for-70) from the field.
Hillis said the Cougars are defending the three-point line better than they did earlier in the season. They also tweaked their offence to help their defence handle the famed dribble-drive offence.
"A couple of years ago, Minot and Medicine Hat were the only ones who did it," Hillis said, referring to teams the Cougars face in exhibition games. "Now it's like everybody has changed to it. Part of the reason we (made the change) was so we could learn how to defend it.
"We're not the best at it (on offence) yet by any means. Given our personnel, when we do it, we do a bastardized version. But it has helped."