EDMONTON - Julian Vaughns hit a game-winning jump shot with three seconds remaining in overtime as the Alberta Golden Bears inched past the Calgary Dinos 92-91 in an incredible game Saturday night at the Saville Centre.

The Bears were paced by Brandon Meiklejohn who potted a team-high 19 points, and Abdullah Shittu who stuffed the boxscore with a 19 point,16 rebound double-double.

However the best performance of the night came from the visitors bench as Alan Spoonhunter had the game of his career. He finished with a game-high 34 points and went an astounding 8-for-16 from beyond the arc. The rookie also had 11 rebounds for his first double-double. His eight threes is the highest total in a Canada West game this season, and his remarkable play was a large reason the Dinos were able to make it such a competitive game.

The Dinos made an incredible account of themselves on the floor Saturday, as the injury bug rendered them shorthanded to just eight players for the match. Second-year Aidan Smith played all 45 minutes in the contest, and six of eight Calgary players logged over 20 minutes.

The Bears move to 2-2 on the young season, a bounceback weekend from dropping their first two contests in Winnipeg. The Dinos also slide to 2-2 after a terrific opening series against UBCO.

Shittu and Meiklejohn got the Bears rolling to start the game, scoring four and six points respectively on a 10-4 Alberta run to start the game. The Dinos struggled to get anything going offensively in the quarter, shooting to the tune of 15.8% from the field. While the Bears defence was active, forcing bad looks and generating a couple turnovers, they were largely held back from opening a bigger lead by a stout Calgary defence who held them to just a 31.8-percent mark from the floor. Meiklejohn led all scorers with his six points in the quarter, while the Dinos were paced by second-year Aidan Smith, who finished with five.

The second quarter was a reversal of fortune for the most part for the Dinos, as they began to get more comfortable on both ends of the floor. They shot 66-percent from the floor and added some defensive intensity to get back into the game. A 7-0 run punctuated by a Smith basket got them within four, and he would finish with a team-high seven in the frame. However, the Bears were able to piece together some offence largely from beyond the arc to maintain their advantage headed into half. Meiklejohn hit two threes and finished with a quarter-high eight points, while flanked by six from Shittu. The game would enter the intermission at a score of 42-36 for the hosts.

Calgary came out of the break hot, hitting two threes and adding a couple of free throws to get right back into the game. Parker Johnstone had the hot hand, scoring five points to bring the Alberta lead to just two. There was a stretch at the halfway point where Calgary made four -yes, four - straight threes to take a 54-53 lead. With less than two minutes left in the quarter, Meiklejohn hit one of his five threes to put Alberta up by one and raised the decibels in the Saville Centre by some orders of magnitude. However the Dinos explosive shooting, going an incredible 11-for-19 in the frame, kept the game close at a 61-58 margin going into the fourth.

The Bears started the fourth hot, going on a 9-3 run led by Lars Ishimwe who had five points. However, he was matched in every regard by Alan Spoonhunter who hit two threes in quick succession to prevent the Bears from breaking the game open. Enter Jackson Bales stage right; the third year Dinos guard hit a deep three with four minutes to go to pull the game within one and force an Alberta timeout. Two jumpers from a scorching Spoonhunter had the Dinos up 83-81 with 1:23 remaining in the game as the Saville Centre rose to their collective feet for an exciting finish. Shittu delivered; after a made free throw he collected his own miss on the next attempt and put it straight back to give the Bears a tight 84-83 lead with 17.4 seconds remaining. Who else but Spoonhunter to respond with a fadeaway jumper that fell to give the Dinos the advantage by one-point. A foul on the next possession sent Adam Paige to the line who made one of two to knot the game at 85 and allow the Dinos a game-winning opportunity with ten seconds remaining. A fadeaway from Spoonhunter was short to send the game to overtime.

The teams would trade baskets in the opening minutes of overtime, amidst a very vocal crowd in the main gym. Alberta held a slim lead for the majority of the period until Spoonhunter hit a deep two with twenty seconds remaining to put Calgary up by one. Julian Vaughns, who had a terrific game on Friday, decided he had seen enough and promptly hit a baseline jumper with the shot clock expiring to give the Bears a one point lead with three seconds remaining that would eventually be the game-winner. Spoonhunter would put a falling three attempt just short as time expired and the home fans sounded their appreciation in what was absolutely the best game played on the Saville gym floor since the U SPORTS Nationals were hosted in Edmonton this last May.

The Bears host the 2-1 Victoria Vikes next weekend, while the Dinos return home for two matches against the winless MacEwan Griffins.

-UC-