EDMONTON - Third-year Ethan Egert scored a career-high 16 points as the Alberta Golden Bears ended their six-game losing streak with a 82-65 victory over the UBCO Heat Saturday night at the Saville Centre.

Egert was joined by Kyle Varner (13 points) and Isaac Simon (13 points, four rebounds, four assists) in the win, one in which they were able to exorcise their late-game troubles the night previous. However, the biggest reason for the victory was their lockdown defence that held the Heat to just a 34.8% mark from the field which included a chilly 20.7% mark from beyond the arc. They moved to 4-8 on the year with the victory, good for seventh in the Prairie Division.

The Heat were led by Friday's hero Jalen Shirley in this one, who finished with a team and game-high 17 points, but were largely devoid of any sustained offence of the kind that led them to their comeback win last night. They drop to 4-8 as well, and sit in sixth in the Pacific.

The Bears were the clear aggressors in the opening quarter, holding the Heat to a feeble 5-for-17 mark from the field while shooting 42% themselves en route to a 20-10 lead headed into the second. Max Russell and Ethan Egert were the standouts on the Bears end, each finishing with a frame-high five points.

UBCO was able to get their offence rolling in the second, with Jalen Shirley and the frontcourt able to pierce the Alberta defence in the latter half of the quarter to stay in the game. However, the Golden Bears continued to share the rock with seven players finding twine in the frame as they headed into the second half with a 42-28 lead. Egert paced all scorers with a high of eight points.

The third quarter was another tight affair between the two teams, in which the Bears were able to eke out a 20-19 advantage at the buzzer. Shirley was phenomenal, leading all scorers with 10 points, while Egert continued his career day with a team-high six points. The game headed into the final frame with the hosts up 62-47.

UBCO did a great job playing from behind in the fourth, putting up almost exclusively threes or high-percentage shots, but Alberta was able to weather the storm and take this one 82-65.

The Bears travel to Manitoba to take on the Bison next weekend, while the Heat travel to Trinity Western on Thursday for a date with the Spartans.