CALGARY - Another chapter in the storied rivalry between the No. 4 Calgary Dinos and Alberta Golden Bears will be written this weekend as the teams clash in the Central Division Final, with the hosting spot for next week’s Canada West Final Four on the line. And there are stories aplenty this weekend. Here’s a look:

TEACHER VS. STUDENT - 25-year veteran Alberta coach Don Horwood brings his Golden Bears down the QEII, where he will face off against eight-year coach Dan Vanhooren of the Dinos. Vanhooren played for Horwood at Alberta for three seasons, graduating with his physical education degree in 1993. Horwood and Vanhooren have coached head-to-head in four playoff series, with Horwood’s Bears claiming victory in three of the four. All four series have gone the maximum three games, and the host team has won three of the series - including both division finals (2003 and 2004)

DON’T YOU DARRAH - Dinos fifth year senior Cody Darrah has been on both sides of the Battle of Alberta. The Edmonton native started his career with the Golden Bears out of Strathcona High School but was not awarded significant court time in the U of A Main Gym. Following the 2003-04 season he elected to make the trip south and has been a three-year starter for the Dinos. For perhaps the final time in his career, the clutch shooter will face his old team from his starting two guard position - and you can bet he wants this one.

THE PRICE? IT’S A STEELE - There will be all kinds of intriguing match-ups on the court this weekend, and one of the best will be the battle between Calgary point guard Jeff Price and Alberta leading scorer Alex Steele. Steele, a fifth-year player who finished only one point back of Calgary’s Henry Bekkering as the top scorer in the conference this season, is a game changer and Price will have his hands full defending him all weekend. Price, meanwhile, is the quarterback of Calgary’s offence and led the conference in assists with 114. The two guards finished 1-2 in free throw percentage over the season, with Price’s 87.8 per cent beating out Steele’s 84.1.

DUEL OF THE DUNKERS - Henry Bekkering and Andrew Parker are two of the conference’s most exciting players to watch, and they will go head-to-head once more in this series. Bekkering got the best of the match-up in the regular season, holding Parker to just 23 points in the four games played between the teams (he averaged better than 10 per game on the year). Bekkering, meanwhile, scored 66 in the same four games. Much as Price needs to keep Steele in check to ensure Calgary’s success, Alberta’s will ride on Parker’s ability to keep Bekkering from racking up big numbers.

DOG TIRED - The Golden Bears advanced to the division final after defeating the Saskatchewan Huskies in a three-game series last weekend at the Main Gym. After taking a tight six-point win in the series opener, the Bears fell 66-64 on a late turnaround jumper by Andrew Spagrud that forced the series to a third game. In the rubber match, a strong third quarter effort lifted Alberta to the series win, propelling the bears to a 76-61 victory. While the Bears and Huskies were battling it out, however, Calgary enjoyed its bye week at home with an intra-squad game last Friday night. Conventional wisdom would say that a longer series would be to Calgary’s advantage because of the bye but it’s worth noting that the last time the Dinos and Bears clashed in the division final in 2004, Alberta came into the Jack and took a 10-point decision in Game 1 before ultimately succumbing to the Dinos in three.

ROSS’ REBOUNDING RETURNS - After sitting out the last five games of the regular season to nurse a nagging ankle injury, Ross Bekkering is back to game shape and will return to the Calgary lineup this weekend. The conference’s leading rebounder with 11.5 per game will give a considerable boost to the Dinos’ defensive effort and was a key reason Calgary out-boarded their opponents by nearly nine per game this season.

Calgary (18-4) won the season series with Alberta (16-6, 2-1 playoffs) 3-1, winning both games in the Jack back in November and splitting the series in
Edmonton in early January. The Dinos bring their 12-0 home record into the weekend with the hopes of adding additional dates in the Jack. The winner of this series will host the Canada West Final Four next weekend, from which the top two teams will advance to the CIS Final 8 in Ottawa next month.
However, with a wild card berth available to the conference championship as well, don’t be surprised to see both these teams in action again next week.

2008 Canada West Central Division Final

All games will be broadcast LIVE by NUTV at www.nutv.ca/streaming

CALGARY - The Dunking Dutch returned to Canada this season to play basketball for the Calgary Dinos - and now he’s making his second appearance
in North America’s leading sports publication.

Henry Bekkering, the Dinos basketball star, will appear in Sports - Illustrated this week.

Bekkering, who was on the cover of SI On Campus during his playing days at Eastern Washington University of the NCAA Division I, is featured in one
section of Chris Ballard’s extensive look at the history, art, and allure of dunking in the Feb. 25 edition of Sports Illustrated, which appears on
newsstands across the continent Thursday. The cover of this week’s edition features Johan Santana of the New York Mets.

The feature will also have an extensive web component, which will be available through SI.com later this week.

Bekkering has become known across Canada and the United States for his dunking ability, with some clips of his exploits obtaining more than a million hits on YouTube. In 2004 he appeared on FSN’s Best Damn Sports Show Period to give a dunk demonstration, and he has been featured in the Globe
and Mail and by The Canadian Press since joining the Dinos this season.

When his clip reached 1,000,000 YouTube viewers, Bekkering was featured on CTV’s Canada AM on Wednesday, Feb. 6.

Bekkering led Canada West with 463 points this season, averaging 21 points per game as the Dinos won the Central Division pennant with a record of
18-4. Ranked No. 4 in the nation, Calgary hosts archrival Alberta this weekend in the division final, with the winner earning the right to host the
Canada West Final Four next weekend.

The elder Bekkering becomes the ninth Dinos athlete to appear in SI since 1983 and the first to be featured outside Faces in the Crowd. Reigning BLG
Award winner Jessica Zelinka was the last UC athlete to record the feat, appearing in the May 28, 2007 issue after being named the CIS female athlete
of the year.