BRANDON, Man. – It was another tight contest between the Trinity Western Spartans and the Brandon Bobcats Saturday at the Healthy Living Centre in Brandon, Man. One in which the hometown Bobcats prevailed 84-77 over the visiting Spartans.  With the loss the Spartans see their record fall to 1-5, while the win moves the Bobcats to 7-1.

The Spartans trailed 44-33 at the half and 64-53 at the end of three quarters. Brandon extended their lead in the fourth to 18 points, 74-56, but TWU closed the gap as the game clock wound down and only trailed by six points, 78-72, with just over a minute remaining, after a 16-4 run.

Third-year guard David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.) with 15 points, and 10 rebounds, first-year guard Tyler Sipma (Lynden, Wash.) with 14 points, and nine rebounds, and third-year guard Leif Skelding (Coquitlam, B.C.) with 13 points led the Spartans. Khari Ojeda-Harvey with 31 points, Sultan Haider Bhatti with 12 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists led the Bobcats.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"I'll say this, these guys can fight. We came back from 20 to 5 and had some really good chances late but couldn't quite pull it off. Tyler Sipma had a big-time performance for a freshman. Brandon is a good team, 7-1. We have our work cut out for us as our schedule gets pretty tough from here. As a coach, this is a fun challenge to figure this out and try to get better"

NOTABLE

• TWU shot 45.2 percent (33-73) from the field, 26.9 percent (7-26) from the three-point line and 50 percent (4-8) from the foul line. While Brandon shot 41.2 percent (28-68), 37.8 percent (14-37), and 82.4 percent (14-17) respectively.
• The Spartans had a 48-35 edge in rebounding.
• TWU had 20 turnovers on the night, while Brandon only had 10.
• The Spartans are currently 13-15 lifetime against the Bobcats.
• The last time TWU defeated Brandon was 87-78 on January 30, 2016, in Langley, B.C.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will now return home and host the Manitoba Bisons for the final games of the first semester on December 1-2. Game time is set for 8 p.m. and 6 p.m. and can be seen live on Canadawest.TV.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country, and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
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