CALGARY – For the second straight night, the Calgary Dinos jumped out to an early lead. This time, they held on for good in defeating the Manitoba Bisons 84-77 at the Jack Simpson Gym Saturday night.
Calgary shot 62 percent from the field in the first quarter, led by 10 points from first-year big
Gurshan Sran. The Dinos defence wreaked havoc on the Bisons, generating turnovers and getting out in transition. Calgary built a 13-0 points off turnover advantage by halftime and stymied Simon Hildebrandt – the offensive fulcrum of the Bisons.
Hildebrandt ended the evening shooting 4-12 from the floor for 13 points. Despite the cold shooting, a Manitoba counter punch came in the third quarter for the second night in a row, sprinting out to an 8-0 run to start the half.
Midway through the third quarter Calgary went nearly three minutes without scoring, and the lead shrunk to 51-50. However, strong defence from the Dinos and some timely buckets from first-year
Daniels Baumanis maintained the slim lead going into the fourth.
During the final frenetic ten minutes, Calgary's lead oscillated between one and eight points, and the resiliency of the Dinos that had failed them Friday was once again put to the test. Despite the narrow margin during the fourth quarter, Calgary never relinquished the lead it built in the opening five minutes of the game.
"Going through those situations, as a team we became stronger, and we just believe in each other" said Sran postgame.
Trailing by five with 30 seconds to play, Mason Kraus was unable to convert a three-point attempt that would have brought the Bisons within one possession.
With the victory, Calgary moves to 2-2 on the season and will visit the Brandon Bobcats next week. Meanwhile, the Bisons will return to Calgary for the second straight weekend with a matchup against Mount Royal next on the docket. You can catch all the action next week on Canada West TV.
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