The Trinity Western University’s men’s basketball team fell to Calgary at the Langley Events Centre.
Calgary tallied 33 second-quarter points to blow open a close contest before building a 20-point lead en route to a convincing 103-82 win on Friday.
With a 10-point lead at the break, the Dinos extended their advantage to 15 points after piling up 34 points in the third quarter. Calgary’s lead was never challenged as the Dinos held off TWU in the final frame.
TWU’s Pogos Trunyan (Sacramento, Calif.) had a career-high 33 points, but it wasn’t enough against a Calgary side that had four players in double digits in scoring. Trunyan’s previous career-high was 29 points, which he scored Dec. 3, 2016 against Lethbridge. Trunyan finished the night eight for 13. Vartan Tanielian (White Rock) had a team-high eight rebounds to go with nine points.
Mambi Diawara led the Dinos with 21 points, while Lars Schlueter and Mason Foreman each had 15 points. Lucas Mannes, who is a former Spartan, had 14 points in his first game back at the LEC.
The Dinos dominated in the paint, outscoring TWU 34-8, while also committing just 12 turnovers compared the Spartans 26.
Calgary struggled from the field in the early stages, shooting just 25 per cent (5-20) and the Spartans took advantage, opening an 18-12 lead through 10 minutes.
However, the game tilted Calgary’s way as the visitors outscored TWU 33-17 in the second quarter while shooting 55 per cent (11-20). The Spartans were six for 13 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes, but still trailed by 10 points at halftime.
Both teams shot well in the third quarter, with TWU putting up 29 points on 66.7 per cent shooting (10-15). But it was the Dinos extending their lead to 15 points thanks in part of nine points from Foreman.
Calgary tallied another 24 points in the final frame to secure the win.
The women’s team won Friday, but had a rough game on Saturday.
The Dinos adapted from Friday night’s 88-76 loss and shut down TWU at both ends of the floor to defeat the Spartans 84-52 Saturday night at the LEC.
The loss hands TWU (11-3) their first loss since November 17. It is also only the second loss in nine games for the Spartans. The victory gets the Dinos (9-5) back in the win column after two straight losses.
Calgary finished the night with an extra 20 shots over TWU thanks to a 28-6 edge in turnovers. The Dinos used the advantage to outscore the Spartans 25-5 off of the turnovers.
Kayla Gordon (Prince George) with 15 points and six rebounds, Tessa Ratzlaff (Abbotsford) with 14 points and six rebounds and Sarah Buckingham (Surrey) with nine and six rebounds paced the Spartans. The Dinos, who had four players hit double digits in scoring were led by Erin McIntosh (Calgary) with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, Liene Stalidzane (Jelgava, LAT) with 19 points, Brianna Ghali (Calgary) with 17 points, and Bobbi-Jo Colburn (Cranbrook) with 12 points.
The Dinos and the Spartans were fairly even through the first quarter as Calgary took an early first-quarter 23-17 after 10 minutes.
In a reversal of last night Calgary pushed the pace on offence and defence as they outscored TWU 16-10 to take a 39-27 lead into the half time break.
The visitors blew open the game in the third quarter as they outscored the Spartans 28-11 to lead 67-38 going into the final frame. Both teams cleared benches in the fourth as Calgary outscored TWU 17-14 to earn a 32-point win.