CALGARY – For the second straight season, the University of Calgary Dinos will host the division final after clinching the Central Division pennant with a 70-42 victory over the Simon Fraser Clan Friday night at the Jack Simpson Gym.
BOX SCORE
A stifling defensive performance made up for the Calgary offence that struggled to find its rhythm as the Dinos topped the Clan, avenging a 94-82 loss on Burnaby Mountain last season, one of just four setbacks on the 2007-08 campaign for the Dinos. Calgary moves to 15-2 on the current season, six games up on second place Alberta with just five games left to play.
Calgary limited the Clan to just 13 points in the first half, including a paltry five in the second quarter. The Clan's top scorer, Greg Wallis, managed just three points in the first half under the close eye of Calgary's Ross Bekkering, and SFU made just six field goals in the opening 20 minutes.
“I was really proud of our defence tonight,” said Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren. “We did a great job on the glass in the first half, forcing them into a lot of one-and-dones, and that makes a big difference. We played a lot of man-to-man, and it was really good to see that our guys can defend. Ross was great on Wallis the whole first half and that was really the key. If we can continue that process of playing D even when our offence isn't going well.”
After taking a 31-13 lead into the halftime break, Calgary extended the lead in the third quarter with a game-high 25 points while holding the Clan to 16, and the game ended with the Dinos giving up a season-low 42 points.
Wallis was the only SFU player to crack double digits with his 11-point effort, while Kevin Pribilsky added seven. Wallis and Kevin Shaw had six rebounds apiece to lead the team.
While the Bekkering brothers were held to a total of just 13 points on the night, Tyler Fidler and Robbie Sihota stepped up for Calgary, scoring 16 and 14 each. A trey from Fidler opened the scoring on the night, and he finished with a game-high three hoops from downtown. Ross Bekkering, Andy Rochon, and Dominyc Coward had seven points each for the Dinos, who liberally used the bench in the second half, while Henry Bekkering led all players on the night with 10 rebounds.
With the division title clinched, the Dinos will not have to scoreboard-watch for the rest of the season but, with the rest of their schedule against playoff-bound teams, Vanhooren knows his team still has plenty to play for down the stretch.
“It's a great feeling to know that (the division) is wrapped up, and we don't have to focus on outcomes,” he said. “You can get a little distracted by the race, but now we can really focus on ourselves and improving the things that we need to, and we have some really good games to do that with against four quality opponents. Four of them are on the road, and we'll hopefully be on the road for some playoff games too if we can get out of the division.”
Simon Fraser falls to 10-8 on the year but still holds down the Pacific Division's final playoff spot, six points ahead of Fraser Valley. The Clan heads south to Lethbridge, where they will face the Pronghorns on Saturday night.
Calgary plays its final home game of the regular season against Trinity Western on Saturday night, where Henry Bekkering will be honoured before playing his final regular season home game. The Dinos end the season with back-to-back road trips, beginning with a trip west to face Victoria and UBC, followed by a season-ending series at archrival Alberta.
The Central Division Final will go the weekend of Jan. 19-22 in the Jack Simpson Gym, with a full schedule to be announced in the coming weeks.
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