CALGARY, Alberta – The Trinity Western Spartans had one of their better games of the season, but saw the Calgary Dinos overcome a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Spartans 110-94 in overtime at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary, Alta. The loss drops the Spartans to 2-12, while the win moves the Dinos to 12-4.

TWU, who led 51-40 at the half, looked like they had the game in hand with a 10-point lead, 82-72, with just over five minutes remaining in the game. But the hometown Dinos were able to overcome the deficit and hit their free throws in the final minutes of regulation to force overtime at 88-88. Calgary outscored the Trinity Western 9-0 to start the overtime and never looked back.

Third-year guard David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.) with 21 points, and nine rebounds, third-year centre Connor Platz (Langley, B.C.) with 18 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks, fourth-year guard Josh Belvin (Long Beach, Calf.) with 17 points, and third-year guard Leif Skelding (Coquitlam, B.C.) with 16 points, and five rebounds led the Spartans. Nate Petrone with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, Gurshan Sran with 14 points, and seven rebounds, Martynas Sabaliauskas with 13 points, and Javier Ramos-Yzquierdo with 12 points, and six assists led the Dinos.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
After a dominant first half for the Dinos on Friday, things were much more even in this one, as the two teams traded buckets with little separation for the first 18 minutes. Then, TWU got hot, going on a 14-3 run to close out the first half for a 51-40 lead at intermission.
 
A three from Mutabazi early in the third gave the Spartans what proved to be their largest lead of the night at 54-40, maintaining a sizeable lead until a late run by the Dinos late in the third tightened things to 68-66 heading into the fourth after a jumper by Petrone.
 
TWU pushed the lead back to 82-72 after a jumper from Belvin with 5:31 remaining, but the Dinos refused to quit, using a 9-0 run over the next 2:19 to pull within one. A pair of free throws by Lutes marked the first points of the game for the fourth-year guard and gave Calgary its first lead of the half at 87-86 with 52 seconds left. Belvin banked in a driving jumper on the ensuing possession to retake the lead for Trinity Western, but a free throw by Sran with 16 seconds left tied things up and sent this one to OT.
 
In the extra session, Lutes simply couldn't miss, going 3-3 from behind the arc as it was all Dinos down the stretch to run the win streak to 10 in a row.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"This was an absolute heartbreaker. One rebound and we'd have walked away with the W. Connor had maybe the best game of his season until he hurt his back and that really hurt us. The Guys battled against a really good Calgary team that is playing very well and thought we were in control of the game almost the entire night. This has been a theme of the season these tough losses against really good teams."
"Leif had a good weekend and has been playing very well. Zero room for error going forward. Hopefully, our growing pains are over and we can reach our potential."

NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night shooting 45.3 percent (34-75) from the field, 29.6 percent (8/27) from the three-point line, and 78.3 percent (18/23) from the foul line. While the Dinos shot 44 percent (37/84) from the field, 41.2 percent (14/34) from the three-point line and 75.9 percent (22/29) from the foul line.
• Calgary had a 50-40 edge in rebounding.
• The Spartans had 16 points off of turnovers, while the Dinos had 24.
• Last night the Spartans lost 110-70 to the Dinos.
• The Spartans are 11-22 lifetime against the Dinos.
• TWU last defeated the Dinos, 102-92, on March 4, 2022, in the Canada West playoffs in Calgary, Alta.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now return home to host the Mount Royal Cougars on January 26-27. Game times at the Langley Events Centre are set for 8 p.m. and 6 p.m. and can be seen live on Canadawest.TV.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country, and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
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