CALGARY – Tyler Fidler had been quiet in the Calgary Dinos' last few Canada West outings, but he certainly made amends for it Friday night.

In what Calgary coach Dan Vanhooren called “the best game I've seen him play in his career,” Fidler put up 30 points to lead the Dinos to a 91-74 overtime victory over the Victoria Vikes Friday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.

BOX SCORE

As impressive as Fidler's outing was, however, the Dinos nearly ended up on the wrong end of the outcome when Ryan MacKinnon hit a big three to give the Vikes a 71-69 lead with jut 9.8 seconds left on the clock. After a Calgary time out, the Dinos got the ball to Ross Bekkering on the baseline. Bekkering went up for the hook shot from about four feet out and it sailed long, but Fidler was there for the fingertip put-back with just 0.3 seconds left, sending the game to extra time.

In the overtime period, Calgary dominated in all facets, shooting 67 per cent and hitting all five of their three-point attempts while holding Victoria to three free throws as they outscored the Vikes 20-3 and took the 17-point victory.

“You can't ask for much more in overtime,” said Vanhooren. “All we said to them is that the game's about rebounding in overtime, calm down, we've been in this situation before. We got lucky to get into overtime, with Fidler getting the big 'O' glass to get us there, and we hit some shots.”

The Vikes just would not go away in the second half, and no Calgary lead really felt safe. Victoria made shot after shot, connecting on nearly 60 per cent of its field goal tries in the second half to keep it close. MacKinnon had 13 of his 15 points in the second half, including a pair of big treys in the final three minutes.

But for each Victoria score, the Dinos had an answer led by the outstanding play of Fidler and a dominating performance on the offensive glass. Calgary held a 52-32 edge in rebounding on the night and wildly outperformed the Vikes under Victoria's hoop, recording 25 offensive boards to the Vikes' 21.

“The game is about rebounding,” said Vanhooren. Last weekend we got it handed to us instead of going at it, and I think that's the difference in the whole basketball game. (Victoria) made some big shots at important times, but our kids played really well tonight.”

Bekkering was the key to the Calgary rebounding attack, grabbing 18 to go with his 21 points on the night. Fidler also grabbed a double-double with 10 rebounds to go with his 30 points, and Vanhooren raved about his third-year guard's effort after the game.

“Outstanding,” said the 10-year head coach. “All night he let the offence come to him, he got shots, and on the defensive end he was intelligent and smart and use his length. He was fantastic.”

Calgary's offence came alive in the overtime period, scoring more in the five-minute extra period than in three of the previous four quarters. Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson hit two threes in OT to finish with 11 points, while Robbie Sihota also connected twice from beyond the arc. He finished with 24 on the night.

Cyril Indome was Victoria's hot shooter with 16 points, 12 of which came from three-point land. MacKinnon had 15 and a team-leading seven rebounds, while Mike Berg was the other Vike to score in double digits with his even dozen.

Calgary improves to 11-3 on the season with the victory, while Victoria falls to 7-5. Both teams take the court Saturday night to complete their weekend series. Victoria travels south to take on Lethbridge, while Calgary hosts the undefeated, No. 1-ranked UBC Thunderbirds in a widely anticipated clash between the two top teams in Canada West. The game tips off at 8 p.m., with a live video webcast at www.educationcdn.com/schools/dinos/.

-UC-