The Dinos men’s basketball team is 3-1 in regular season play after splitting their games on the coast Nov. 14-15.
Friday night saw the Trinity Western University Spartans fall in defeat 82-67, as John Riad led the Dinos with 22 points, despite a power failure midway through the second half that could have broken the U of C’s stride.
“Trinity Western’s a good team,” said Head Coach Dan Vanhooren. “Some of their younger guys were battling for possession, they just need some experience.”
Dino Ian Ferguson also noted TWU was lacking their best post player, saying they’ll be a stronger team once he returns later this season.
Saturday night saw a weaker effort from the U of C as they took on the Simon Fraser University Clan and lost 92-84.
According to Vanhooren, sub-par shooting made the difference, causing the Dino’s to lag behind the Clan several times–once by 15 points.
“SFU shot a heck of a lot better than Trinity Western,” said Ferguson. “We spent the whole game playing catch-up.”
Riad, however, improved on his tally from the previous night, contributing 23 points. Chris Wright drained another 15 and Surinder Grewal added 10.
Nov 21-22, the Dinos host their first home games of the season versus the University of Alberta Golden Bears, their greatest obstacle in last year’s playoffs and this year’s pre-season.
“There’s a lot of emotion any time we play U of A,” said Ferguson. “Their bench isn’t as deep as ours, though.”
Vanhooren, however, was more focused on the physical toll the season has taken.
“Our health [is my major concern],” he cited. “We’re hoping to be ready to play by the weekend.”
If the Dinos can muster their full strength, this weekend’s match-up will be a fierce one.
“They’re our first home games, we’ll be fired up,” said Ferguson.