CALGARY – Basketball clashes between the Calgary Dinos and the Lethbridge Pronghorns always have a little extra edge, a little extra intensity, and a little extra motivation on both sides. But for one Calgary player, Saturday night's trip to Lethbridge will be a little extra special.

The Bekkerings of Taber have always received significant support in the Lethbridge gym and Saturday night should be no different as Ross Bekkering plays his final regular season game in the red, black, and gold of the Calgary Dinos. It will bring to an end a streak of 248 consecutive regular season games for the Dinos men's and women's teams with a Bekkering on the roster, and the fifth-year senior expects a significant turnout of family and friends for his final 'home' game.

The fifth-ranked Dinos, fresh off the program's first-ever sweep of the Brandon Bobcats last week in Western Manitoba, have clinched first place in the Prairie Division with their 15-4 record and will be playing for momentum heading into the playoffs and the chance to finish with a .800 record for just the third time in school history as they face the Pronghorns on Saturday. Lethbridge, meanwhile, will be part of the wild card discussion in Canada West regardless of Saturday's outcome but will have a realistic chance at qualifying for the post-season if they beat the Dinos.

A Lethbridge win would set off a mind-numbing math equation involving the Horns and either Trinity Western or Victoria, pending weekend results, and calculators in four cities will be humming on Sunday. The winner of the wild card entry to the playoffs will have the privilege of facing the Dinos in a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series Feb. 26-28 in the Jack Simpson Gym – so Saturday night could be a first-round playoff preview as well.

Back to Bekkering. After becoming just the fourth player in the history of Canada West basketball to reach 900 career rebounds, the Taber native will be chasing another milestone Saturday alongside fellow fifth-year senior Robbie Sihota: fourth place on the Dinos' all-time scoring list. With just one game left in their conference careers, Sihota has scored 1,425 points while Bekkering has 1,416 as they chase down Ian Minnifee's (1989-93) career total of 1,442. Needing just 17 points, Sihota will have an easier time reaching that milestone, while Bekkering needs 26 to move into that fourth spot behind legends Richard Bohne, Karl Tilleman, and John Riad. The two seniors, fittingly, are also fourth and fifth in the Canada West scoring race this season.

With an Olympic-inspired bye week coming up before the playoffs begin, the Dinos will look to continue at a high level of play heading into the post-season while Lethbridge hopes to make a case for the Horns' first playoff berth since 2003 under new head coach Dave Adams. And if they do qualify for the post-season, Lethbridge will face the same opponent they did seven years ago: the Calgary Dinos.

The first meeting between these two sides back on Jan. 9 went down to the wire, and the Dinos needed a pair of Bekkering free throws with just second left in the extra frame to take an 88-86 decision. With playoffs on the line for the Horns and the Dinos needing to maintain their national ranking to have a shot at the at-large berth to the CIS tournament next month in Ottawa if it comes down to that, expect another tight, hard-fought, entertaining game.

At the heart of the Lethbridge renaissance this season has been former Dino Jeff Price, who jumped ship from Calgary after just one season in 2007-08 and donned the Pronghorns blue and white this season. Price had 27 points in his first game against his former team, and his scoring average of 17.1 is easily the best on his team and good enough for ninth in the conference. Fellow fourth-year player Danhue Lawrence is right up there as well, averaging 15.2 points on the season.

The Dinos and Horns tip off their final regular season game at 8 p.m. Saturday night at the 1st Choice Savings Centre in Lethbridge.

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