BRANDON, Man. – After ending the first half of the conference season on a sour note, the Bobcats were looking to start 2023 with a bang.
 
Jahmaal Gardner and Khari Ojeda-Harvey each contributed 25 points as the Bobcats rolled to a 92-79 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds Friday night at the HLC.
 
"We locked in. We knew how big of a game this was," says Ojeda-Harvey.
 
"We didn't like how we ended the first half of the year. We had two poor games back-to-back against Winnipeg so we wanted to come out here and make a statement against a really good UBC team so that's what we came out here to do."
 
Not only did it mark the first win of the new year, Friday's victory also marked the first time the Bobcats beat UBC in a Canada West conference game since January 11, 2008.
 
The two teams traded blows in the first before a buzzer-beater three from Ojeda-Harvey gave Brandon a 21-19 lead after 10 minutes.

From there, shots started falling for Brandon from everywhere in the second quarter.
 
Gardner drilled a clutch three late in the second quarter to give the Bobcats the lead and the Brentwood, New York product 19 points before the half.

Gardner also contributed six rebounds while Anthony Tsegakele finished with another double-double (15 pts, 11 rebs).
 
The Thunderbirds were led by Brian Wallack's team-high 17 points.


 
Triston Matthews had a double-double, contributing 15 points and 10 boards. James Woods chipped in with 13 points and a team high three assists. 
 
With the win the Bobcats improve to 8-3 in conference play on the season.
 
With the setback the Thunderbirds fall to 4-5.
 
The two teams will meet again at the HLC on Saturday with tip-off set for 5 p.m. PT. and can be seen on Canada West TV.