WINNIPEG – The University of Calgary Dinos men's basketball team overcame a five-point deficit in the final three minutes to outlast the Manitoba Bisons 75-73 on Friday night at the Investors Group Athletic Centre in Winnipeg.
 
Trailing 73-68, Hayden Franson nailed two straight triples a minute apart, giving Calgary a 74-73 lead and they didn't trail from there. The Dinos hit 14 threes overall in the game, shooting 50 percent from distance with Franson and Daniels Baumanis combined for eight of those threes and Baumanis leading the way with 20 points.
 
Thirteen different players scored in the first quarter in a back-and-forth battle with plenty of pace. With a man all over him, Eli Djordjevic put up a prayer from distance that was good for a highlight-reel finish and one point lead entering the second. The visitors had three treys overall, led by two from Aidan Smith, who led all players with eight points in the first quarter.
 
Baumanis gave Calgary a 31-28 lead off Calgary's fourth three, but Manitoba took over from there, taking a 44-34 lead into the break thanks to a 16-3 run. The Dinos went on a 9-2 run in the opening minutes of the third, capped by a Baumanis three to cut Manitoba's lead to three at 46-43, but a Cieran O'Hara one-handed dunk, and Watts steal and one helped Manitoba take surge to an eight-point lead entering the fourth.
 
From there, it was back and forth. Calgary scooped up some key boards, and continued to shoot efficiently from three, capped by Franson's back-to-back triples to take the lead in the final minute before Manitoba's final chance rimmed out to give the Dinos the win. 

Calgary improved to 5-4 with the win while the Bisons fell to 4-4.

Both teams play again on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
 
-UC-