Ian Gustafson; Dinos Communications

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos wrapped up a tough two-game sweep of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Saturday night, defeating their provincial rivals 95-90 in the Jack Simpson Gym to run their conference record to 12-0 heading into the December break.

Lethbridge falls to 4-6 at the halfway point of their season.

After a close first quarter the Pronghorns led at the end of the frame 21-20. They extended their lead in the second quarter to lead the Dinos 42-35 at halftime. The Pronghorns had a lead as big as ten points before the half.

The Dinos struggled in the first half shooting 14-of-41 from the field and 1-of-15 from three-point range.

In the second half, the Dinos increased their intensity and pace of play to make a third quarter come back, including some highlight reel plays such as an alley-oop slam and a slick behind the back pass. Most notably, the Dinos improved their shooting in the second half as they shot 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. The Dinos led at the end of the third 68-64.

In the fourth quarter, the Dinos and Pronghorns went back and fourth as the Pronghorns cut into the Dinos lead multiple times. Despite the push from the visitors, the Dinos held their own to emerge with the five-point victory.

"We're 12-0, I'm super pleased tonight that they got through the game the way they needed to," said Dinos Head Coach Dan Vanhooren. "And if we shot it a bit better, the result wouldn't have been nearly as close."

Mambi Diawara led the team with 28 points and six rebounds. Brett Layton was a beast on the boards grabbing 14 rebounds – 12 of which came on the offensive glass – and 17 points. Lars Schlueter finished with a near double double scoring 16 points and nine rebounds. David Kapinga also had a great night as he scored 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting.

Despite the loss, Zach Overwater finished with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting and Mike Pierzchala scored 18 points and two rebounds to lead the way for Lethbridge.

The Dinos will play five exhibition games over the Christmas break in Calgary and California. They will be back in Canada West action on Jan. 3 and 5 for a Crowchild Classic series against Mount Royal, while Lethbridge will look to break a six-game losing skid when they visit the Saskatchewan Huskies to ring in 2019.

-UC-

Photo by David Moll