Golden Bears get past Pronghorns

The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s basketball team fell just shy of a final-four bid.

Pushing the Alberta Golden Bears to a third-and-deciding game in their Canada West quarter-final, the Horns were topped 86-68 Saturday night in Edmonton.

The Pronghorns won Game 1 76-75 Thursday night before the Golden Bears rebounded in Game 2 with an 86-70 decision to force the deciding game.

On Saturday, a quick start in which the Golden Bears shot 75 per cent from the floor and seven of eight threepoint attempts paced the hosts to a 31-18 lead after the first quarter while the Pronghorns made only 35 per cent of their shots early.

The Horns won the second quarter 18-15 to cut the deficit to 10 points at the half.

Lethbridge chipped away at Alberta’s lead early in the fourth, dropping it to as little as four in the first three minutes before the Golden Bears pulled away late with a few more timely shots.

Colton Gibb led Lethbridge with 19 points

Eric Pierce and Mike Pierzchala came off the bench for 14 and 12 points, respectively.