Blessed with their initial preseason tournament being at home, the Dinos men’s basketball team can thank their lucky stars for the home court advantage. The Beast Invitational took place Oct. 15-17 with the Jack Simpson Gymnasium playing host to the Brock University Badgers, Ryerson University Rams and the University of Alberta Golden Bears.
The Dinos began their quest for gold Fri., Oct. 15 with a game against the Rams. This first challenge proved unchallenging for our boys. They took the Rams down to the tune of 97-56. Rick Brar and Dalbir Dosanjh were the top Dinos scorers with 13 notches each.
The match against the Golden Bears Sat., Oct. 16 proved to be slightly more challenging. Instead of blasting the Bears back to the Butterdome in Edmonton, we took an early 14-4 lead just five minutes into the game and held on. The final score rest comfortably at 83-71 with Dino Surinder Grewal leading in scoring at 16. Brendan Groat, Chris Wright and Whit Hornsberger put their pieces in, adding 15, 14 and 10 points respectively.
“It’s always big for us to beat the Bears,” confirmed Head Coach Dan Vanhooren regarding the win over our Provincial rivals.
Our boys third and final game took place Sun., Oct. 17 against a tough Badgers team. The game was close right the way through, at half time there was a tie at 35-35. The Dinos kept in the game all the way through, with less than two minutes to play we had the lead 72-71. Two untimely fouls and the resulting three points from the free throw line lost the game for the Dinos in the last minute and a half. After the buzzer, Brock had held their lead for a 72-74 victory. Wright and Hornsberger both went home with 17 points in their pockets from the game.
In spite of the one loss, the weekend was still a successful one for the Dinos. It allowed them a chance to see what gems some of the rookies have to bring to the team. Will Galbraith, Josh Feist, Sandy Brar, Jaret Radford and Dosanjh are this year’s additions to the dressing lineup.
“I’m super happy with our young kids,” Vanhooren commented. “They came out and added the dimensions we need.”
The team next hunts at the All Day Cougar Classic hosted by the University of Regina Oct. 21-23. Check back with the Gauntlet for results.