Posted: Feb 05, 2016
CALGARY - In a game of runs, the University of Calgary Dinos basketball was able to take every punch from the Lethbridge Pronghorns Friday night and end up with a 101-91 victory.
The win gives the nationally-ranked no. 5 Dinos (13-3) their ninth straight victory, as the Pronghorns fall to 9-6 on the season.
Five different Dinos scored double-figures including Thomas Cooper with 21, Lars Schlueter with 17, Dallas Karch and Matt Letkeman both with 14 and Josh Owen-Thomas with 10.
"The team played great together and made some big shots," Schlueter said, as the Dinos hit the 100-point mark for the fourth time this year, as well as for the third straight game.
The Pronghorns played their usual press and zone to start the game and it was Letkeman who sparked the Dinos in the first half, as the Dinos led 25-19 after one.
Calgary would push their lead to 34-24 and were on a roll, but the visitors would go on their first big run of the game, eventually cutting the lead to just three points.
But the Dinos would respond with a 16-2 run sparked by Cooper and would take a 50-39 lead going into halftime.
A David Kapinga three would make it 56-45 at the 8:06 mark in the third, but the Pronghorns continued the pressure.
American recruit Dejon Burdeaux would lead his team back into the game, scoring nine points over three and a half minutes as the Pronghorns would tie at 62.
However Calgary took the punch and came back with a haymaker.
"We didn't play good defence at that point and we stepped it up afterwards," Schlueter said.
Schlueter would hit a three, followed by a Cooper bucket, a Torrez McKoy three and two more free throws from Cooper for a 10-0 run, eventually taking a seven-point lead into the fourth.
Lethbridge still wouldn't go away, led by Burdeaux and fifth-year senior Brandon Brine, eventually cutting the lead to 74-70.
But Schlueter would go on a 9-0 run himself as Calgary pulled awayfor the entertaining win, including a two-handed jam from Karch as the exclamation point.
"It was a special night for Dallas and he's doing well lately, taking it to the hoop, playing aggressive," Schlueter said of Karch, whose night included two dunks and an alley-oop from Lars.
Brine and Burdeaux would each score 21 points in the loss, but the visitors would get outrebounded 45-35, as Calgary scored 25 second chance points.
Lucas Meyer, Dinos Communications Assistant