CALGARY – The Dinos men's basketball team rings in 2009 by welcoming the University of Alberta Golden Bears to the Jack Simpson Gym to resume conference play.
It's a key weekend for all both teams to start the second half of the season, but this weekend takes on a little added significance. Don Horwood, the legendary coach of the Alberta Golden Bears, makes his final appearance in Calgary in conference play – don't rule out a playoff Battle of Alberta next month – after 26 years at the helm in Edmonton.
Since taking over as coach of the Bears in 1983, Horwood guided Alberta to three CIS titles (1994, 1995, 2002), seven Canada West championships, and a .640 record in conference play. Among the myriad players Horwood coached in his tenure at Alberta is Dan Vanhooren, head coach of the Dinos.
With due respect to Coach Horwood, the Dinos men see an opportunity to turn a sizable lead in the division standings into a stranglehold this weekend. Heading into the Christmas break at 9-1, with key wins over Brandon and Regina and a sweep at Saskatchewan, Calgary enjoys a four-game lead over second place Alberta (5-5) in the Central Division race as 2009 begins.
The Dinos are coming off an impressive weekend in Winnipeg at the annual Wesmen Classic tournament, where they dispatched Minot State (North Dakota) 95-83 before a last-minute shot from Robbie Sihota sealed a 74-73 victory over Ottawa, currently ranked No. 5 in CIS. The Dinos lost the tournament final by a tight 84-81 score to Brandon, after Henry Bekkering left the game with a nagging neck problem.
With eight of the Dinos' 12 games remaining this season to be played inside the division, four of them come against the Golden Bears and a sweep this weekend would make Alberta's drive for the division title that much more difficult. Calgary took five of the six games played between the teams last season, including a decisive two-game victory in the best-of-three division final last February.
The Dinos and Bears close the 2008-09 regular season with a two-game series in Edmonton Feb. 6-7.
The Dinos are at or near the top in virtually every statistical category in the conference midway through the season, boasting both the top-ranked offence and the top-ranked defence in Canada West. Calgary's scoring margin is a very healthy +19.4, and the Dinos have out-rebounded their opponents by an average of 7.4 per game so far this season – again, top-ranked in the conference in both categories.
The Dinos have done it with a balanced attack, with Robbie Sihota's team-leading 18.9 points per game good enough for just seventh place in the Canada West scoring race. Three other Dinos – Henry Bekkering, Tyler Fidler, and Ross Bekkering – join Sihota in the Top 25, however – a higher total than any other team in the conference. Sharp shooting has propelled the Dinos to this point as well – Fidler leads the conference in three-point percentage at 46.2, while Ross Bekkering holds the overall field goal percentage lead at an impressive 63.2 per cent.
Alberta stumbled out of the gate, losing three of its first four games to teams from the B.C. Lower Mainland. They finally got in the win column with a key 64-60 win at Trinity Western, and the Bears ended the first term on a high note with a home sweep of Winnipeg and Manitoba.
The Bears are in a rebuilding stage after losing Canada West MVP Alex Steele to depleted eligibility following last season. Fifth-year guard Neb Aleksic has been Alberta's top scorer so far this season, averaging 16.3 per game, while C.G. Morrison, Justin VanLoo, and Harvey Bradford are all averaging double digits as well.
Both Dinos teams remain home next weekend to host the Saskatchewan Huskies in another divisional match-up. They'll follow that up with a trip south to face Lethbridge before returning to the Jack for their final home games of the year Jan. 23-24 when Simon Fraser and Trinity Western come to town.
The season ends with road trips to UBC, Victoria, and Alberta.
Tip-off between the Dinos and Bears goes at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights.
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