CALGARY – After a blowout win on Thursday against the Mount Royal Cougars, the Dinos were close to letting the second game of the Crowchild Classic slip out of their hands at the Jack Simpson Gym. A 72-66 win, however, puts them up to a 6-2 season record in Canada West while the Cougars drop to 2-5.

Albeit sluggishly, the Dinos were able to gain the edge over the Cougars on the scoreboard in the first half. In the second half, the Cougars made their way back from a double digit deficit to tie the game up at 66-66 with around two minutes left to play. The Dinos scrambled but foul shouts and a field goal in their favour gave them the win.

Dinos Anmol Mattu, Freya Szmidt, and Brianna Ghali led the charge offensively for a combined 38 points. Tonight, however, was characterized by the Dinos' offensive struggles. At the three point line they shot 5-32 three pointers for a 15.6%, shot 29-77 on their field goals for 37.7%,  and suffered from 27 turnovers.

Head coach Damian Jennings was disappointed in his team's performance despite the win. He did not feel that it was the Dinos' best effort. He said "We didn't start with the energy which we should have on the last game of 2016 at home in [our] gym."

"The positive is that we were able to [win] after a strong comeback from Mount Royal. Credit to them: the open shots they had they shot and made and we didn't. We got a little bit trigger-happy at the wrong spots, we didn't value time, and we didn't value how we build into that rhythm of shot. You still have to come out and win a basketball game and that's what we did."