HALIFAX, N.S. – The University of Calgary Dinos exploded for 62 second-half points Saturday night, finishing their season as U SPORTS consolation champions with a 96-65 win over Saint Mary's at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.
 
With the victory, the Dinos finish in the top five in the nation for the second consecutive season following their 2016 silver medal finish.
 
Fifth-year graduating senior Thomas Cooper was Calgary's player of the game for the third straight day, scoring 28 points in his final appearance in a Dinos jersey while adding eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals in 35 minutes.
 
"I'm very proud," said Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren. "It's nice to finish on such a positive note, with the kids playing the right way together. Our theme was that it's the last time this group will ever be together, so let's do it right. The buy-in was there, and it was nice to see our fifth-year guys leave on such a positive note."
 
In a back-and-forth first half, neither team found a way to pull away and stay there. Calgary led by as many as five, while SMU held a six-point lead with just 79 seconds remaining in the opening half, an advantage the Dinos were able to trim to just two after 20 minutes. Cooper scored 18 of his 28 points in the first half.
 
The Dinos allowed 14 trips to the stripe in the opening half, accounting for much of the Saint Mary's scoring: 12 of the Huskies' 38 first-half points came at the free throw line, and the hometown squad took a 38-36 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Dinos turned it up defensively in the second half, however, and that translated into offence. Calgary picked up 11 steals as a team in the final 20 minutes, scoring 21 points off turnovers in the second half. Big man Connor Foreman was once again the beneficiary of much of that offence, scoring 14 points in 16 minutes on 7-of-9 shooting.
 
After 30 minutes, the Dinos had turned a two-point deficit into a 14-point lead, and then they went off for 33 points in the final frame, allowing just 14.
 
The Dinos made 38 shots in the contest, shooting nearly 59 per cent from the floor.
 
Vanhooren started the senior trio of Cooper along with Dallas Karch and Jasdeep Gill, as well as fourth-year forward Mitch Ligertwood, in the final game of their U SPORTS careers. Karch, seeing his first game action since going down in the Canada West semifinal against Manitoba, scored two points in 12 minutes, while Gill spent 25 on the floor and picked up 11 points.
 
With 15 points, Mambi Diawara was the final Dino to reach double digits, joining Cooper, Foreman, and Gill.
 
"We ramped up our defensive pressure and created some more turnovers in the second half, and the guys were motivated to finish the right way and get the job done."
 
-UC-