Dinos Defense Tames Huskies

After the Seniors Night tributes and a sluggish first half, which saw the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies take a 34-30 lead, the Dinos came out with a purpose in the second stanza. That purpose was to stand firm against the physical challenge laid down by the Huskies in the opening 20 minutes. With only 11 fouls called in total in that first half, the Calgary squad was getting tossed around by the visitors, and Coach Dan Vanhooren made it clear in his half-time talk that the boys had to stand up and be counted.

he Dinos met the challenge and more … with Ross Bekkering matching the Huskies’ All-Canadian, Andrew Spagrud with 17 pts. and besting the U of S star 9-6 on the glass, Calgary dominated the second half 45-26, and came away with a convincing 75-60 win to run their win streak to 5 and their season mark to 11-10. Josh Feist, one of three graduating seniors paced the points parade with 18 for Calgary to go along with 8 assists and 3 steals. His graduating co-captain, Brain Finniss had a strong defensive game and hauled down 8 big boards. Sonny Khangura, the third senior feted prior to the game, scored 12 points and had 7 rebounds for the Dinos, who topped Saskatchewan 39-30 on the boards for the night.

In front of the season’s largest crowd, including most of the extended Feist family (in town for a wedding) , the parents of all three seniors, and several former Dinos , the turning point for the game probably came mid-way through the 2nd half with Calgary 3 points up … Freshman post Chris Unsworth, playing against his older brother Clint, a 2nd year at Saskatchewan, brought the crowd and the Dinos bench to its feet with a thunderous follow flush. The ever-improving Unsworth had 9 points and 3 boards in only 10 minutes of playing time.

The Dinos and Huskies play again Saturday at 8:00 pm in the final league game, and are now destined to resume hostilities next weekend in Saskatoon in the Central Divisional semi-final series. Alberta beat Lethbridge 79-69 to clinch top spot, and the Bears will wait for the winner of the Calgary-Saskatchewan match-up in the final.

Sideline notes …

Several recent Dino grads were in attendance Friday to pay tribute to the three senior grads … Rick and Sandy Brar, both now working in Vancouver, made the trip, and joined Ian Ferguson and John Salgado. Also spotted was Sonny’s Kwantlen College coach, Bernie Love , who now works in Calgary. Surinder Grewal, who started the ‘Brown Army’ for the Dinos, transferring from Kwantlen in 2002, and who became a team captain and leading scorer in his senior year, will be at the Saturday game.

Josh Feist has had the distraction of combining his Senior Night with wedding preparations for his sister, and the Saturday wedding will keep the flashy point man out of the Calgary lineup. Josh felt, because the game cannot change the standings, he should be with his family in celebrating such an important event. Tony Dhaliwal and Cody Darrah are expected to share the load in Feist’s absence.