WINNIPEG – The No. 2 seed Calgary Dinos went on an 11-0 run over the final two minutes of the game against the No. 7 seed Alberta Golden Bears on Thursday at IGAC, out-lasting their provincial rivals 76-70 to advance to the Canada West semifinals on Saturday.
Thursday's win marked the third of the season for Calgary against their provincial rivals. The Dinos were led by conference all-star
Nate Petrone, who had a game-high 33 points, while
Dylan Lutes added 14 points and seven rebounds.
"It's all about trusting," said Petrone. "Everyone trusted each other. Once we got it back to a tie game, one-point game, we knew we just needed to lock in and get a couple of stops. They're a really good team. They're so well coached. We knew it was going to be tough."
Alberta got 25 points from fifth-year Adam Paige, however he was held to just five points in the final 10 minutes, and off the score board entirely during Calgary's late run to seal the deal.
"We knew they were going to come back," said Paige. "With a team as good as they are, and as good as we are, it's going to end up coming down to the last couple minutes. Shots fell their way, a couple mishaps on our end, our shots didn't fall and that was the game."
It was a tale of two quarters in the opening 20, specifically from the perimeter.
Calgary led 22-14 after ten, thanks to three-for-three shooting from distance by leading scorer Petrone. He had 12 points entering the second, missing just one shot. As a team, Calgary shot five-for-seven from the land beyond (including treys in back-to-back possessions six minutes in), while Alberta was one-for-six.
The tables turned in the second.
Paige willed his side back into the contest, making all three of his triples, and four overall in the first half, entering the break with a team-leading 15 points.
He hit back-to-back threes to give the Golden Bears a 27-24 lead, part of a 20-4 run which gave Alberta a 34-26 lead after 20. Calgary shot just 1-10 from the floor in the second and was limited to just four points – their lone single-digit scoring quarter of the entire season.
Team defence was key for Alberta in their run. The Golden Bears scored 15 points off turnovers, while Paige and Lars Ishimwe was able to contain Petrone, holding him and fellow dynamic guard
Noah Wharton to one point, while collecting three steals as a team.
A total of 23 of Calgary's 45 points entering the fourth came from Petrone, with plenty more still to come. Whether it was Ishimwe, Paige or Bradon Meikljohn on him, it was no problem, as the sharp-shooter nailed a triple and multiple mid-range jumpers as the Dinos cut Alberta's lead to as little as three, following a
Spencer Roberts layup with two minutes to go in the third.
But Paige had something to say about the run. He subbed back into the game in the final minute, scoring five quick points, while Ishimwe forced a turnover on two straight Dinos possessions, and also hit a layup at the buzzer to give the Golden Bears a 53-45 lead heading into the last ten minutes of regulation.
The two sides traded buckets all through the fourth, leading to the heroics of Petrone and Lutes in the final two minutes.
First, Lutes raced past Fahad Yussif in an iso matchup for a driving layup to give the Dinos a 69-68 lead, and the following possession, Lutes stripped Ishimwe, eventually leading to a Petrone three after Lutes was doubled to make it 72-68 with just 1:04 left on the clock.
Despite going an uncharacteristic 12-19 from the charity stripe, Calgary then finished the game off at the line to move on to the semis - slotted for the 5 p.m. MT window on Saturday. They will face the winner of No. 11 seed Fraser Valley and No. 3 seed Winnipeg – with the Wesmen having won 14 of their last 15 games. Calgary has not played either team so far this season.
"We've built chemistry and we all love each other," added Petrone. "This is such a great group of guys. The chemistry off the court translates on the court."
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