CALGARY – Seemingly the only thing that could cool down the Calgary Dinos hot shooting in the second half was a fire alarm, as - despite a 20-minute fire-alarm delay - Calgary connected on over 50-percent of its shots after halftime on its way to an 89-65 win over the MacEwan Griffins Friday night from the Jack Simpson Gym.
It was a slower start than Friday, with Calgary struggling from distance in the early going. The Griffins connected on four three-pointers to the Dinos' zero after 10 minutes, but MacEwan still trailed by four points due to defensive rebounding struggles.
Much like on Friday night, the Griffins were able to build momentum going into the half with a buzzer-beating two-pointer from Scottie Austin to whittle the Calgary lead to five.
The Griffins mounted their strongest opposition early in the third quarter on the back of Dami Osuma. The second-year forward put multiple Dinos in foul trouble by relentlessly attacking the rim, scoring 10 points on the evening and cutting the lead down to just 43-41 with 6:57 left in the third before taking a breather.
However, playing short manned is nothing new for the Dinos this year, and their team defence clamped down when Osuma checked out midway through the 3rd to put the game out of reach.
"Obviously we've got nine guys, so it is very difficult to rotate guys and stay fresh and healthy," said fifth-year guard
Ezeoha Santiago postgame. "But I think because we've got a lot of good basketball players with good basketball minds, we are able to switch it up defensively."
Calgary immediately went on a 17-4 run with Osuma out of the game for the Griffins. During that run,
Aidan Smith set the house on fire offensively, netting 15 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter that finished with Calgary leading 71-52, connecting on a blistering 68.8-percent (11-16) of their shots during that frame.
The hot shooting would continue into the fourth, where the Dinos would stretch the lead all the way to 32 before a fire alarm went off, causing a short delay before the two teams returned to finish this one out.
Next weekend the Dinos will head to Prince George for two-game set with the UNBC Timberwolves, while MacEwan will return home to host the Winnipeg Wesmen. You can catch all the action on Canada West TV.
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