BRANDON, Man. – Munroop Gill scored 43 points to lift the Brandon Bobcats to a 97-91 win over the University of Alberta Golden Bears on Friday night in Alberta's season opener.

Gill shot 16-for-29 from the floor and added nine rebounds, six assists and four steals as Brandon jumped out to a 35-25 lead after the first quarter and led 62-50 at halftime. The Bobcats' lead reached as many as 15 points before Alberta rallied in the third, outscoring Brandon 29-18 to trail by just one, 80-79, heading into the fourth. Brandon held on over the final 10 minutes, outscoring Alberta 17-12.

Isaac Simon led the Golden Bears with 18 points and seven rebounds, and Kyle Varner added 15 points. Izzy Helman had 14 points, Jack Snead scored 11 in just 10 minutes, and Caiden Kushnir pulled down 14 rebounds. Alberta outrebounded Brandon 50-44, including 20 offensive boards, but shot 8-for-33 from three-point range.

Arjun Hehar added 17 points and 10 rebounds for Brandon, and Orie Zehavi and Max Winters each scored 10. The Bobcats shot 46.6 per cent from the floor, compared to 39.7 per cent for Alberta, and the two teams each committed 10 turnovers.

The loss drops Alberta to 0-1 on the season, while Brandon improves to 1-2.

The two teams will meet again Saturday night, with Alberta visiting Brandon. The game can be seen live on Canada West TV powered by BioSteel.

-UA-