Men’s Basketball: Second-half success

By Stewart Pallard

The University of Calgary men’s basketball team are one step closer to the Canada West playoffs, thanks to a couple straight wins. The Dinos went head-to-head with the University College of Fraser Valley Cascades and handed the Cascades their worst loss of the season Fri., Jan. 26. The Dinos scored a Canada West season-high 109 points en route to a 109-76 victory.

The Cascades held a 21-10 lead early in the game but Calgary overtook it on a 9-0 run and had a 39-36 lead at the half. In the second half the Dinos managed to solve their shooting problems and score 70 points, their biggest second-half total so far this year.

The Dinos made 21 of 27 free throws, 23 of 29 field goals and three for five shots from beyond the arc. This was a big turn around for the Dinos, considering they only shot 33.8 per cent against the Brandon University Bobcats last weekend.

The Cascades seemed lost without the presence of their leading scorer Jamie Vaughan, who missed the contest due to injury. Fraser Valley shot just over 32 per cent in the second half as Calgary built a 29 point lead and went on a 16-1 four-minute run. Calgary’s offence dominated, as Sonny Khangura scored 24 points and every Dino player registered at least one point in the game.

On Saturday the Dinos took on the woeful Thompson River Wolfpack, a team that hasn’t won a single game so far this season. The Dinos took the lead three minutes in and held onto it for the rest of the game. The Dinos’ hot shooting continued, as they shot at nearly 60 per cent and made all of their free-throws in the first.

Leading the way for the Dinos Saturday was Cody Darrah who scored a game high 20 points. Josh Feist had a double-double with 15 points and 11 assists. The Dinos won the contest 100-82, the third time in four games the team put up 100 points or more.

Since the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns split their games this weekend, the Dinos earned themselves a crucial four point cushion in the standings with just four games left in the regular season. Essentially only a dramatic Dino collapse and a Pronghorn rally could make the Dinos miss the playoffs at this point.