VANCOUVER – In a barn-burner between two of the top-three men's basketball programs in the nation, No. 3 UBC did just enough to hold off No. 2 Calgary and hand the Dinos their first loss of the season with a 93-89 win Saturday evening from the War Memorial Gym.

Nate Petrone had an uncharacteristic shooting performance by his incredibly high standards, going 7-16 from the floor and just 2-8 from behind the arc but still led all players with a game-high 26 points. Noah Wharton also overcame a cold shooting performance to finish with 18 points and nine rebounds. Dylan Lutes (15) and Aidan Smith (10) both also scored in double figures on the night for the Dinos, while Javier Ramos-Yzquierdo chipped in with nine points and eight boards.

Five players scored 10-plus points for the T-Birds. Brendan Sullivan and Gus Goerzen tied for the team lead with 17 points apiece. Adam Olsen added 15, Nikola Guzina another 12, while Tobi Akinkunmi seemed to constantly come up with the big play for UBC in this one with 14 points and 16 rebounds.

Both teams came out of the gates firing. The Dinos shot an impressive 57.1 percent (8-14) in the opening frame, which was somehow outdone by the scorching start by UBC with a 60.9 percent (14-23) showing in the first 10 minutes. When the dust settled, the 'Birds led 34-22.

The high-scoring performances continued in the second. Trailing by as many as 15 in the frame, the DInos continued to chip away and a jumper by Lutes ended the scoring in the second and closed the gap to just three at 54-51 after 20 minutes.

Lutes drilled a three to start the third to tie things and a layup by Ramos-Yzquierdo gave Calgary its first lead of the game at 58-56 with 7:25 left in the third. Things were tight the rest of the way, with UBC holding a 77-71 lead after three.

After the high flying first three quarters, both squads cooled off in the fourth, with neither team scoring a single point until nearly five minutes in. Petrone finally got off the schneid from deep with his first made three pointer to cut the gap to 77-74. The All-Canadian poured in 12 points in the final frame and nearly willed his team to victory, but UBC was able to do just enough to hold off the Dinos and earn the weekend split.

Calgary is now off from conference action until the turn of the calendar, traveling to Winnipeg to take on the Wesmen Jan. 10-11.

-UC-