Quick start powers Horns

Riding a quick start that has eluded them for a while, the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s basketball team has struck first in the team’s Canada West quarter-final playoff series against the University of Regina Cougars.

The Horns shots fell early and often as the hosts posted a convincing 115-68 win Thursday night at the 1st Choice Savings Centre.

Lethbridge held a 33-13 lead after the first quarter and a 5527 lead at the half on their way to the victory.

Though happy to see his team come out firing, Pronghorns head coach Mike Hansen noted his team got a little help from Old Man Winter as the Cougars experienced a lengthy delay to get to Lethbridge in blustery Wednesday conditions that wreaked havoc on the highways.

“We’ve had slow starts all semester and we really talked about jumping out early,” said Hansen. “I feel horrible for coach (Steve Burrows). They got trapped on the highway yesterday outside of Medicine Hat. It took them nine or 10 hours to get here. They got in late last night and they were trying to get set to go.

“So I told the guys it’s playoff time and I feel bad for them, but we had to jump on them early. We were able to get an early lead and then from there you could just tell they didn’t have any legs. We’re going to have to be a lot better tomorrow defensively and close up some of those gaps.”

On Thursday, six Pronghorns scored in double figures, led by Zac Overwater with 24 points.

Dejon Burdeaux added 22 points, Colton Gibb had 19 and Saren Westrup and Awak Piom added 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Kyle Peterson put up 10 points and seven assists. Brett Warren chipped in with five assists.

“That was a great start,” said Overwater, who completed the double-double with 11 rebounds and had three steals. “We came out hot and had the home court, so the energy was up. It’s always nice playing at home. We came out and jumped on them early and caused some turnovers. We played great defence, hit the glass, and we shot the ball really well, too. They didn’t shoot the ball as well, (but) we can’t count on that tomorrow night.”

For the Cougars, Brandon Tull led the way with 13 points and Alex Igual had nine.

Samuel Hillis came off the bench and put up eight points, while Shaquille Harris grabbed 10 rebounds.

Hansen expected a much