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#3 Calgary (21-5, 17-3) 98, Winnipeg (12-14, 9-11) 62 DINOS DOMINATE SHORTHANDED WESMEN CALGARY – The third ranked Calgary Dinos took full advantage of a Winnipeg Wesmen team sans all-Canadian point guard Erfan Nasajpour, cruising to a 98-62 win Saturday night to finish the season a perfect 12-0 in the friendly confines of the Jack Simpson Gym. Nasajpour (5th year, Winnipeg), the leading scorer in Canada West, left Winnipeg’s Friday night contest in the third quarter and did not dress for Saturday night’s game, one which Calgary dominated from start to finish. The Dinos opened up a nine-point first quarter lead and never looked back, taking the easy 36-point decision. “We’re really happy about going undefeated at home,” said Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren. “That’s a big thing going into the playoffs and gives us confidence going into a best-of-three series against the Alberta-Saskatchewan winner.” The Dinos (17-3) will host the Central Division Final Feb. 22-24 against the winner of the Alberta-Saskatchewan semi-final a week earlier. Calgary recognized its fifth-year seniors in a traditional pre-game ceremony, and both Cody Darrah (5th, Edmonton) and Jeremy Odland (5th, Calgary) cracked the starting lineup in their final regular season home game. Odland, a 6’4” guard, played 24 minutes, pouring in six points and bringing down four rebounds, while Darrah – also a 6’4” guard – had 13 points in 27 minutes on the floor. “I can’t say enough about those guys,” Vanhooren said. “Cody and Jeremy are both ‘glue’ guys, and they both play like fifth year guys. They make good decisions, and without them right now I don’t think we’d be where we are. It’s great to have that kind of depth in our roster, and two guys committed to playing roles that we need them to play for us to be successful.” While Henry Bekkering (4th, Taber, Alta.) brought the crowd to its feet with three highlight-reel dunks during the game, Darrah was not to be outdone on Seniors’ Night. After Winnipeg’s Mike James (2nd, Winnipeg) hit a jumper with less than five seconds left in the third quarter to make it 67-37 Calgary, Darrah grabbed the inbound pass and heaved a shot from his own three-point line that found nothing but net with the buzzer blaring, putting an exclamation mark on a quarter that saw the Dinos outscore the Wesmen 26-11. With the Calgary bench playing most of the fourth quarter, the Wesmen found their offensive groove and posted 25 points in the frame – led by four big treys from Cameron Hornby (2nd, Winnipeg). Hornby finished the night with 17 points off the bench to lead the Wesmen offensively, and 12 of those points came in the fourth quarter. Mike James (2nd, Winnipeg) added 13 points and seven rebounds for Winnipeg, while Jeff Shynkaryk (2nd, Winnipeg) poured in 10. The Dinos, playing for the third straight game without Canada West’s leading rebounder Ross Bekkering (3rd, Taber), were led by a 25-point effort from older brother Henry. Robbie Sihota (3rd, Calgary) contributed 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds, followed by Darrah’s 13 and an even dozen from Tyler Fidler (1st, Calgary). Calgary will close out the regular season next weekend with a two-game weekend series against Andrew Spagrud and the Saskatchewan Huskies in Saskatoon before enjoying a playoff bye week. The loss moves Winnipeg to 9-11 on the year, and the Wesmen continue to be embroiled in a second-place tie with the Regina Cougars in the Great Plains Division. Winnipeg closes the season next weekend with a home-and-home series against the No. 2 Brandon Bobcats, followed by a first-round playoff date with the Cougars.

#2 Brandon (23-6, 18-2) 60, Regina (11-12, 9-11) 50 The Cats held Regina to just 26.9% shooting for the game including only 4 points in the second quarter. 6'3" Dany Charlery played only 19 minutes for Brandon, scoring 7 points.

UCFV (12-12, 11-10) 91, Thompson Rivers (4-19, 3-18) 72

Manitoba (8-19, 5-15) 89, Lethbridge (4-19, 3-17) 86

Simon Fraser (13-13, 12-10) 84, Trinity Western (3-19, 3-19) 63
Clan complete weekend sweep of Spartans, Brendan Stabeno, Media Relations Student Assistant; Burnaby, B.C. - One night after defeating Trinity Western University in
Langley, the Simon Fraser Clan men’s basketball team repeated the feat, this
time beating the Spartans at home, 84-63. The Clan improve to 12-10 with
the win, while the Spartans drop to 3-19. Simon Fraser started the evening right were they left off on Friday, jumping out to a 6-0 lead and pushing their advantage to nine by the end of the first quarter (19-10). The Spartans offense heated up in the second period as they scored 19 points, but were still unable to contain the SFU shooters, namely Matt Kuzminski (Nanaimo, B.C.), whose 13 first half points carried
the Clan to a 12-point lead (41-29) entering the break. The second half saw much of the same, as the Clan started the third quarter with a 10-to-3 run (53-32) and never looked back. The comfortable lead gave the crowd a chance to see the depth of the SFU roster as some of the reserves got big minutes, specifically fan favorite Ben Gutowski (Shelbourne, ON), who showcased his shooting arsenal going 2-for-2 from beyond the arc in six minutes of play. With the win, the Clan move further ahead of Fraser Valley in the Canada West standings. If the Clan win next weekend against TWU or if Fraser Valley loses any of their three remaining games, then SFU will secure the third place spot in the Pacific Division entering the post season.
Greg Wallis (Victoria, B.C.) led the Clan with 19 points, shooting 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Kuzminski added 15 points while Sean Burke (North Vancouver, B.C.) finished with 13. Nolan Holmes (Victoria, B.C.) recorded three points and 15 boards in the win. For the Trojans, Luke Robinson finished with a game high 23 points and six boards while Ryan Froese added 11 points in the loss. The Clan will conclude their regular season next weekend, when they host TWU in the final installment of their three game series.