CALGARY – On the strength of good bounce-back performances from Tyler Fidler and Robbie Sihota, the sixth-ranked Calgary Dinos are one win away from qualifying for the CIS Final 8 after an 87-79 win over Lethbridge Saturday, sweeping the Pronghorns 2-0 in their best-of-three series.

BOX SCORE

The Dinos advance to the Canada West Final Four next week at UBC in Vancouver, from which the top two teams will earning berths to the national tournament in Ottawa. Calgary will play Simon Fraser in one semi-final Friday, while the host Thunderbirds take on Saskatchewan in the other, with the two winners booking their tickets to the nation's capital.

After going 0-14 from the field in Friday's opener, a much lower-scoring 62-57 Calgary win, Fidler rebounded nicely with his 20-point, seven-board performance that included a solid opening half. Sihota, meanwhile, matched Fidler's 8-for-19 shooting and seven rebounds but added six more from the line to finish with 26 points, leading the way for the Dinos.

“Percentages balance themselves out over time, and thank goodness it was just over one game for us this weekend,” said Calgary head coach Dan Vanhooren of Sihota and Fidler. “It was nice to get our scoring back tonight.”

After the Dinos averaged just 59 points in their last two games, both against Lethbridge going back to the end of the regular season, Calgary's offence brought it in the first half and took a 50-36 lead into the break. Similarly to Friday night's opener, however, the Horns came out firing in the third quarter to outscore the Dinos 25-13 and make a game of it, bringing the deficit down to just two points as the fourth quarter opened.

“Tonight was more about our foul trouble than anything,” Vanhooren said. “We sat three starters for the better part of the third, so that was an issue. Our bench held us in at the end of the first half which was good, we just need to shore some things up. We have to play steadier, and we won't be able to afford to give up a quarter like that to anybody anymore.”

Up just 63-61 heading into the fourth, Calgary opened the final frame with a 15-6 run thanks in large part to good outside shooting, with Fidler, Sihota, and Jamie McLeod all hitting treys during that stretch. The Horns did manage to get the game back to six points at 82-76 with just under three minutes to play, but a three-ball from Danhue Lawrence was the only score for the visitors after that as Calgary clamped down defensively.

“I thought our guys were more composed mentally tonight, and we pushed the lead back out and did what we needed to down the stretch,” said Vanhooren.

The Pronghorns' offence was much more spread out than Friday's effort. Rob Cooper led the way with 18 followed closely by Randy Davis' 17. Lawrence added 15, while Jeff Price (12) and Derek Waldner (10) also broke double digits in scoring. Price recorded the lone double-double on the night, adding 10 rebounds – all off the defensive glass.

Three other Dinos joined Fidler and Sihota in double digits: McLeod (16), Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson (11), and Ross Bekkering (10). Bekkering was effective in his limited time on the floor, playing just 22 minutes after running into foul trouble early in the third quarter.

With the first step on the playoff trail out of the way, the Dinos will regroup before heading to Vancouver next weekend where they will look to defend their 2009 Canada West championship. They will open against the Clan, who won the lone regular season meeting between the two teams by an 86-82 score with Calgary's Bekkering out of the lineup.

“We'll have to defend the Princeton offence (against Simon Fraser), and they're a good three-ball shooting team so they'll always be in it,” said Vanhooren of his team's semi-final opponent. “They're a talented group, and we're going to have to play our best basketball.”

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