Jefferson Hagen 
MacEwan Athletics

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – It all added up to four minutes the Griffins men's basketball team would want back in a fairly solid performance at the University of Lethbridge on Friday night.

Just a few little blips on the radar of an otherwise solid performance proved to be the difference in an 89-76 loss.

"We played even for the whole game, except for 49 seconds left in the first when we gave up two three-pointers," said Griffins head coach Mike Connolly. "It goes from a tie game to down 46-40. 

"Then, a breakdown in the third cost us a three, and a layup and it goes to 12. We brought (the deficit) back to seven with three minutes to go and had the momentum in our favour. But we gave up another open three and we gambled and fouled to fall behind by 13 at the end."

With the result, the Griffins fall to 0-17 on the Canada West campaign, while the Pronghorns improve to 5-12.

Job Janda had a monster double double for the Griffins with 21 points and 17 rebounds, while Scottie Austin added 13 points and Milan Jaksic chipped in 12. 

Angelo Mbituyimana led the Pronghorns with 30 points, while Tag Layton had 28 and Jeff Rodehutskors added 15.

While the Griffins won the offensive rebounding battle (15-11), Connolly noted turnovers were their undoing, especially in the second half.

"We did a good job in the first half with only eight turnovers, but we got sloppy in the second half to finish with 19 of them," he said. "We struggle to score because we turn the ball over too much. Guys are trying hard to make plays instead of being patient and choosing opportunities that are given."

The teams will meet again on Saturday (7 p.m., Canada West TV).