CALGARY —Nate Petrone flirted with a triple-double and was one of three Dinos players to finish with 10-plus points to help lead the Calgary Dinos to a 95-81 win over Mount Royal Saturday night at Kenyon Court.

With the win, the Dinos sweep the annual Crowchild Classic series and move to 11-3 on the year. MRU falls to 8-7.

Petrone finished the night with a game-high 26 points on 9-15 shooting to go with nine rebounds and nine assists - both equaling season highs. Dylan Lutes once again had a steller showing, pouring in 20 points on 8-14 shooting to go with five rebounds, one steal and one block. Rookie Declan Peterson also had a nice night, finishing with 14 points, eight boards and three blocks in 21 minutes.

Keivonte Watts led the way for Mount Royal, tallying 23 points on 5-19 shooting. Kole Scott added 16 points and nine boards, while Sam Barnie chipped in with 12 and seven.

Lutes ignited some energy for the Dinos right off the tip, scoring a pair of buckets to go with a strong defensive play right out of the gates. The Dinos scored the first nine points of the night and never looked back, leading by as many as 11 in the opening frame alone. A late triple by Martynas Sabaliauskas finished the first with Calgary leading 26-19. 

Kuach Gajak had a huge block to start the second and give the home crowd something to cheer about as an Ijah Nelson layup brought the Cougars within five at 28-23. But the Dinos responded in a big way, getting a layup from Spencer Roberts before a pair of threes by Lutes and Aidan Smith to completely flip the momentum. Petrone then hit back-to-back jumpers to push the lead to 14 at 40-26 just 15 minutes into the game. Three late free throws by Dray Walburger cut the home deficit to 46-38 at the break.

Calgary came out of halftime and jumped all over their crosstown rivals. Lutes started things with a triple and Noah Wharton capped the 12-3 run with one of his six points on the night to immediately push the lead to 17 less than three minutes into the third at 58-41. The game hovered around that margin the rest of the quarter and another bucket from Lutes sent the Dinos into the fourth with a 68-55 edge.

The Scarlet & Gold once again returned to the court on fire, netting 11 of the first 13 points of the final quarter to claim the largest lead of the night at 9-57 with 6:26 to play. Mount Royal continued to show their fight but never got closer than 12 the rest of the way in another decisive victory for the Dinos.

Calgary returns to its home court for its next four games, starting next weekend as Brandon comes to the Jack Simpson Gym, starting Friday. The Cougars have a week to regroup before hosting Alberta for a pair, starting Friday, Feb. 7.

-UC-