Calgary, ALTA. — Returning to Kenyon Court on Saturday evening, the Mount Royal University Cougars dominated the University of Alberta Golden Bears in the third quarter. Despite late efforts in the fourth quarter by Alberta, the Cougars secured one last victory on their home court in the 2024-2025 regular season.  

To start tonight's game, Sam Barnie got the Cougars up early after finding some space behind the arc. Kyle Varner answered with a triple of his own to match the pace of this rematch, 3-3. Isaac Simon went to the free throw line shortly into the first, but only made one of two attempts. Kole Scott made some magic happen as he danced along the top of the key for a fancy 2 point jumper. Kuach Gajak continued to keep up the energy on Kenyon Court as Gajak tipped away the Golden Bears ball and finished with the one handed flush. Keivonte Watts, who broke the all-time leader in field goals for MRU men's basketball on Friday night, took a trip to the line and scored on each free throw attempt, 9-3 for the Cougars. But Caden Kushnir spun around in the paint with a defender to make a tough jump shot, keeping the game within a single point.  With the game tied up at 9-9 early into the first quarter, Gajak got the block and finished the run with Dray Walburger soaring through the key for 2 points. Once again, Kushnir tied the score at 11-11 after successfully working the paint. Walburger created a 3 point play after drawing contact from two Golden Bears players, then cashed in the free throw for the 3 points, 14-12 for the Cougars. Yet, Nash Semeniuk pushed the ball down the court to get one more bucket to fall, tying the game at 14-14 by the end of the first quarter.

Varner committed an offensive foul early into the second quarter. This set the stage for Watts to fly through traffic and score 2 points but Varner returned by doubling down with a deep triple. With consecutive buckets by Walburger, Scott, and Watts for 6 points, the Golden Bears took a timeout after missing out on two 3 point attempts. Watts clocked in his first triple to claim an 8 point lead, 25-17. Gajak delivered with two straight clutch plays, scoring on both times, and generating a timeout from the Golden Bears, 29-21. Max Russell's pick and roll left him with a successful open look behind the arc, but Scott had some time to set up and knock down a three pointer to keep the 8 point lead for the Cougars, 32-24. After Watts made a mid-range jumper, Russell and Avnoor Bhullar each received a technical foul. The score for the first half was 34-26 and the Cougars entered halftime with an 8 point lead over the Golden Bears.

Scott scored two triples upon returning from the break. Watts subsequently scored his 14th point with another triple, followed by a layup on a fast break. Watts also took a trip to the charity stripe after taking contact on the break. Watts stunned the Golden Bears as he would hit a triple, followed by a fast break layup which also sent him to the charity stripe. Watts generated two 3-point plays and successfully cashed in 6 points, 43-26. Walburger stretched the Cougars lead to 20 points after picking a steal while the Golden Bears were trying to bring up the ball, 46-26. Owen Hickey finally got the Golden Bears on the board after dealing with a 6 minute scoreless run. Watts sank an all-netter three point shot, pushing the Cougars to 49-28. Though, the Golden Bears were still in this game as Simon's 2 point jumper and Russell's three pointer would force a Cougars timeout after falling to a 16 point lead within a matter of seconds, 49-33. Watts and Barnie each took a trip to the free throw line, both of them earning 4 points. This concluded the scoring for the third quarter with the Cougars reclaiming their 20 point lead, 53-33

Watts and Barnie were still shooting hot as they would score a transition triple and layup, respectively. Barnie went on to sink a baseline jump shot, 60-33 for the Cougars. Then, Hickey banked a jumper off the inbound to chip away at the Golden Bears deficit. Even with a feed to and finish by Jean-Nelson Pigoue in the paint, Semeniuk drained another triple to keep the Golden Bears trailing by 24 points, 62-38. Further into the fourth quarter, Semeniuk scored a layup followed by one more three pointer but Pigoue posted up for another 2 points down low.  Pigoue would go on to score another 2 points in the paint, accompanied by Watts' 4th three pointer of the night. This would send the Cougars up with a 28 point lead with under 3 minutes left in regulation, 71-43. With some late trips to the charity stripe and offensive plays, Carson Fisher and Semeniuk combined for 8 points. Nonetheless, the Cougars' double digit lead was too large for the Golden Bears to overcome in the fourth quarter. The final score tonight was 72-51.

The players of the game tonight are four graduating players: Keivonte Watts, Daniel Mulder, Ben Gilbert, and Scott Duncan. Watts made a tremendous impact tonight with 26 points, 8 field goals, 4 triples, 8  rebounds, 6 out of 8 free throw attempts, and 5 assists. Mulder also scored a bucket and free throw this evening. MRU Athletics congratulates these four players for their contributions to the men's basketball program over the past few years. We also wish the best of luck for their future endeavours. 

The Cougars will be on the road next weekend in Winnipeg to face the University of Manitoba Bisons.