ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – The reigning U SPORTS national champion Calgary Dinos lived up to their advance billing, handing the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades a 85-51 defeat on Friday evening at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
The undefeated Dinos (17-0) put on an outstanding performance at the defensive end en route to victory, limiting the Cascades (11-6) to 29.8 per cent shooting from the field.
The two teams clash again on Saturday at the EFAC (8 p.m. MT, CanadaWest.tv).
"They're a well-oiled machine, and they make life challenging on everybody," Cascades head coach Adam Friesen said of the Dinos. "We had some looks early, and when they didn't go down, I think our energy and confidence took a hit.
Playing in front of a near-capacity crowd on the Cascades' third annual Hall of Fame night, the Dinos built a 16-9 lead at the end of a defensive-minded first quarter.
The visitors heated up from distance early in the second quarter to seize control –
David Kapinga,
Lucas Mannes and Lars Schleuter connected from beyond the arc in quick succession as Calgary expanded its lead to 25-9.
Midway through the third quarter, another Schleuter triple extended the lead beyond 20 points (46-24), draining much of the suspense from the proceedings with the Dinos' defence operating at peak efficiency at the other end of the floor.
"I thought we did a good job of our game plan (defensively), and sticking with what we talked about with each of their guys," said Dinos head coach
Dan Vanhooren. "They're going to hit some shots, and they have some talent – they have a very good team. So we concentrated for 40 minutes, and I was proud of that. Hopefully we can do that again."
Dinos centre
Brett Layton led his squad with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and
Andrew Milner scored 14 points off the bench. Kapinga and
Mambi Diawara also hit double digits with 10 points apiece.
Sukhjot Bains led the Cascades with 18 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. Sukhman Sandhu counted four three-pointers among his 14 points off the bench, and Mark Johnson hauled down 12 rebounds.
