CALGARY – The Creighton Bluejays and Calgary Dinos treated the 968 holiday weekend fans in the Jack Simpson Gym Saturday night to an entertaining basketball game, with the defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Bluejays coming out on top 85-77.

Turnovers plagued the Dinos throughout the affair, with 28 in total including 17 in the first half, and coach Dan Vanhooren knows his charges have plenty to work on before the Canada West season opens in November.

“We turned the ball over, and when you do that against good teams they’re going to run up the score on you at times,” he said. “They had two or three very consistent runs that put them up six or eight points more, and those are just off our own turnovers and our own mistakes. Hopefully even by Monday we’ll be able to correct some of those things and not turn the ball over as much as we did.”

The same two teams meet Monday afternoon to close out the weekend.

The most significant of those runs for Creighton came at the end of the second quarter. Calgary led 21-18 after 10 minutes and kept it tight through the first five of the second frame, but 10 turnovers led to 21 Bluejay points in the stanza compared to only 10 for the Dinos. Creighton took a 42-31 lead into halftime.

Creighton extended its lead to as much as 20 in the third before back-to-back threes from Jeff Price (3rd year, Calgary) cut into the deficit. The Bluejays managed to stay in front thanks to stellar efforts from Dane Watts (Sr., Warrensburg, Mo.), who finished with 21 points on the night, and Nick Bahe (Sr., Lincoln, Neb.), who added 15 on the night. Creighton led 68-51 after three quarters.

The Dinos turned it around in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bluejays 26-17 in the final frame.

The game marked the first chance for fans to see transfer Henry Bekkering (3rd year, Taber, Alta.) in a Dinos uniform along with recruits Price and Tyler Fidler (1st year, Calgary). Vanhooren was pleased with the performances of the three newcomers.

“Henry’s power and athleticism are huge, and we’ve got to get him the ball in positions where he can score a little more often. With all the guys we had in foul trouble it was difficult at times for us to get him where we wanted him. Jeff was awesome when he wasn’t in foul trouble, and it was nice to see Tyler hit a couple big shots and get a dunk here and there.”

Bekkering potted 12 points in his Dinos debut, while Price went 4-for-4 from the field for 11 points – all in the second half. Cody Darrah (5th, Edmonton) led the way for Calgary with 14 points, while Ross Bekkering (3rd, Taber, Alta.) opened the season with a double-double, scoring 13 points and hauling down 11 rebounds – including five of the offensive variety.

In earlier action, Creighton defeated Saskatchewan 87-82 after trailing 49-43 at halftime. Watts also led the Bluejays with 20 points in that contest, while freshman Kenny Lawson, Jr. (Oceanside, Calif.) also chipped in 20.

The second game of the day featured Weber State taking on Lethbridge. The Wildcats were all over the Pronghorns, holding Lethbridge to only seven points in the second half as they cruised to a 97-31 victory.

The 2007 Battle of the Border continues Sunday with four more contests. Weber State opens the day with a tilt against the Mt. Royal College All-Star team at 10:30 a.m., followed by Creighton vs. Lethbridge at 1 p.m. The Dinos play their second game of the weekend against Weber State at 5:30 p.m., and Creighton and Saskatchewan will close the day with tip-off set for 8 p.m.

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