The University of Dinos men’s basketball team was plagued again by inconsistency this past weekend. The Dinos lost against the Simon Fraser University Clan 94-82 but came back with a strong effort against the Trinity Western University Spartans and won 99-77.
The loss against Simon Fraser University was a disappointing one for the Dinos. SFU finished below .500 last season and was winless in their four games which included a 92-55 beat down from the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, a team the Dinos beat 73-68 a weekend earlier. It was not the effort one would expect from a team with such high expectations and it is unlikely the Clan will break the 90-point mark again this season.
SFU led 40-34 at the half and the Dinos didn’t muster a second-half comeback as SFU guard Kevin Shaw hit four straight shots from beyond the arc which widened the SFU lead to 20 points as the Clan scored an impressive 32 points in the third quarter.
“We can’t continually perform where we don’t play well for three quarters of a game and then turn it on when it’s desperation time,” said Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren. “I thought our guys actually learned a lesson and it was good for us.”
The Dinos’ problems increased substantially when they lost two of their best players when Ross and Henry Bekkering get into foul trouble. Both players missed most of the second and third quarters and Henry fouled out in the fourth quarter.
“We have enough depth to handle it with Schow and those guys and that’s why we were still competitive in that game,” said Vanhooren. “We just didn’t put the effort out and had we done that, I really don’t think it would have been that much of a problem for us.”
Jeff Price and Cody Darrah led the way for the Dinos with 16 points apiece. Rookie Tyler Fidler had 13 and Robbie Sihota had 11. Henry Bekkering finished with 10 points while Ross managed 11 rebounds.
The Trinity Western University Spartans was also a team that finished below .500 last season and was struggling early this season with just a single win. The Dinos didn’t take anything for granted this time, coming out strong and posting an impressive 34-18 lead after the first quarter.
“We came out against Trinity and we went up on them 30-7,” said Vanhooren. “We started hard and played hard all game and beat them quite badly.”
The Bekkering brothers didn’t get into foul trouble and both brothers would post double-doubles, each with 10 rebounds, and Ross scoring 16 points and Henry 20. Sihota had 15 points, Fidler reached double figures again with 13 points, and Darrah finished with 10.
Splitting their weekend games hurt the Dinos in the national standings. The Dinos were ranked 11th and they fell to the 12th spot. Carleton remains the top-ranked team in the nation.
The Dinos are now tied with the University of Alberta Golden Bears for the top spot in the Plains division of the Canada West conference.