CALGARY – Rookie
Zane MacFarlane made an immediate impact in his Dinos debut, scoring a game-high 29 points to lead the University of Calgary Dinos men's basketball team to an 84-73 season-opening victory over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday night at Jack Simpson Gym.
The win was the Dinos' ninth consecutive over the Huskies.
Newcomer
Gabe Vig got Calgary on the board first, hitting a three-pointer early in the opening quarter for the Dinos' first basket of the season. The teams traded baskets throughout the frame, and rookie
Joshua Obasa finished off a pick-and-roll with a dunk to give Calgary an 18-17 lead late in the quarter. Saskatchewan moved back in front, but
Kace Archuleta answered with a jumper at the buzzer to send the Dinos into the second quarter leading 20-19.
Calgary created some separation in the second quarter, tightening up defensively and limiting Saskatchewan to five field goals on 24 attempts. The Dinos outscored the Huskies 22-14 to build a 42-33 lead at halftime, and the margin reached as much as 12 points during the quarter.
The Huskies responded in the third, outscoring the Dinos 24-20 to trim the deficit to 62-57 heading into the final 10 minutes. Saskatchewan kept pushing in the fourth and cut the deficit to four with 1:31 remaining.
Calgary closed the game on a 7-0 run. MacFarlane started it with a jumper, and free throws from Archuleta, MacFarlane and
Beckett Johnson sealed the result.
MacFarlane shot 10-of-21 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and added five assists.
Oliver Nadeau had 14 points, Daniel Chijoke contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, and
Joshua Obasa and
Kace Archuleta each scored eight.
Dinos head coach
Dan Vanhooren praised MacFarlane's performance.
"He's a super talented kid, as you can see," Vanhooren said. "He can shoot it from all over the court, he can handle the basketball like crazy, and he can defend. Everybody looks at him and says, 'Oh, he's not that big,' but the truth is, he's got a big heart in the big game."
The Dinos will look to open the season 2-0 when they host the Huskies again at Jack Simpson Gymnasium on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at GoDinos.com/Tickets.
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