While many teams in the world of Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s basketball would be fine with splitting a weekend series against the University of Regina Cougars and the extremely tough Brandon University Bobcats, the University of Calgary Dinos men’s basketball team was not. Theirs is a team that expects to win every game and has the talent to do so. However, it is also a young team that is learning what it takes to be one of the top five teams in the country and lack of experience was a factor for the Dinos this past weekend.
The Dinos fought the ball during the entire Fri. night game against the Regina Cougars. They still managed to win the game 74-66 and give the Cougars their second home court loss of the season. It was not the Dinos trademark offence that won them the game but their strong defensive play.
“I was pleased with our players’ effort on Friday,” said Dino head coach Dan Vanhooren. “I thought it was a good road win when things aren’t clicking offensively. I thought it was a maturing day for us.”
Dinos point guard Jeff Price led the way for the Dinos with a double-double scoring 21 points and 12 rebounds. Henry Bekkering also had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds while his brother Ross had 18 rebounds of his own. Robbie Sihota also managed to reach double digits in points with 10.
The Sat. night game against Brandon was a clash between two CIS basketball goliaths. The Bobcats went all the way to the national championship finals last year–losing to the Carlton University Ravens–and the Dinos were the second-ranked team in the country at the start of the game. Unfortunately, it was an opportunity that the Dinos let slip through their fingers and they lost 81-77.
The Dinos were dominant during parts of the game and Tyler Fidler’s dunk on Bobcat forward Yuri Whyms and, following free-throw, started a 20-2 Dino run giving them a 52-48 lead early in the fourth quarter. They couldn’t hang on though, as Bobcat guard Dany Charley had a fourth quarter to remember for the ages. Charley hit a plethora of three-point shots and had 18 fourth quarter points.
They still had a chance to tie the game with 15.5 seconds left but Ross Bekkering tried to force a difficult pass to Price which resulted in the Dinos committing a back-court violation which ended any comeback hopes. The Dinos were also out-rebounded 45-38.
Price finished the match with a double-double with 12 points and ten assists. Henry Bekkering worked with 13 points while Ross had a double-double with 11 points and ten rebounds. Cody Darrah had 12 points and Fidler rounded out the scoring with 13.
“I thought we didn’t come out to play,” said Henry Bekkering. “I didn’t have a good individual performance. We came out and didn’t play like we could.”
Coach Vanhooren echoed Bekkering’s frustration.
“We started off slow,” said Vanhooren. “We really didn’t get anything out of our guys up front, Henry, Ross, or Robbie and when we don’t get much out of all three of those guys, we lose a little lustre.”
The Dinos are home against the Fraser Valley Cascades and the Thompson University Wolfpack this weekend. Both teams have had disappointing seasons and the Dinos will be looking to take both games. The Dinos are working towards first place in the central division and four Dino wins or four losses by the University of Alberta will help the team to clinch the top spot. With only six games left in the season, crunch time is now.