CALGARY – Noah Wharton poured in a season-high 25 points to lead the University of Calgary Dinos to a thrilling 80-78 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies Friday night in front of a full crowd for Pack The Jack night inside the Jack Simpson Gym.

Calgary improves to 7-8 with the win, while the loss snaps a two-game win spurt for the Huskies, dropping them to 3-10 on the year.

A back-and-forth game the whole way, Saskatchewan went ahead, 74-72, after a free throw by Maxwell Amoafo with 2:04 to play. Wharton was able to get a steal and get to the line where he tied things up with just 1:41 to play.

After the Dinos defence buckled down and got a stop, Ezeoha Santiago drilled his biggest shot of the night – a transition three pointer to bring the crowd to its feet and put the Dinos ahead 77-74, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.

The Huskies continued to battle and kept things close with late buckets by Amoago and Alexander Dewar, but Wharton and Alan Spoonhunter connected on some vital free throws to ice the game away.

"In the first half, we just needed to get our offence going. And that's what we did. In the second half," Wharton said after the game. "It's composure. [Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren] talked about it all week in practice, just keeping our heads level and making sure that no matter if they're on a run or if we're up 20, just keep the same level and play hard."

Wharton led all players Friday with 25 points, going 8-16 from the floor, including drilling a game-high five three pointers. 

Santiago added another 21 points on 8-19 shooting, while Mason Foreman tallied another double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Jeffrey Tezo also finished scoring in double figures Friday with 10 points.

Dewar led the attack for the Huskies with 23 points. Potoma hit a number of big shots in the second half and finished with 20 points. Fisayo Moibi added 14 points, while Amoafo finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and a pair of steals.

The two teams will battle it out again Saturday, with tip time scheduled for 8 p.m. from the Jack Simpson Gym.

-UC-