HALIFAX – Transfer guard
Lucas Mannes hit clutch shot after clutch shot in the second half Thursday as the Canada West champion and No. 2 seed University of Calgary Dinos held on for a wild 78-76 win over the seventh-seeded Brock Badgers in the second quarter-final at the U SPORTS Final 8.
The win vaults the Dinos into the national semifinal for the second time in three years, where they will face RSEQ champion McGill Sunday at the Scotiabank Centre. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. MT (2 p.m. local), live on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet NOW.
Mannes, a fourth-year Chilliwack, B.C. native that transferred from Trinity Western, came off the bench to score 16 points in 19 minutes, with all but one of those points coming from beyond the arc. Three of his treys came in the fourth quarter as what had been a 14-point Dinos lead late in the first half became a much tighter ball game.
Brock took its first lead of the game with 6:27 to play in the fourth when Godsman Kwakwah nailed a long three to give the Badgers a 62-60 lead. Immediately, Mannes responded with a three of his own as the Dinos took the lead right back. The next came after Brock had re-taken the lead and held a four-point advantage at 70-66. Again, Mannes found the range from beyond the arc to cut the lead back to just a single. Then, with just over two minutes to play, he broke a 72-72 tie with yet another triple.
"You need unsung heroes," said Dinos head coach
Dan Vanhooren. "Everybody scouts so well, they know who your guys are, and you need other guys to step up. Different players have done that for us all year, and today it was Lucas.
"I want to be able to make small plays that make a huge difference," said the mustachioed Mannes. "You can't overthink it – I play the best when I just go out there and play – not thinking about the stage or the crowd, I just shoot the ball. I know I'm a good shooter, I know I can do certain things, but honestly you just have to read the defence and shoot it. I've put in the reps, I'm ready, and I'm just happy they went in."
Mannes' heroics wrapped up a tight contest that the Dinos had control of throughout until the Badgers pulled even and took the lead in the fourth.
"Each team had 64 shots, we had two more free throws, we were plus one on offensive rebounding, and plus two on turnovers – the game was an equal game and could have gone either way," said Vanhooren. "We started off well and followed our scout well, and we kind of lost ourselves a little later in the game when things got a little tighter. We'll need to work on our composure a little."
In addition to Mannes' big shots,
Lars Schlueter hit a massive three down the stretch after going 0-for-7 from beyond the arc to that point, while
David Kapinga was a steadying influence for the Dinos. Kapinga, who at one point in the third scored seven straight points in less than a minute, was named Calgary's player of the game with 18 points along with five rebounds, six assists, and four steals.
Mambi Diawara was the Dinos' leading scorer with 19 points, none bigger than the game-winning bucket inside that broke a 76-76 tie.
Calgary shot nearly 44 per cent from the field but struggled from the free throw line, connecting on just 14 of 25 opportunities.
Brock was led by Johneil Simpson's 24 points, with Dani Elgadi adding 20 and Tyler Brown chipping in 12.
The Dinos now turn their attention to the McGill Redmen for a semifinal that will be a rematch of the 2016 national quarter-final in Vancouver. That game was a 72-69 nail-biter that went the Dinos' way. Saturday, they'll face a Redmen squad that is loaded with fourth- and fifth-year seniors and had a relatively easy path through the first quarter-final Thursday posting an 88-57 win over Atlantic champion UNB.
Calgary won the head-to-head tilt against McGill in the preaseason, posting an 81-61 win Oct. 5 on the Dinos' home floor, but Vanhooren expects a much tighter affair in the national semifinal.
"That was in October," Vanhooren said. "We played very well that game. All year, our pace and our tempo – how fast we've been able to play – using our guard play the way we need to has helped us. McGill has some big guys, and we'll need to make sure we handle their continuous ball-screen action. They're a great defensive club, and every time we've played them at nationals it has been close. They're a good team, and we're going to have to win the rebounding and win the possession battle."
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