After helping his team to a one game lead on the Lethbridge Pronghorns in their fight for the Final Playoff Spot in the Moutain Division of Canada West, Chris Wright is this week’s Dino of the Week.

Despite the loss at Lethbridge on Friday, Chris Wright came out determined to lead his team to victory. Playing aggressively in the early portions of the game, Chris made several Jump Shots to help the Dinos fight off the emotion that the home team Horns were playing with. Chris led the way for the Dinos shooting 8 for 17 from the field, grabbing 2 offensive rebounds and 7 defensive, while posting 16 points in 32 minutes of action. Chris also added an assist and a steal in the game which saw the Pronghorns hit a tough shot over an outstretched Dino defender with just 3.2 seconds left.

Saturday was the Final Regular Season home game for Chris Wright in a Dino uniform. The Jack Simpson Gymnasium was packed to bid Chris farewell. Chris did not disappoint the home fans. He posted 14 points on 4 for 8 from the floor and 8 for 10 from the free throw line in 25 minutes of action. This also included 3 key free throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach for the Pronghorns. Chris was also a demon on the boards grabbing 11 including 5 offensive rebounds. The Dinos captured the game by a score of 76-71 to take a 2 point advantage over the Pronghorns for the final playoff spot in the Mountain Division.

DINO TEAM STATS

For the second night in a row, the Calgary Dinos went down to the wire with the Lethbridge Pronghorns in Canada West play with a play-off atmosphere. After dropping the Friday game 76-74 in the final seconds in Lethbridge, the Dinos had a must- win here in Calgary Saturday.

Calgary was ahead for the whole first half and nursed a 41-38 lead at the break, but the Pronghorns nosed in front mid-way through the second half. With Lethbridge looking to salt the game away in the final 2 minutes, Cody Darrah stroked a deep three from the top of the arc to put Calgary up by 1. Clutch free throws by Ross Bekkering and Chris Wright, who were 9/10 and 8/10 from the line, gave the Dinos the slimmest of leads. The ‘Horns missed a golden opportunity inside, and Wright’s free throws with 9 seconds left put the game out of reach. Calgary prevailed 76-71 before an enthusiastic crowd of 1700 at the Jack Simpson gym.

Chris, in his ‘Senior night ‘ game finished with 14 pts. and 11 rebounds. The rookie Bekkering had a sparkling performance in dunking and slashing his way to 18 pts. and 11 boards. Darrah (15), Brian Finniss (11), and Robbie Sihota (10) were also in double figures for the home team. Scott MacKinnon and Tim Whitehead had 20 pts. apiece for Lethbridge, who drop to 7-11 for the season . Calgary is now 8-10 and in the driver’s seat for the 3rd and final play-off spot in the Central Division of Canada West with one more weekend of games to be played.

Calgary travels to Saskatoon for games on Saturday and Sunday afternoon - 2:00 pm, while the Pronghorns are at Alberta to finish up their season. Calgary can clinch a play-off berth with one win against the Huskies, while Lethbridge now must take 2 in Alberta to have any chance. For the year, the ‘Horns are 7-3 at home in the ‘Cave’, while losing all 8 road games thus far. Calgary is 5-5 at home and 3-5 on the road. Should the Dinos make the play-offs their opponent will be the Alberta Golden Bears, who sit in 2nd spot behind Saskatchewan, who have clinched 1st place and home court for the Divisional Final. Divisional Semi-Finals are Feb.17-19, and the Final is Feb.24-26. Each Divisional winner and a wild-card team will compete in the Canada West Final Four on the West Coast at the home of the Pacific Division Champion on the 3rd and 4th of March.

GAME STATS

Lethbridge Pronghorns 76 Calgary Dinos 74

What a thriller! The game was played in front of a sold out boisterous crowd for the final game in this gym. The Pronghorns move to a new gym next year.

The Dinos had to cool off a hot Lethbridge team in the first half. Lethbridge led 50 - 47 at the half. The Dinos went into the break in some foul trouble with four players with 2 fouls each. The second half proved to be much of the same. Not as high scoring as the first, the Horns and Dinos traded baskets for most of the half. It also saw the Horns stall out at 74 for over 4 minutes of action. The Dinos trailed by as many as 8, but tied it with one and a half minutes to go. It was Calgary ball with 30 seconds left, but a costly turnover led to a last second contested Jump Shot by Lethbridge senior Tim Whitehead which won the game.

Calgary had 4 players in double figures: Chris Wright led with 16 points and 9 rebounds; Brian Finnis had 13 points and 7 rebounds while Josh Feist and Robbie Sihota contributed 10 points each. Feist had 5 assists for the game.

The Dinos weak foul shooting (13 of 23) prevented them from taking the lead in the second half.

The two teams meet Saturday at 8:00 p.m. in Calgary.

GAME STATS