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     Basketball Club

Saskatchewan will meet Alberta in Central Final next weekend

Saskatoon, Sask. - It ain't over till it's over. That certainly was the case Saturday night as the University of Saskatchewan Huskies took on the University of Calgary Dinos in Game 2 of the Central Division Semi-Final at the Physical Activity Complex. Four times in the closing minute it looked like Saskatchewan would be able to seal the game but Calgary kept fighting until the final buzzer, as Saskatchewan came away with an 89-88 victory .

Saskatchewan (20-18, 13-9 Canada West) sweeps the best-of three series 2-0 over Calgary (17-21, 11-11). Saskatchewan will now travel to Edmonton for the Central Division Final against the University of Alberta Golden Bears (23-11, 15-7). Game 1 of that series is scheduled for Friday night (8:00 pm - MST) at the Main Gym.

"We knew they were going to come out a lot stronger (than Friday night), they were on fire in the first half," said Huskie fifth-year senior Sam Lamontagne after playing in his last home game. "We just had to match their intensity, and we got some big boards and some big free throws at the end."

Calgary shot the lights out in the first half, shooting 68.9% from the floor, and jumped out to an early 11-5 lead. Lamontagne got Saskatchewan on track with a three-pointer, as the home squad slowly chipped away at the lead. A three by Rejean Chabot gave the Huskies their first lead of the game, 24-23, with just under ten minutes to play.

But the Dinos responded with a 13-5 run to take a 42-33 lead with 3:46 remaining. Sophomore Robbie Sihota led the Dino charge as they scored on 11 of their final 15 possesions of the half. Sihota, who injured an ankle in Friday night's game, was showing no ill affects as he had 18 points at the break. A jumper by Chabot at the buzzer made the score 52-48 in favour of the Dinos at the half.

Sihota scored four quick points to open the second half before the Huskies went on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 59 on a three-ball by Kyle Grant with 14:51 to play. The Dinos briefly took the lead back, but a layup by Clint Unsworth off a pass from Andrew Spagrud put the Huskies back on top 62-61.

That's when Spagrud started to take control of the game. After a steal by Grant, Spagrud took a pass from Chabot on the break and threw down a monster slam. The next possesion resulted in another Spagrud dunk, this time on a drive from the wing, putting the Huskies up 66-63 with 11:24 to play and bringing the crowd to it's feet.

The Dogs continued to lead by up to five points until the final two minutes. Spagrud went two-for-two from the free throw line with 1:54 remaining, making the score 83-80. Dino guard Brian Finniss then drilled a three to knot the score at 83 with 1:38 remaining. Spagrud then converted a three-point play to put the Dogs up by three with 1:18 to go, setting up the dramatic last minute.

A steal by Lamontagne gave the Huskies a chance to increase their lead, but they were unable to convert. After a missed three by Sihota, Dino forward Ross Bekkering fouled Mark Lynch on the rebound. It was Bekkering's fifth foul, and Lynch calmly nailed both free throws with 40.4 seconds to go, putting the Dogs up 88-83.

Josh Feist quickly pushed the ball up the floor, hitting from beyond the arc with 32.6 seconds left. The Dinos fouled Chabot, who missed his first free throw before hitting the second with 24.0 seconds on the clock. The Dinos then missed a short shot, and as the teams scrambled for the loose rebound Grant grabbed the ball but fell over and was called for travelling with 11.9 seconds to play.

Huskie head coach Greg Jockims, reacting to the missed opportunity to seal the game, was then accessed a technical foul. Cody Darrah sank both free throws, putting the Dinos down one with the ball on the sideline in the frontcourt.

With the noisy crowd of 749 standing on its' feet, Feist drove down the left side of the lane, was cut off by Lynch and his shot bounced off the rim. Spagrud grabbed the board just before the horn sounded to end the game.

"The thing we always talk about is just playing our game; we knew they were going to play a heck of a lot better tonight and they did. We made the plays when we had to and the guys really just bailed me out in the end when I took that technical foul," said Jockims. "It was just a dumb emotional move and I just overreacted because we didn't get the ball."

Spagrud finished with a game-high 35 points, 21 in the second half, for the second straight night. He also grabbed 12 rebounds for his 22nd double-double of the season, and dished out five assists. He shot 13-19 from the floor and 9-10 from the charity stripe.

Chabot had 23 points as he played all 40 minutes. Grant had 10 points and five assists, while Lamontagne added nine points and three assists. Unsworth played another strong game, scoring four points and grabbing a career-high ten rebounds before fouling out with just over two minutes left in the game.

The Dinos were led by Sihota who had 25 points, but only three in the final 19 minutes of play. He was 10-17 from the floor, and also grabbed nine boards. Fifth-year senior Finniss had 18 points and six boards, shooting 4-8 from downtown. Feist added 14 points, six assists and four steals.

Saskatchewan once again played without starting point guard Jordan Harbidge, who sprained an ankle in practice on Wednesday. He is listed as day-to-day.

The Dinos outshot the Huskies 55.7% to 51.7% from the field. The Dinos were 12-16 from the free throw line, while the Huskies were 21-29. The Huskies owned the glass, outrebounding the Dinos 35-25 for the game, and 20-10 in the second half.

With the victory the Huskies reached the 20-win mark for the third consecutive season, the first time that's been done in the history of the program.