After a historic night in the women's game, the 5-3 Mount Royal Cougars hosted the 3-5 Lethbridge Pronghorns in what was to be a gritty and tenacious game from the get-go.

Tag Layton gets a chance to face his former squad, and the second-year guard is looking to steal the win against a tough Pronghorns group. 

A solid start for the Cougars led by forward Sam Barnie, who was perfect from the field to start the game. First-year guard Jacob McLellan made his presence known early with an electric start on both ends of the court to start the game. MRU led 19-7 at the end of the first quarter. 

Fifth-year guard Kymani Pollard did a great job of keeping the Pronghorns in the game early, scoring 12 of the team's 33 first-half points. The Pronghorns delivered a run of their own in the second quarter, outscoring the Cougars 26-20 in the period. 

Despite Pollard's efforts, the Cougars found themselves hanging on with a 39-33 lead heading into the half and McLellan leading the way with 9 points. 

Second-year forward Joseph Lemieux had himself a game as well, coming out strong helping his team cut the lead to just 1 point and keeping his squad in it. Matching his efforts on the other end, Cougars guard DJ Roberts asserted his dominance, scoring early in the second half. 

Heading into the fourth quarter tied at 58, both teams were one dominant stretch away from bringing their team home the win. The Pronghorns took their first lead since the beginning of the game at the start of the fourth, but not for long after the high-flying forward Faruq Balarabe slammed one home to keep the game tied. 

Layton continued to rise to the moment, sinking two clutch free throws to tie the game at 75 with two minutes left and then seconds later nailed a huge three-pointer to retake the lead for the Cougars. 

In a close game all the way till the final buzzer, the Cougars pull away with the 82-80 win against the Pronghorns to cap off a great night of hoops at Kenyon Court.