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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