UNews - senior guard

Horns basketball opens Canada West campaign

trevor.kenney — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 21:41:48 +0000

The Mike Hansen era begins this weekend for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's basketball program.

The ‘Horns will open the 2013-14 conference schedule on the road against the Fraser Valley Cascades and Trinity Western Spartans.

Tip-offs for the weekend are set at 8 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night respectively, with both games streamed online at http://canadawest.tv.

In addition to the leadership change, the roster received a complete overhaul with only five players from last season’s roster returning. A quartet of guards and reserve post remain with the program and will be led by seniors Morgan Duce, Logan Reiter and Alex Fletcher.

Reiter and Duce both averaged double digit points per game last season and will be counted on heavily to increase their scoring totals after the departure of the top two scorers from last season in Derek Waldner and Julian Spear Chief-Morris.

Among the nine newcomers to the program, Australian Brandon Brine, as well as ACAC all-stars Rob Olsen and Jared Baker, are expected to make a significant impact in their first season with the program. Post Brent Watkins could be a wildcard contributor for the Horns after transferring from Citrus College in California. Watkins, who did not play high school basketball, comes to the Horns with raw talent and will be relied on to be a presence in the paint. In his second season with Citrus last year, Watkins averaged 9.2 points and 7 rebounds per game while hitting nearly 75% of his shots from the field.

For a full weekend preview, visit gohorns.ca.

Pronghorn Women

Despite missing the playoffs for the third season in a row, there were a lot of positives to take away from the 2012-13 season.

In her first season at the helm of the Pronghorns women’s basketball program, Erin McAleenan led the Horns to their first double digit win total since the 1994-95 season, but a duplication of the 2012-13 season will be a tough task for the Pronghorns in the always tough Canada West conference.

The Horns will open the 2013-14 conference schedule this weekend on the road traveling to British Columbia to face the Fraser Valley Cascades and Trinity Western Spartans.

Gone from last season are post Erin Skippon, forward Steph Inman and utility guard Kara Henry. While Skippon was only with the program for one season, her leadership and post presence will be dearly missed.

While the voids left will be hard to fill, the Pronghorns return their top two scorers from last season in Ali Cameron and post Kim Veldman. Cameron, a pure scorer, returns for her fourth season and will look to build off her career best 15 points per game average last season.

Veldman, who averaged nearly a double-double last season, will be leaned on heavily at both ends of the floor, while senior guard Katlyn Olsen will also be counted on to help lead the young squad. With six true freshmen cracking the Pronghorns roster, there will be some growing pains along the way.

Southern Alberta product Mariah Miller has had a nice start to her collegiate career, recording a double-double in only her third preseason game.

Guards Erin James, Sara Simovic and Kendra Lee will all see significant time as freshmen and will need to make significant contributions if the Horns are going to duplicate last season’s record.

Tip-off for Friday’s game versus the Cascades is set for 6 p.m. PST, while Saturday’s game versus the Spartans will go at 5 p.m.. Both games will be streamed live on http://canadawest.tv

For more, visit gohorns.ca.

Taal, Lawrence are Horns athletes of the week

trevor.kenney — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:09:00 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns basketball players, Lauren Taal and Danhue Lawrence, were named Horns Athletes of the Week on Tuesday.

Despite losing a pair of games to visiting ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan, Taal had a pair of strong games offensively, scoring double digits in both contests.

On Friday night, Taal led the Horns with 17 points in a 68-51 loss, hitting three, three-pointers and also grabbing three rebounds and a pair of steals. She followed up that performance with 11 points, four assists, two rebounds and a steal in Saturday night's 62-46 loss.

Through eight conference games, Taal sits 17th in Canada West scoring, averaging 10.9 points per game.

On the men's side, senior guard Danhue Lawrence had a big weekend versus the Saskatchewan Huskies. In the Horns two losses to the defending CIS champions, Lawrence combined for 50 points. On Friday night, in the Horns' 93-61 loss, Danhue topped the Horns with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting and grabbed team high eight rebounds.

The next night, Lawrence was a point short of matching his Pronghorn career high, netting 34 points. He was 9-of-16 from the field and hit 13-of-16 from the free throw line. He also grabbed another eight rebounds and added eight assists.

Horns basketball heads to Kamloops this weekend for games against Thompson Rivers ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

Holt still manning the point

trevor.kenney — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:57:18 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumnus Spencer Holt (BMgt '00) has an undergraduate degree, a master's degree, is currently pursuing a PhD and his career is flipping burgers. You might think all that education has gone to waste – hardly.

It's just the latest avenue that Holt is pursuing, as the point man for a team franchising Five Guys Burgers and Fries, a wildly successful restaurant chain that boasts 550 American locations and now one Canadian store in Medicine Hat.

"The group I'm with bought the rights to Alberta, B.C. and parts of Ontario," says Holt. "We just opened in Medicine Hat, and it's gone very well. Our goal is to do about 130 stores across the country, so for me it's a great opportunity because I'm in charge of the infrastructure of hiring people, training and so on. It blends very well into my educational background."

Holt is best known in these parts for his years manning the point guard spot on the Horns men's basketball team. A wizard with the ball, he was a high school star at Lethbridge Collegiate Institute before playing a season at Lethbridge College and then moving on to the U of L. Along with Magrath product Danny Balderson, the duo formed a local nucleus around which the program was constructed.

"A big part of that was the fact that Danny and I had been friends for many years," says Holt. "When we were both on our missions for the church, we talked quite a bit about playing together and at the U of L. We both had opportunities to go other places, but I think we had a vision of playing together in Lethbridge and winning a lot of games."

They did just that, culminating with the 1999-2000 season when the Horns spent much of the campaign as the top-rated team in the country, won the Canada West regular season title and advanced to the national semifinal game.

"That was such a fun season," says Holt. "I think we went 18-2, we won every tournament we entered, and more importantly, the guys on that team had been together for three or four years so, as a group, we all got along and really had a passion to work hard and win together."

He cherishes the fact that the team had such a strong southern Alberta flavour and remembers a unique bond the program had with the community.

"When you look back at old pictures of the stands, you see everyone you grew up with, and that's what was so cool about it, you knew who was in the crowd and that was part of the fun," says Holt. "That old gym only held a couple thousand people but it seemed like every night it was full and that really helps as a player, you feed off that energy and it gives you a lot of confidence."

The 1999-2000 team will be honoured at the Feb. 13 regular season finale at the 1st Choice Savings Centre gym. Holt likes the fact that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is reaching out to its alumni.

"It's a great honour that they're choosing to recognize this team," he says. "For me, moving back to Canada now, it's perfect timing. I've talked to some former players about how we need to be more involved with U of L basketball and whatever we can do to help bring it back to its southern Alberta roots."

Now living in Calgary, Holt has made the most of his U of L education. A finance major, he has worked in the banking industry (Bank of Montreal), the oil and gas sector and for pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (sales representative and then district manager for the State of Nevada). Now he is embarking on a massive project with Five Guys but using the personal approach he learned in Lethbridge.

"What I'm passionate about is training people, developing a culture and helping people get better, and this is a great opportunity," says Holt. "How do you do this on a large scale? You start with one store and replicate it 130 times. In the end, we'll have a company where people love to work and love who they work for."

GET THE FACTS

• Holt and his wife Brittany have four children, including Isaac (8), Anne (6), Ty (3) and 18-month old Josh.

• Holt was named an All-Canadian in his final season at the U of L.

• Plans call for Holt and his group to open a Five Guys restaurant in Lethbridge in April.

• He lauds the U of L for bringing in Dave Adams as head coach and Ryan Hall as athletics manager. Adams was an assistant with the 1999-2000 team and Hall a senior guard and shutdown defender. "The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ reaching out to former players is great, and this is a great example of starting this tradition of involving people from the past to make the future better."

Hockey team back in win column

trevor.kenney — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:39:04 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team got the win they so desperately needed while the men's and women's basketball teams capped their Canada West schedules with weekend splits during a busy weekend of Pronghorn Athletics.

Men's Hockey

The Pronghorn men, in Edmonton for a two-game series with the CIS top-rated Alberta Golden Bears (19-3-2), rebounded from a 6-2 loss Friday night to post a 6-4 victory on Saturday. The win ended a seven-game losing skid for the Horns (13-11-0) and gave them some much-needed breathing room in the Canada West standings.

With two weekends to play in the regular season, U of L now has a six-point lead on both Regina and UBC for fourth in the conference (and home ice in the first round of playoffs). The Horns are now just three points back of Manitoba for third place.

Dustin Moore was the hero Saturday night, scoring three times and netting the game-winning goal. After the Horns let an early 4-0 lead slip away, Moore potted the winner late in the second period and added an insurance goal in the third. Backup netminder Brandon Highton got the win in net with 36 saves.

The Horns now close out the regular season with a pair of series at Nicholas Sheran Arena. This weekend the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary Dinos roll into town before the season concludes with a return visit by the Bears. Pronghorns need just one point over the next two weekends to clinch one of the six Canada West playoff spots as they sit seven points clear of last-place Calgary (and have clinched the tiebreaker with the Dinos) with four games to play.

Basketball

The Pronghorn women's basketball team (5-17) closed out a strong second half with a weekend split against ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Huskies. The Horns picked up a 71-70 overtime victory Saturday night for their fourth win of the second half and third win over a ranked opponent since the Christmas break.

Hannah Blanchette hit a free throw with 1.5 seconds left in overtime for the winning margin as the Horns edged the nationally third-ranked Huskies.

The Horns men's team (5-17) looked poised for a weekend sweep but after beating the Huskies 87-67 Friday night and holding a five-point lead at the half on Saturday, they were shredded in the closing half, eventually losing 102-77 to cap a difficult season.

Senior guard Allen Kadima, playing in his final Canada West game, had 11 points and nine assists for the U of L. The nine helpers helped him set a new Horns single-season record for assists with 144.

UNews - senior guard

Horns basketball opens Canada West campaign

Related Topics

Taal, Lawrence are Horns athletes of the week

Related Topics

Holt still manning the point

Related Topics

Hockey team back in win column

Related Topics