Jan. 12

Dinos Bag Antelopes and Control Division
By Wayne Thomas

When your point guard, all 5′11″ (sorry Jeff, this was WT) of him, gets 10 boards, you know their aren’t many left for the other team. Jeff Price and his mates dominated the glass and the scoreboard as the homestanding Calgary Dinos did what they had to do in completing a sweep of the feisty, but
overmatched Lethbridge Pronghorns Saturday night with a 95-72 win punctuated by a whopping 63-33 rebounding assault.

Price wasn’t at his best, as he missed 3 free throws, which was 1 more than for the previous 13 games in Canada West play; the 3rd year floor
general from Beaverbrook and MRC did , however, record a 16 pt., 10 rebound, 6 assist double- double, and he was joined by Robbie Sihota who scored 17 to go along with 14 rebounds. Henry Bekkering hit for 23 pts. to run his weekend total to 62, and he entertained the crowd with a 9.9 dunk off a fast break. The Dinos outshot Lethbridge 44% to 38%, and capitalized on 20/33 free throws (61%) to 13/24 (54%), as neither team had an especially strong shooting night.

Ross Bekkering with 10 and Joe Schow with 11 also hit double figures for Calgary as the Dinos extended their Division leading record to 12-2, and opened up a three game spread on Alberta (9-5), who suffered an 88-81 loss at Manitoba. Saskatchewan dropped even further behind with their second loss in the Manitoba capital, this one 75-64 to the Winnipeg Wesmen.

The Pronghorns are now an abysmal 0-14, but Coach Mike Connelly has to be heartened by the effort shown by his players, even as the losses mount. Newcomer Danhue Lawrence, with 17 pts,, was one of 5 ‘Horns in double figures, and he showed the ability to lead his team in the future. Both Calgary and Lethbridge, who are travel ‘partners’ for non-Divisional road games, journey to Regina and Brandon next weekend, which is a daunting trip for most Canada West teams.

Notes …

Calgary faces Regina Cougars (7-7) on Friday, then hop a bus for the 4 hour sojourn to beautiful Brandon for a Saturday clash with the Great Plains Division leading Bobcats (12-2). The last game the Dinos played there against Brandon was an 86-71 win in the 2004 Canada West Semi-Final. Brandon lost their 2nd game of the season Saturday night in Victoria, as the Vikes prevailed 65-60 in a low scoring affair. Regina dropped their 2nd of the weekend, 78-65 to UBC in Vancouver.

Josh Lovestone was suffering from the flu this weekend and he watched from the sidelines; Ross Bekkering wasn’t 100% with his sore ankle, but still dominated the glass against the undersized Pronghorns, and delivered an impressive 1st half flush of his own on a reverse slam along the baseline.

(courtesy of Ben Matchett from godinos.com)

CALGARY – On a night when their division rivals faltered, the fourth-ranked Calgary Dinos out-rebounded the Lethbridge Pronghorns by a whopping 63-33 margin to sweep the season series with a 95-72 victory Saturday in the Jack.

Robbie Sihota’s (3rd year, Calgary) double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds led the way for the Dinos, who rebounded from a tentative first quarter to win going away.

“I thought we played hard all weekend,” said Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren, whose team moved to 12-2 with the win. “They shot a little better in the early part of the game, and the difference in the game for sure was rebounding. Sixty-three rebounds in a game is out of control.”

Vanhooren was impressed with his team’s effort against the Pronghorns (0-14), who always play the Dinos tough and will play the role of spoiler the rest of the way.

“I think the guys did a good job of focusing and getting the two wins, and not taking them too lightly,” he said. “You could quickly find yourself in a ball game against them. They took Saskatchewan to overtime earlier in the year, and they have some talented players that can score, so if you don’t play hard and don’t play tough you can find yourself on the wrong side of the score.”

Lethbridge’s early shooting produced three consecutive trays at one point in the first quarter as the Horns took a 21-18 lead out of the opening 10. As Calgary’s dominance on the glass began to establish itself in the second quarter, the Dinos quickly retook the lead and outscored the Horns 29-14 in the second quarter to lead by a dozen at the half.

Calgary opened the second half on a 10-2 run and extended the lead to 22 after three quarters. Vanhooren played his bench through most of the third quarter, and all 12 players saw at least seven minutes on the court. Point guard Jeff Price (3rd, Calgary) led the Dinos with 31 minutes, continuing his stellar play with a double-double of his own. Price finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, all on the defensive glass.

“Jeff has been playing fantastic, and you can’t ask for anything more,” said Vanhooren. “We also got a lot out of Henry (Bekkering) this weekend, and offensively he looked very strong.”

Bekkering (4th, Taber, Alta.) scored a game-high 23 points for the Dinos, bringing his weekend total to 62 after a 39-point outburst Friday night. Joseph Schow (3rd, Medicine Hat, Alta.) hit double figures with 11 points, while Ross Bekkering (3rd, Taber) hauled down nine rebounds to go with his 10 points.

The Pronghorns got offence from several players, with five hitting double digits. Danhue Lawrence (3rd, Toronto) paced Lethbridge in several statistical categories, including points (17), rebounds (9), assists (4), and minutes played (38). Shawn Nelson (3rd, Stirling, Alta.) and Sephton Spence (1st, Ajax, Ont.) scored 11 apiece, while Ryan Anderson (4th, Lethbridge) and Richard Steed (3rd, Calgary) added 10 each.

The win, coupled with losses by both Alberta and Saskatchewan on the road, moves the Dinos three games up on the Golden Bears and five on the Huskies for first place in the Central Division with eight games remaining. The regular season division winner enjoys a bye through the first round of the playoffs and hosts the division final, and the Central Division winner will host the Canada West Final Four in late February.

The Dinos and Pronghorns head out on a tough road trip next weekend to face teams in the Great Plains Division. Lethbridge will open the weekend at Brandon while Calgary visits Regina, and the teams will switch opponents the following night.

Calgary returns home Jan. 25-26 as the Fraser Valley Cascades make their inaugural appearance in the Jack, followed a night later by a visit from the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.

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Jan.11

Teams Play It Wide Open
By Wayne Thomas

Summer League basketball is definitely an acquired taste, with the keen eye snatching glimpses of fine form in a flurry of fast and loose play. On Friday at ‘The Jack’ we were treated to a close facsimile of that style of mayhem, as the Calgary Dinos traded end to end forays with the visiting Lethbridge Pronghorns before snuffing the ‘Horns 102-72 behind the 39 pt. outburst by Henry Bekkering.

In the second half, the 24 second clock went off, and the officials had to stop the game to check the replay … surely something had gone wrong with the clock! The usual elapsed time before launch was between 10 and 15 seconds, with the action slowed only by the occasional, and often misinterpreted call from the seemingly baffled crew of zebras. Lethbridge hit a shot at the half-time buzzer to make the score 43-32 Dinos, and the fans were muttering into their popcorn about the sloppy performance.

The Dinos did rein it in somewhat in the final 20 minutes, and Henry B went on a scoring binge aided by 15 rebounds from his brother Ross, who also added 12 pts.. Realizing they had a slight height advantage over the pint sized ‘Horns, Calgary got it into the paint often enough to pull away in the 4th quarter. Jeff Price was effective again at the point with 12 pts. and 9 assists, and Brennen Fule along with Andrew Champagnie looked good at the defensive end in a mop up role.

Calgary outshot Lethbridge … 37/69 - 54%, to 29/72 - 40%, and they also controlled the rebound game with 48 to only 25 for the ‘Horns. Ryan Anderson tallied 24 points for Lethbridge, as he played well against his taller defenders. The two teams combined for 39 turnovers, some of which happened in quick succession, and Calgary went to the foul line for 22/32 - 69%, while the Pronghorns made good on 8 of 16 attempts.

Calgary moves to 11-2 in league play, while Lethbridge is now 0-13. The teams play again Saturday at 8:00pm.

(courtesy of Ben Matchett at godinos.com)

CALGARY – Henry Bekkering posted the best single-game performance by a Calgary Dino in nearly 11 years as the fourth-ranked Dinos extended their home winning streak to seven games with a 102-72 defeat of the Lethbridge Pronghorns Friday night.

Bekkering (4th year, Taber, Alta.) scored 39 points on 16-of-20 shooting – including three of four from three-point land – in 28 minutes on the floor to lead Calgary to the win. His 39 points was the highest single-game total since Navi Sekhon scored 53 on Jan. 18, 1997 against the Saskatchewan Huskies.

“I don’t think I’ll be hitting those kind of numbers,” laughed Bekkering following the contest, “but everything was going in tonight for me.”

The bulk of his scoring came in the second half, where he went 10-for-11 from the field to pour in 27 points and was a late foul shot away from hitting the 40-point threshold as the smaller Pronghorns had no answer for the Dinos’ leading scorer.

“Playing some of these smaller guys, Henry got a lot of room out there,” said Calgary coach Dan Vanhooren. “He hit some good jump shots; he was feeling it on offence and was tough defensively as well, so it was a really good night for him.”

A solo 8-0 run by Bekkering in less than a minute late in the third quarter blew the game wide open. Calgary opened the second half with an 11-point lead but was unable to expand it as Lethbridge matched them point-for-point. With the Dinos leading by nine and just over two minutes to play in the quarter, Jeff Price (3rd, Calgary) found a wide-open Bekkering at the top of the key, and his three-ball made the lead 12. Price earned one of his six steals on the night on the ensuing Lethbridge possession, leading to a Bekkering lay-up to put the Dinos ahead by 14. Lethbridge again failed to score, and Bekkering hit another straight-on three to make it a 17-point lead.

Twelve Dinos saw court time, with 11 of them recording six-plus minutes. Vanhooren praised his team’s effort against the Pronghorns, who fell to 0-13 with the loss.

“I loved our competitive energy,” he said. “We came out hard early, we played with a lot of ball pressure, and we played a team that pressured our big guys into playing perimeter defence and working hard at it. “

Ross Bekkering (3rd, Taber) recorded his ninth double-double in league play this season, scoring 12 and hauling down 15 big rebounds for the Dinos, while Price added a dozen points and nine assists to his six steals. The Dinos out-rebounded the Pronghorns 48-25 on the night.

Ryan Anderson (4th, Lethbridge) led the way for the Horns with 24 points, with Danhue Lawrence (2nd, Toronto) adding 12 and Shawn Nelson (3rd, Stirling, Alta.) 10.

The win maintained Calgary’s (11-2) two-game lead over Alberta (9-4) for top spot in the Central Division of Canada West, after Alberta narrowly defeated Winnipeg on the road to keep pace. Calgary also gained a game on the Saskatchewan Huskies, who fell 89-85 at Manitoba.

Calgary and Lethbridge do battle for the fourth and final time in 2007-08 Saturday night, with tip-off at 8 p.m. in the Jack.

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