CALGARY – University of Calgary freshman guard Tyler Fidler was named the Canada West rookie of the year as the conference announced its 2007-08 men’s basketball all-stars and award winners.

A 6’9”, 200-pound two-man from Calgary’s Western Canada High School, Fidler was the sixth man for the Dinos most of the season and started four games at the end of the year. He averaged 9.9 points off the bench for the Dinos, who completed their best season since 1976 with a record of 18-4.

Calgary hosts the Canada West Final Four this weekend in the Jack Simpson Gym after sweeping the Alberta Golden Bears in the division final last week.

“Tyler was the top high school recruit to stay in Canada last year, and he’s done nothing but meet our expectations,” said Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren. “He has some national team experience, and we’re thrilled that he’s gotten this recognition. We hope he can continue to play well and gain further recognition at the national level.”

Fidler selected to join the Dinos after entertaining several offers from other Canada West schools and the NCAA.

In addition to his scoring, he was a force defensively for Calgary, finishing second on the team in both blocked shots (21) and steals (41) despite averaging just 21.7 minutes per game. Those stats placed him ninth in the conference in blocks and 11th in steals.

A communications student, Fidler will become the conference’s nominee for the CIS rookie of the year award, which will be handed out at the national championship in Ottawa Mar. 14-16.

He is the first Dinos player to be named the conference rookie of the year since Chris Harris in 1998.

Forward Henry Bekkering was also recognized by the Canada West coaches as a second-team conference all-star.

Bekkering, who transferred to Calgary from Eastern Washington of the NCAA this season, averaged just over 20 points per game to lead the team in scoring. He led Canada West in points scored with 463 on the season, connecting on 51.5 per cent of his field goal attempts. The highest scoring player on the highest scoring team in Canada, Bekkering also finished third in the conference in offensive rebounds (67) and routinely brought crowds to their feet with remarkable athletic plays and highlight-reel dunks.

“Henry certainly deserves the recognition and has significantly justified it,” said Vanhooren. “He’s also a team guy playing with a very talented group of players, and he has handled the recognition very graciously. He is entirely team-oriented and not selfish at all, and we’re glad to have him.”

Alberta guard Alex Steele was named the conference player of the year, while David Yul Michel of the Brandon Bobcats earned defensive player of the year honours. Matt Opalko of the Winnipeg Wesmen is the conference’s nominee for the Ken Shields award (student-athlete community service), and 25-year Alberta veteran Don Horwood was named the Canada West coach of the year.

-UC-

2007-08 Canada West Men’s Basketball All-Stars & Awards

Award Winners
Player of the year – Alex Steele, Alberta
Rookie of the year – Tyler Fidler, Calgary
Defensive player of the year – David Yul Michel, Brandon
Ken Shields Award nominee – Matt Opalko, Winnipeg
Coach of the year – Don Horwood, Alberta

First All-Star Team
Alex Steele, Alberta
Erfan Nasajpour, Winnipeg
Andrew Spagrud, Saskatchewan
Greg Wallis, Simon Fraser
Dany Charlery, Brandon

Second All-Star Team
Henry Bekkering, Calgary
Chris Dyck, UBC
Adam Hartman, Brandon
Isaac Ansah, Manitoba
Tyler Haas, Victoria

CALGARY – The fourth-ranked Calgary Dinos certainly picked the right moment to play their best game of the season as they took a convincing 90-66 decision over the Alberta Golden Bears Saturday night.

The Dinos clinched the Central Division title with the victory following an 87-78 win in Friday’s series opener.

“’Wow’ is probably a good explanation of it,” said Calgary coach Dan Vanhooren following the contest. “That was the best basketball game we’ve played all year. It shows we’re peaking at the right time.”

After a sloppy first-half effort on Friday, the Dinos broke open a tight game late in the opening quarter with a 7-0 run and never looked back, taking a 23-16 lead into the first break. The run was highlighted by a block from Ross Bekkering (3rd year, Taber, Alta.), turning the ball over to Calgary. Cody Darrah (5th, Edmonton) then found Henry Bekkering (4th, Taber) with a spectacular alley-oop dunk that brought the near-capacity crowd of 2804 to its feet in the Jack Simpson Gym. Ross Bekkering then sealed the run with a long three at the buzzer.

Alberta began to press in the second and kept it close, thanks in large part to Richard Bates (5th, Sherwood Park, Alta.), who made several tough shots in traffic in the quarter. Calgary was totally dominant on the glass, however, out-rebounding the Bears 26-12 in the first 20 minutes and taking a 45-34 lead into the half.

Foul trouble loomed for the Dinos early in the third, with six team fouls called in the first 3:45 of the period. Alberta was able to close the gap to seven points, but the Dinos bench performed very well in limiting the Bears’ success – and even built on the lead.

“I think the difference in the game was in the third quarter when we got in a little foul trouble, and our bench comes on, and they play well,” said Vanhooren. “Not only did they maintain our lead, but they increased it. I’m really proud of our team right now.”

The fourth quarter was all Henry Bekkering, who scored 13 including two more brilliant dunks as the Dinos ran away with it. Bekkering led all players with 31 points on the night on 12-of-21 shooting.

Ross Bekkering went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line to score 17 points to go with 12 rebounds. Robbie Sihota (3rd, Calgary) had another stellar game for the Dinos with 17 points in just 21 minutes on the floor.

The Golden Bears were led by CG Morrison’s (3rd, Victoria) 21-point effort as Calgary held the entire Alberta starting lineup to just 27 points on the night. Alex Steele (5th, Edmonton) added 12 points while Bates poured in 11.

On the night, the Dinos out-rebounded their archrivals 46-31 and shot 48.3 per cent from the floor.

Calgary earns the right to host the Canada West Final Four tournament, which will take place Feb. 29-Mar. 1 in the Jack Simpson Gym. Teams and seeding are to be determined, but the Dinos will play at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 29 in the second semi-final game. The bronze and gold medal games will go at 5 and 7 p.m. on Saturday night, respectively.

“It’s been our goal to host the Final Four next weekend, and now that we have that we have to make sure we’re focused,” Vanhooren said. “This fan base and this group of people that came out to the games this weekend helps our team, and to have them here at home supporting us next weekend is only going to be that much better.”

Fans are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance to avoid long line-ups at the door on game night. Full ticket information will be available at goDINOS.com on Monday, Feb. 25.

The top two teams from the Final Four will advance to the CIS Final 8 in Ottawa Mar. 14-16.