Men’s basketball team splits in Manitoba

By TanyAmanda

The Dinos men’s basketball team got busy over the holidays while the rest of us stuffed ourselves and laid around like beached whales. The men competed in the 2004 Holiday Classic tournament at Mount Royal College Dec. 30-31. We use the term “tournament” loosely, since only four post-secondary teams were involved (the rest being high schools), they didn’t all play each other and there was no glory for the victorious.


If there had been titles of glory, the Dinos would have reigned supreme. They defeated the Queen’s University Golden Gaels 76-68 Dec. 30, and the University of Regina Cougars 79-71 Dec. 31.


The ballers and shot callers were back on the court for regular season play Jan. 7 against the University of Manitoba Bisons. The Dinos played well considering their flight was delayed and they got to bed at 5 a.m. They were up 11 points at the half thanks to their strong and masculine efforts. Sandy Brar was a defensive star and rookie Dalbir Dosanjh put out a stellar performance.


Chris Wright and Surinder Grewal led the pack with 18 and 20 points respectively. The Dinos were deadly with the free throws, making 100 per cent of their attempts. Essentially, the Dinos grabbed the Bisons by the horns to win 83-54.


On Sat., Jan. 8, the Dinos called on the University of Winnipeg Wesmen. Head Coach Don VanHooren wasn’t sure if it was due to the messed up sleeping schedule, but the calibre of the Dinos’ play was opposite to that of Friday. To their dismay, they lost to the last placed team in Canada West 78-74.


The Wesmen had the lead at half, 41-31. The Dinos fought back hard in the second to close the gap. However, they were thwarted in their efforts by the outstanding Erfan Nasajpour of the Wesmen. Matt Opalko of the Wesmen finished the Dinos off in the end with four key free throws.


This brings us to the obvious question: What is a Wesmen? Or is it Wesman in singular form?


Chris Wright (recently renamed “Robert” in the CIS stats–what is your real name, spy?) led the Dinos with 28 points and eight rebounds.


Big games against the University of Alberta Golden Bears are on the horizon this weekend. Both the Dinos and Bears are tied for first in Canada West. You should go. The balls drop Jan. 14-15 at 8 p.m. in the Jack Simpson Gymnasium.

7 comments

Leave a comment