Brian Swane, Special to Canada West
CALGARY – The Canada West Men's Basketball Championship Game takes place Saturday, when the defending conference and national champion Calgary Dinos host the UBC T-Birds at Jack Simpson Gym.
Calgary aims to win back-to-back titles for the first time, while the T-Birds have designs on capturing the 10th Stan Broder Trophy in program history.
It's been a season for the ages for the Dinos, who finished atop the conference standings with 20 wins and nary a defeat. UBC wasn't far behind with Canada West's second-best record, 17-3.
Including regular season and playoffs, Calgary hasn't lost to a Canada West opponent since January 2018, a remarkable stretch spanning 32 games. Add in their championship performance at the 2018 U SPORTS Final 8, and it's 35 straight Ws for the Dinos.
UBC is no stranger to win streaks themselves. At one point this season, the T-Birds reeled off 16 consecutive victories. They've also shown a knack for clutch play on the road, knocking off the Alberta Golden Bears in last week's semifinal at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.
While the Dinos and T-Birds didn't cross paths during the 2018-19 regular season, they played each other in the 2018 Canada West playoffs, with Calgary prevailing on their home court in a 2-0 semifinal sweep of the T-Birds.
There are few weaknesses to exploit between these powerhouses, who both were near the top of the Canada West leaderboard in 2018-19 in the major statistical categoires. Calgary and UBC ranked first and second, respectively, in lowest field goal percentage for opponents, while the T-Birds were the second most accurate field-goal shooting team in the conference, just in front of third-place Calgary.
Players to watch include Calgary's trio of 2018-19 Canada West all-stars: fifth-year guards Mambi Diawara and David Kapinga (first team) and forward Brett Layton (second team). UBC counters with the all-star duo of guard Jadon Cohee (first team) and forward Grant Shephard (second team). Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren and his UBC counterpart Kevin Hansen both took over their programs in 2000, and have been trading titles ever since: The T-Birds have five Canada West titles in that span, while Calgary's been crowned on four occasions.
Both teams have qualified for the U SPORTS Men's Final 8, hosted by Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S., March 7-10.