By Tanya DeLyzer and Amanda VanSteelandt
The Dinos men’s basketball team traveled far and away to the University of Alberta Dec. 3-4, hoping to take a pair of wins from the Golden Bears. However, the men ended up playing fair and shared the wins with the Bears instead. The Bears took the win on Friday with a score of 82-76, and the Dinos narrowly took their win Saturday, 79-77.
The Dinos outplayed the Bears for the majority of the Friday night game, leading by seven points at the half. The game was looking just fine for the Dinos, as they were still up by 12 at the mid-point of the second half. Unfortunately, the Dinos got into some foul trouble and ended up sending the Bears to line more than they wanted to.
Assistant Head Coach Wayne Thomas said, “they had run out of gas in the second half” and “were discouraged by the free throws.”
The Bears managed to score 51 points in the second half, leading to a narrow victory. Despite the loss, Chris Wright had a phenomenal game, scoring 23 points and capturing 13 rebounds.
“Friday night was a big game, and the loss put us in a hole on Saturday,” said Thomas. “We were very disappointed in the outcome and in our play.”
Saturday night’s game was no different, with both teams battling to stay in the lead. Both the Bears and Dinos played aggressive, ultimately, sending one another to the bonus line again and again during the first half. The Bears led at the half with a score of 34-32, but were unable to maintain that lead for the remainder of the game.
The Bears loved the deep balls all game. They attempted 27 three-pointers, but only made 11. The Dinos played it more modest from beyond the line; they attempted 14 shots and made seven. The Dinos men made the game go their way from inside the arc, making 61 per cent of their shots while the Bears shot at 45 per cent.
Surinder Grewal led all scorers with 33 points while Chris Wright added 12 points. Fedorak and Tyler Coston of the Bears led their team’s scoring with 26 points each.
The Dinos, Bears and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies are now in a three-way tie for the top spot in the Central division of Canada West.
Thomas explained that they “are comfortable with this position” and “a key factor for [their] success will be [their] performance on the road. [The team] has to find a way to be as enthusiastic and effective as a team on the road [as they are at home].”
The men will test this as they continue on the road in 2005. The Dinos will be traveling to play the University of Manitoba Bison and University of Winnipeg Wesmen Jan. 7-8.