CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos men's basketball team built up a 31-point lead at halftime and cruised to an 80-69 victory over the MacEwan Griffins on Friday night at the Jack Simpson Gym.

The early frenzied action brought a thunderous crowd alive, with the Dinos blitzing the Griffins 31-9 in the opening 10 minutes. Playing with tempo, confidence, and a deadeye from distance, Calgary used a 16-0 run to open the game up.

"It was pretty fun, Ezeoha wasn't missing, I wasn't missing, we were just moving it," said Calgary guard Jackson Bayles. "That was definitely our best part of the game. It got a little rough after that."

Caught on their backfoot, the Griffins went nearly 10 minutes of action without scoring a bucket before hitting a shot at the buzzer to send them into the break on a positive note.

In the second half, Calgary may have taken their foot off the gas – once they did, MacEwan made sure they couldn't put it back down again. The Griffins outscored the Dinos by 20 points in the second half, buoyed by better ball security and a stronger three-point defence. 

After conceding 22 points off turnovers in the first half, the Griffins held the Dinos to just two in the second. Calgary's proficiency from long distance was cut in half during the final two quarters from 50 to 27 percent.

"Defence and turnovers, we need to control the ball, it is pretty basic," explained Bayles when asked about areas of improvement for the Dinos.

Despite struggling for the final 20 minutes, every Dino registered at least four points, with senior guard Ezeoha Santiago scoring a game-high 21. Aidan Smith notched 17 points and continued his torrid shooting start to the season. 

Second-year guard Matthew Osunde led the Griffins with 18 points, sitting for only two minutes of action. His fellow sophomore Job Janda chipped in 14 points - the bulk of which came in the second half.

If the opening and closing minutes of Friday's game are any indication, both teams will have a lot to prove Saturday night at the Jack Simpson. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. and can be seen on Canada West TV.