Pronghorns men rebound against Bobcats

The message was received, loud and clear, for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s basketball team.

They promptly turned that into a 2-0 start to the season following a 100-89 win over the Brandon Bobcats during Canada West play Saturday night at the 1st Choice Savings Centre.

That comes after a 94-89 win Friday night that Horns head coach Mike Hansen wasn’t completely sold on.

“The video session this morning wasn’t really pleasant for the guys,” said Hansen. “There was lot of blown defensive assignments and as a coach it really makes me proud when the guys respond like that. Saren (Westrop), Zac (Overwater) and Awak (Piom) were kind of feeling my wrath this morning and I felt like all those guys really showed up and gave a great effort today.”

On Saturday, the Pronghorns jumped out to a 51-48 halftime lead and then more than doubled up the Bobcats on the scoresheet in the third quarter by a 34-16 margin.

“It was very good,” said Hansen. “We had a great third quarter, really amped up the defence and I really felt like we were in control of the game. So I was very happy with how we were playing.”

DeJon Burdeaux paced the Pronghorns with 27 points and eight steals, while Westrop, Kyle Peterson and Overwater each added 17 points.

Piom also hit double digits with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Westrop hauled in 11 boards Saturday night.

“The biggest thing is we played the style of play we wanted to play tonight,” said Hansen. “We got up and down the floor and played with pace, but defensively we really put a lot of pressure and disrupted their offence and forced a lot of bad shots. For me, that’s how I want us to play as a team. I just felt like we did a great job.

“DeJon had eight steals and did a great job of getting in the lanes and doing those things. When you finish with 16 steals it’s a good sign the defence is pushing in the right direction.”

The Horns hit the road to Edmonton this weekend to take on the MacEwan Griffins Friday and Saturday.