CALGARY – A night after an outstanding shooting performance, the University of Calgary Dinos turned the ball over early and often in an 80-63 setback against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Saturday night at the 2010 Battle of the Border.

BOX SCORE

Calgary committed 10 turnovers in the opening quarter alone, leaving the Dinos in a nine-point hole after the first 10 minutes. The home side struggled with a much-improved defensive effort from the Lumberjacks, who improved to 3-1 in their Canadian series.

“We played young,” observed Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren. “We dribbled it all over the place and didn't really run any offence in the first half. When you're down like that after the first quarter against a good basketball team, it's hard to get back into it.”

The Dinos did manage to get back within six at the half, but that deficit was back up to 19 by the end of the third quarter. Again, Calgary battled back and brought the score to within nine early in the fourth quarter before foul trouble caught up to them late.

Vanhooren was pleased with his team's ability to bounce back.

“There are some things I really liked – we fought back and got within six at the half,” he said. “Every time we went down, our kids fought back, and I like that character in them. We have a lot to work with, it's pretty exciting.”

Once again Tyler Fidler led the way for Calgary, piling up 20 points to go with 10 rebounds and hitting a perfect 10-for-10 from the stripe in 32 minutes on the floor. Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson was the only other Dino to hit double digits with his 13 points, while Phil Labongo and Andrew McGuinness scored nine apiece.

After just two Lumberjacks cracked the 10-point barrier in scoring during Calgary's 89-65 win Friday night, NAU saw four players in double digits Saturday. Eric Platt and Cameron Jones each had 17 with Danny Redmon adding 13 and Austin Smith 11. Shane Johannsen had a massive night on the glass, hauling down 12 key rebounds for the Big Sky school.

The 2010 Battle of the Border closes Sunday morning when NAU plays its fifth game in as many days, taking on the Lethbridge Pronghorns at 10 a.m. MT in The Jack.

The Dinos, meanwhile, will enjoy two more weeks of summer before classes begin. Calgary tips off the 2010-11 Canada West season Oct. 22-23 with a two-game trip to Victoria before opening at home Oct. 29-30 against Lethbridge.

-UC-