Game 1: DINOS 95 Golden Bears 74

The Calgary Dinos used a 4th quarter surge to blast the CIS 5th ranked Alberta Golden Bears 95 - 74 in the first of a pair of weekend games at the ‘Jack Simpson Gym’ in Calgary. Calgary, now 6-1 was down 45 - 43 at the half, and struggled when Ross Bekkering drew his 3rd foul early in the 3rd frame. Alberta appeared to be poised to take control, but in the last 10 minutes the Dinos outscored the visitors 27-13 ,and, paced by 28 pts., from Henry Bekkering, who also snared 9 rebounds, the home teal pulled away.

Another key to the outcome was the ball-handling and scoring of freshman Tyler Fidler, 14 pts, who makes it tough to pressure the Dinos with his height and skill with the ball. The Bears went to the line often in the second half, but shot poorly from the charity stripe , 13/29, and Calgary extended the lead on hoops from Robbie Sihota, 16 pts., 10 rebounds, Henry B. , and Fidler. Jeff Price added to the lead with some cool free throw shooting 12/12, and finished with 22 pts, while Andrew Champagnie, another freshman guard, had some strong defensive minutes in both halves.

The Dinos cashed in 35/44 free throws for 80%, and they out-rebounded the Bears 37 - 30. Alex Steele showed why he is one of the premier scorers in Canada West as he notched 25, with some sharp inside shooting. The turnovers were 21-20 in the Bears favour, as both teams were sloppy at times. The two teams go at it again Saturday night at 8:00 pm.-WT

Game 2: DINOS 98 Golden Bears 73

The Calgary Dinos have been building up to the kind of complete team effort they showed Saturday night in a 98-73 dismantling of their arch-rival Alberta Golden Bears. To this point in the season, Calgary has struggled to put together 40 minutes of basketball, but with six players in double figures, and much sharper defense and ball-handling, the Dinos completed a convincing sweep and are now alone atop the Central Division at 7-1.

Ross Bekkering, 18 pts., 11 rebounds, and Robbie Sihota, 17 pts., 10 boards, two post players who are now in their 3rd year, have grown into a fearsome front-court combination. They led the black-clad Dinos
with double-double performances and out-muscled the rugged Bears posts time and again. Alberta relied on the inside touch of 6′11″ Richard Bates, who had 16 pts. and 12 rebounds in a losing cause.

Calgary ran their offense with precision in taking a 55-35 lead at the break, and they put the Alberta team in foul trouble, going 26/35 from the line compared to only 9/10 for Alberta. Cody Darrah,, 5th year shooting guard, found his range and hit 4/6 from beyond the arc and a 14 pt. total. Point guard Jeff Price was solid defensively, as well as dealing out 5 assists, and scoring 10 pts. Henry Bekkering and Josh Lovestone, 3rd year from Salmon Arm, B.C. also had 10 pts. each, and played a big role in mixing it up on the glass, and giving Calgary a 42-36 edge in rebounding.

Tyler Fidler, Jeremy Odland, and Joe Schow came up with valuable contributions off the bench, as Calgary played a far more aggressive defensive style as a team, and got points from 11 of the 12 players dressed. This was the most complete team effort of the season against a very good Bears team, which had been ranked 5th nationally coming into the weekend.

The Dinos are back on home court next weekend as the Saskatchewan Huskies (5-3) come to town. Alberta, now tied with the Huskies at 5-3 is away to Lethbridge (0-8).