UNews - Alex Fletcher

Men's basketball team solidifies roster with three additions

trevor.kenney — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 19:56:33 +0000

With the Canada West conference schedule just over two months away, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Prpnghorns men's basketball head coach Mike Hansen is pleased to announce the signing of three players.

Tyson McIntyre and Jesse Hilleary will join the ‘Horns for the 2014-15 season, while guard Kyle Peterson transfers to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria but will have to sit out the season as per CIS transfer regulations.

Returning to the program after his two-year LDS Church mission, six-foot-six inch forward Tyson McIntyre looks to build off a solid freshman year during the 2011-12 season. As a first-year player, McIntyre averaged four points and 2.6 rebounds per game coming off the bench. Prior to joining the ‘Horns, McIntyre was a standout in the Southern Alberta High School Basketball league as a SAHSBL first team all-star and averaging 18.9 points during his grade 12 season.

“It is great to have Tyson back in our program, he was heavily recruited while on his LDS mission and having him re-commit to the U of L was extremely important to the future of the program,” says Hansen. “He is one of the most athletic players ever to come out of southern Alberta. His ability to play above the rim, his length, and the tenacity with which he plays will create a lot of problems for teams in Canada West.”

Hilleary, a six-foot-four inch guard from Trinity College, a Catholic secondary school in Beenleigh, Queensland, joins the ‘Horns after a short stint with the Trinity Western Spartans in 2012. Hilleary went through the non-conference schedule with the Spartans that season before returning to Australia.

During his final high school season, Hilleary was the top scorer in the Queensland U18 State Championship, averaging 28 points and more than eight rebounds a game in the state final four. He was also named an All-City first team All-Star.

“Jesse has had a long road in trying to fulfill his dream of playing university basketball,” says Hansen. “We’re excited to have him here. He has grit, which is what we look for in all our players, and his ability to shoot the ball helps fill the void of losing Morgan Duce and Alex Fletcher.”

Edmonton product Kyle Peterson transfers to the ‘Horns after two seasons with the Victoria Vikes.

As a freshman at Victoria, the six-foot-two inch point guard started 19 of the Vikes' 22 conference games, averaging 7.5 points and 3.3 assists per game. In his second season with the Vikes, Peterson started all but two games and upped his points to an average of nine per game and finished 12th in the conference in assists with 3.1 per game.

“We’re incredibly thrilled to be welcoming Kyle into our program,” says Hansen. “With the graduation of both Fletcher and Dallon Martin at the point position, we had a huge void to fill and Kyle’s play-making ability and unselfishness are an incredible fit with our program. With two years of CIS experience and two trips to the CIS national tournament under his belt, he is going to step in and be a great leader for our program.”

The ‘Horns will open the Canada West schedule on the road, facing the Brandon Bobcats October 31 and November 1, before returning home the following week to host the Winnipeg Wesmen.

Horns hit the road for basketball playoffs

trevor.kenney — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 22:33:18 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s basketball team returns to the playoffs this weekend under first-year head coach Mike Hansen. The club heads out on the road to face the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Fraser Valley Cascades, ironically the team the Horns faced the last time they were in the playoffs, two seasons ago.

The best-of-three quarter-final series begins in Abbotsford, B.C. Thursday night, with game two Friday night and an if necessary game three on Saturday night. The start time for all three games is 8 p.m. (MST) and all three games will be streamed live on Canada West TV.

After the Horns finished the season with a 15-7 record, the most wins for the program since the 1999-2000 season, the program has drawn the hottest team in the conference in UFV. The Cascades have won 14 straight conference games, last losing November 23 in Saskatoon versus the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Huskies. The Cascades were also 10-1 at home this season with their only loss coming against the Mount Royal Cougars.

In their only match-up this season, the Cascades beat the Horns 79-69 during the first weekend of the conference schedule in Abbotsford. Two years ago in the playoffs, the Horns lost the third and deciding game of their opening round series on a buzzer beating three pointer.

The series will be one of two contrasting styles, offence versus defence. The Horns finished the regular season with the top ranked offence in Canada West, while the Cascades bring the second ranked defensive team to the series.

The Pronghorns averaged 84.3 points per game to lead the conference and rank sixth in the country. They also lead the conference in free throw percentage (75.2%) and assists (17.8). On the other side of the ball, the Horns were the 15th ranked defensive team in Canada West, allowing 83.3 points per game during the conference schedule.

With a quartet of players finishing with double-digits in points, the conference’s most potent offence was propelled by a balanced attack. Fifth-year guard Logan Reiter finished fifth in the conference to lead the ‘Horns in scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game. Brandon Brine was 9th in Canada West with 16.2 points, while Alex Fletcher and Morgan Duce rounded out the group averaging 12.7 and 12.2 points per game respectively.

Fraser Valley is at the polar opposite of the Horns in style of play. The Cascades allowed only 66.1 points per game, which ranks them second in the conference and fourth in the CIS. They led the conference in field goal defence percentage, holding their opponents to only 36.9% from the floor. At the offensive end, the Cascades were ranked 12th in Canada West, scoring 72.3 points per contest.

The Cascades do have a foursome averaging double digits per game in points, with Kevon Parchment leading the team with 17.2 points per game. Jasper Moedt sits second on the team with 14.4 points per game but also finished second in the conference in rebounding, averaging 9.1 rebounds per game.

The winner of the series will advance to the Canada West final four, hosted by the highest ranked remaining team.

Pronghorns seeking second place

trevor.kenney — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 22:56:50 +0000

Heading into the final two-game series of the regular season, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's basketball team is still in the hunt for second place in the Division and a home playoff date, but they will have to win their final two games versus the Calgary Dinos and get some help from the Alberta Golden Bears to do so.

The home-and-home series tips off Wednesday night in Lethbridge at the 1st Choice Savings Centre, with the back half of the series going Thursday night in Calgary. Start time for both nights is scheduled for 8 p.m. and both games will be streamed live on Canada West TV.

Entering the final week of the conference schedule, the Pronghorns trail the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Huskies by one game for second place and the Huskies will travel to Edmonton this upcoming weekend to face the CIS fourth ranked ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Golden Bears. With the Huskies holding the tiebreaker against the Horns, the U of L will have to win second place outright and see the Bears beat the Huskies both nights.

With their two-game sweep of the Bobcats last weekend in Brandon, the Horns (14-6) earned the program's most wins in a season since the 1999-2000 season, when the program went 18-2. For Calgary (6-14), being eliminated from post-season contention two weeks ago, they will look to play spoiler this weekend versus their southern Alberta rival.

The Dinos snapped a nine-game losing streak last Friday night in Regina, beating the Cougars 77-66 before losing the next night 92-81.

The Horns remain among the conference leaders in multiple offensive categories this season. The team is ranked second offensively, averaging 83.8 points per game, while leading Canada West in free throw percentage (76.5%) and assists per game (18.4). They are also second in three-point field goal percentage (36.4%).

However, the Horns rank 15th of 16 Canada West teams defensively, allowing 82.1 points per game, but lead the conference in defensive rebounds with 30 per night.

For the Dinos, they enter the final games of the season with the sixth ranked offensive unit (76.2 ppg) in the conference and scored above their season average both games last weekend. At the other end of the floor, the Dinos sport the 13th ranked defence, allowing 80.6 points against.

Pronghorns' fifth-year seniors Logan Reiter, Morgan Duce, Alex Fletcher, Dallon Martin and Spencer Wenzel will all play their final conference game on home court Wednesday night.

Reiter moved up another spot on the conference scoring list after last weekend and sits sixth with 17.6 points per game, while Brandon Brine is second in team scoring with 15.9 points per game. Both Duce and Fletcher are averaging double digits in points per game with 12.4 and 12.2 respectively. Fletcher is also averaging 4.5 assist per game.

Dino guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson leads the Dinos and the conference in scoring with 20.4 points per game. He also leads the conference in free throw percentage (89.4%) and minutes played per game (36). Josh Turner and Philip Barndt are both averaging double digit point totals per game at 12.9 and 11.2 respectively.

Should the Horns finish second and host one of the Canada West quarter-finals, the schedule for the best-of-three series would be as follows:

Best-of-three Quarterfinal – Feb. 21-23
Game 1: Friday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 22, 7 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, Feb. 23, 4 p.m. (if necessary)

Fletcher, Veldman earn Athlete of the Week honours

trevor.kenney — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 18:39:22 +0000

A pair of victories for each of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's and women's basketball teams have netted Alex Fletcher and Kim Veldman the Subway Pronghorn Athlete of the Week honours.

Senior guard Alex Fletcher was a key contributor in the Pronghorn men’s 2-0 road weekend to open the second semester of conference action. The two wins, which were both in overtime, moved the Horns to 9-3 on the season and into a second place tie in the Prairie Division with the Saskatchewan Huskies.

Kim Veldman is one of the conference's leading scorers.

Thursday night, in the Horns' 84-82 overtime victory over the Mount Royal Cougars, Fletcher tied for a team high 17 points, but none were bigger than his three-point basket in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter that forced overtime. He also recorded six rebounds and six assists in the win.

The Merced, California native then scored 19 points to go along with another six rebounds and six assists in the Horns' thrilling 126-120 triple overtime win over the UNBC Timberwolves two nights later. More than halfway through his final season of eligibility, Fletcher is averaging 10.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.

On the women's side, Veldman is picking up where she left off before the semester break. Veldman led the Pronghorn women’s basketball team to a two-win road weekend as well, combining for 38 points and 18 rebounds in the Horns' wins over the Mount Royal Cougars and UNBC Timberwolves.

The fourth-year nursing student scored 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and grabbed eight boards in the Horns' 66-48 win over the Cougars Thursday night in Calgary. She then scored another 19 points and recorded her sixth double-double of the season, with 10 rebounds in the Horns' 62-50 win over the Timberwolves.

Through 12 games this season, Veldman sits second in conference scoring, averaging 20.7 points per game, and third in Canada West rebounding, averaging 10.6 boards per contest.

The men's and women's basketball teams face a huge test this weekend when the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta comes to town for games Friday and Saturday night in the 1st Choice Savings Centre gym.

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.

California recruits join Horns

trevor.kenney — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:47:46 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's basketball team has solidified its back court with the signing of two American guards out of the California junior college circuit. Head coach Dave Adams recently introduced Daryl Cooper and Alex Fletcher as the newest Horns for this coming season.

The additions of Fletcher and Cooper continues the Horns overhaul this off-season, where the squad has added seven players, all with ties to winning programs. Earlier this off-season Adams secured four players from the national silver medalists Lethbridge College Kodiaks, as well as Tyson McIntyre from the Alberta 4A champion Raymond Comets.

Basketball Operations Manager Brad Karren was the first to identify Cooper and Fletcher during the California JUCO Final Four and did the majority of the leg work leading up to their visits.

"Brad did a great job identifying Daryl and Alex as two guys that would fit in to what we are trying to build here," says Adams. "We were able to work both of them out and really liked what we saw."

Cooper, a 6'1" point guard, spent the last two seasons at City College of San Francisco, where the team finished the season with a 32-1 record and won the California JUCO Championship. Cooper averaged just over 7 points per game and accumulated an impressive 2.95 to 1 assist to turnover ratio.

"Daryl is a pass first, score second point guard with incredible basketball IQ, work ethic, skill and leadership qualities," says Adams. "He will immediately address our deficiencies at the point guard position."

A 6'2" shooting guard, Fletcher is no stranger to his fellow California recruit, as Fresno City College was the lone team to beat Cooper's team last season. In both seasons in Fresno, Fletcher was a member of the Central Valley Conference champions and had trips to the California JuCo Final Four, where Fresno lost in the semifinals.

As a sophomore starter, Fletcher was a Central Valley first team all-star, averaging 11.06 points per game while hitting a remarkable 47.5 per cent of his shots from behind the arc. He also set a school record last season, hitting 12 three-pointers in a single game. An exceptional student, Fletcher had a 3.68 GPA in his two years at Fresno City College.

"Alex is an unselfish hard working blue collar basketball player," says Adams. "He shot a high percentage from three-point land and will immediately address our weakness there from last season. He will also immediately infuse an uncompromising work ethic into our locker room."

The Horns open training camp Aug. 29 and will kick off the 2011-12 Canada West Schedule Nov. 4-5, traveling to Winnipeg to face the Wesmen. The Horns home opener is Nov. 11 versus UBC – Okanagan Heat.

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