UNews - Jared Baker

Horns look to cap semester on winning note

trevor.kenney — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 23:13:54 +0000

Coming off their second home sweep of the season, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s basketball team will stay on home court this weekend and host the Regina Cougars for a pair of games to close out the first semester of conference action.

The Horns, who are 5-3 in on the season, have been perfect at home, winning all four games on the 1st Choice Savings Centre floor, including wins against the UBC Okanagan Heat and Thompson Rivers WolfPack last weekend.

The Pronghorn men are a perfect 4-0 on their home court this season.

After scoring 81 and 90 points respectively last weekend, the Horns moved up to third in conference scoring averaging 80.9 points per game, but rank as the ninth best defensive team, surrendering 76.6 points per game.

Nearing the mid-point of the season the Horns are one of the most balanced teams offensively in Canada West, placing four players in the top 24 in conference scoring. Coming off a 30-point performance last Saturday, Logan Reiter leads the Horns in scoring averaging 15.5 points per game. Newcomers Brandon Brine and Jared Baker are averaging 14 and 13.3 points per game, while Morgan Duce rounds out the quartet with 12.9 points per game.

For the Cougars, while they won their last game, beating the UNBC Timberwolves, they were losers of their previous six games and sit at 2-6 on the season, good for sixth place in the Mountain Prairie Division. The 13th ranked offensive team in the conference, averaging only 69 points per game, the Cougars only have two players that average double digits in points with Brandon Tull leading the way, averaging 13 points per game. Brenden Hebert is the other Cougar to do so at 10.5 points per game.

Tip-off for Friday and Saturday night’s games are scheduled for 8 and 7 p.m. respectively and both games will be streamed live on http://canadawest.tv.

Women's Basketball

For the second week in a row, the Pronghorns women’s basketball team will play at the friendly confines of the 1st Choice Savings Centre and will face a strong test, hosting the CIS fifth ranked Regina Cougars.

The Horns are tied for sixth in the Prairie Division at 3-5 and are coming off a weekend split where they beat the UBC Okanagan Heat before losing a two-point game to the Thompson Rivers Heat, 66-64.

Ranked ninth defensively in the conference, the Horns held the Heat to just seven first half points on Friday night and average 62.2 points against per night.

At the other end of the floor, the Horns have struggled offensively thus far only scoring 54.8 points per game, but they showed some life last weekend, scoring a season high 77 points Friday and 64 points Saturday. A big reason for the Horns' offensive resurgence was the return of 2012-13 leading scoring Ali Cameron, who had missed the previous six games due to injury. In her first two games back she scored 12 and 24 points.

A bright spot this season for the Horns has been the play of fourth-year forward Kim Veldman. In seven games this year, Veldman has recorded five double-doubles and sits second in conference scoring, averaging 20.3 points per game. She is also second in conference rebounding, averaging 11.7 rebounds per game.

Tip-off for Friday and Saturday night’s games are scheduled for 6 and 5 p.m. respectively.

Men's Hockey

The Pronghorns men’s hockey team (1-12-1) will close out the first semester of conference action this weekend hosting the UBC Thunderbirds (3-10-1) in a pair of games at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

Puck drops both Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. and both games will be streamed live on http://canadawest.tv.

For the Horns, the first half of the season has been a difficult one and they enter the weekend winless in their last seven games. The Horns are hoping to build off of Saturday night’s shootout loss to the Mount Royal Cougars, a game that saw the Pronghorns battle back from a 5-2 deficit to force overtime before falling in the shootout.

Women's Hockey

On the heels of their first four-point weekend of the season, the Pronghorns women’s hockey team travels to Vancouver to face the defending Canada West and conference leading UBC Thunderbirds in both teams’ final games of the first semester.

This weekend’s match up will be the second meeting of the year. On the opening weekend of the season, the Horns and Thunderbirds split their series in Lethbridge but the Horns earned an extra point in a 5-4 shootout loss before beating UBC 3-2 the next night.

The Horns put an end to a four-game losing streak last weekend in a big way, sweeping the Mount Royal Cougars in a home-and-home series. The pair of wins put the Horns right back into the playoff picture and they currently sit one point back of the Calgary Dinos for the final post-season position.

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.

Horns bolstered by Kodiak recruits

trevor.kenney — Tue, 28 May 2013 16:02:17 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns head coach Mike Hansen has begun re-tooling the men's basketball roster with the signing of a pair of ACAC all-stars from the Lethbridge College Kodiaks.

Hansen announced the signing of southern Alberta products Rob Olsen and Jared Baker on Monday afternoon, wlecoming a pair of players whom Hansen previously coached at Lethbridge College during the 2009-2010 season. Olsen and Baker then embarked on their two year missions for the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints. This past fall, both returned to the Kodiaks program and did not miss a beat, finishing one-two in team scoring.

Both Olsen and Baker have also excelled in the classroom, with each being named CCAA Academic All-Canadians this past season.

Olsen, a 6'1" guard from Cardston, Alta., finished fifth in South Division scoring averaging just over 19 points per game and was named an ACAC first team all-star, while shooting 49.6% from the field and over 47% from behind the arc. He also added 6 rebounds per game and 2.39 assists.

Prior to joining the Kodiaks, Olsen starred for the Cardston Cougars and was named the Southern Alberta High School Basketball League MVP in his final season (2008-09).

"Rob is an incredible talent and an outstanding young man," says Hansen. "I believe Rob is the best player to come out of Cardston since his uncle and former high school coach Ken McMurray. Ken was an all-Canadian for the Horns and I'm confident that Rob will have the same success with us."

Hansen adds that Olsen is also very accomplished off the court and represents the ideal of the Canada West student-athlete.

"Rob represents everything we look for in a recruit, he was not only an all-star, but a CCAA Academic All-Canadian. He is a character kid and will be a great ambassador for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge."

A Raymond, Alta., product, Jared Baker was named an ACAC second-team all-star this past season and averaged 15 points per game for the Kodiaks, while adding just under 6 rebounds and 3.13 assists per contest.

In high school, Baker was a two sport athlete, winning provincial titles for the Raymond Comets in both football (2008) and Basketball (2009). He led the Southern Alberta High School Basketball League in scoring in grade 11 with 24.1 points per game and was named league MVP in 2007-08.

"I'm very excited to be coaching Jared again," says Hansen. "He is such an incredible competitor and is willing to do whatever is needed for a team to be successful.

"He has evolved from being a shooter to an all-around player. Jared has a high basketball IQ and the success he's experienced playing for Todd Heggie's Raymond teams shows in the way he carries himself. His CCAA Academic All-Canadian also demonstrates that Jared expects excellence for himself."

The men's basketball team will look to round out its 2013-14 recruiting class in the coming weeks.

UNews - Jared Baker

Horns look to cap semester on winning note

Related Topics

Horns basketball opens Canada West campaign

Related Topics

Horns bolstered by Kodiak recruits

Related Topics