Ballin’ ain’t no thang for a Dino

By TanyAmanda

The last two games were crucial for the Dinos men’s basketball team. They hosted the University of Alberta Golden Bears Jan. 14-15. They went into this double-header in a three-way tie for first in Canada West’s Mountain division.


Usually, there is nothing wrong with a three-way, but in this case it was unacceptable. The Dinos put out an exceptional performance, beating the Bears 95-71 and 73-59 on Friday and Saturday respectively. With the University of Saskatchewan Huskies losing to the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Friday night, the Dinos now sit securely in first place.


The Friday night fight saw the Dinos up at the half, 52-47. The men managed to keep up their stamina throughout the game and crush the failing Bears. With 10 minutes remaining in the game the Dinos were up, 68-60. They soon pulled away, out-scoring the U of A 27-11 in the remaining minutes.


Many of the Dinos put out… a good performance that is. The team shot 58 per cent from the field, while the Bears were held back to 43 per cent. They also shot 81 per cent from the line, while the Bears only managed 56 per cent.


Big contributors for the Dinos were Rick “the Rock” Brar with 22 points, Josh “feisty” Feist and Chris Wright with 17 points each and Surinder Grewal with 16. The big boys under the net were Wright and John Salgado with 12 and seven rebounds, respectively.


Excitement was in the air Saturday night as 1,503 fans filled the Jack. Even some fans from U of A, waylaid from a Trailer Park Boys audition, showed up–too much, put your shirts back on. The scales were more balanced than on Friday, as the Dinos were up a narrow 40-39 at the half.


The game was a well-fought struggle up until the final four minutes. After a time-out was called, the Dinos began to pull away with nine unanswered points to shut down the ailing U of A. In a desperate final attempt, a Bear was seen diving without a pool in sight. Despite the dramatics, the Dinos’ solid defense maintained their lead.


Top scorers for the Dinos were Feist, Sandy Brar and Wright with 20, 16 and 15 points respectively. Of Feist’s 20 points, 14 were scored in the first half. Wright was big under the net again with seven rebounds. The Dinos out-scored the Bears from the field, shooting at 50 per cent. The disgruntled omnivorous mammals shot at 37 per cent.


“[These wins] put us in the driver’s seat,” said Head Coach Dan VanHooren. “With eight games remaining we’re in a good spot.”


VanHooren went on to comment that the team had shown improvement since early in the season.


“We had some role difficulties with injuries this year,” he said in reference to Whit Hornsberger, who is out indefinitely. “Josh [Feist] and Sandy [Brar] have stepped up [into Hornsberger’s leadership position].”


The Dinos travel to the windy city Jan. 21-22 to take on the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns (dress it up all you want, they’re antelope).