CALGARY - The night after their biggest win of the season, the University of Calgary Dinos' men;s basketball team comeback fell short Saturday, November 22 as they lost to the Manitoba Bisons 73-68. Despite a disastrous first quarter and trailing by as many as 19 points, the Dinos would come all the way back and take the lead in the fourth, but the Bisons were able to pull away for the five-point victory. The night before it was the Dinos who won by that margin, 76-71.  

The Bisons were led by forward Jonathan Alexander, who finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, including a crucial dunk with 14 seconds left in the game. The night before, he had 18 points and eight rebounds in the loss. 

"We just had to play really hard because Calgary is a hell of a team," Alexander said. "I'm just happy we played well, we just have to play together and play as a team and hope for the best."

Manitoba got off to a big start in the first quarter, holding the Dinos to just 10 points, while scoring 26 of their own. Calgary put in a better result in the second, outscoring their opponents 21-16, but still trailed at halftime by 11. It was 58-48 going into the fourth. 

That's when the drama really picked up. 

The Bisons would score the first bucket to make it a 12-point game, but then Calgary would go on an 8-0 run to make it a two-possession game, after a Jasdeep Gill layup. After the Bisons made it 62-56 at 6:46, the Dinos would go on another 8-0 run and take a 64-62 lead, following another layup by Gill at 4:43. It would eventually be tied at 68 thanks to an Alexander score with less than a minute remaining. The Dinos failed to score and needing a stop, a defensive breakdown led to the two-handed dunk for Alexander, giving the Bisons the lead for good at 70-68, as they would seal the game with free throws. 

Alexander said after losing Friday, as well as starting point guard Stephan Walton after suffering an injury in their first meeting, getting the split this weekend was huge. 

"On the road and with the fans heckling us, it was a very important one," he said.

The Dinos were led by Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson who did his best to keep his team in the game with 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. After only playing five minutes in game one, the Dinos also got a big performance from Gill who finished with 11 points in 23 minutes of action, including seven in the final quarter. L.J. Hegwood also finished in double-figures with 12. 

After losing the rebounding battle Friday night, the Bisons showed why they're the top team in the country in that category, with 57 to Calgary's 45, leading to 13 second-chance points. The Bisons also pushed in getting to the free-throw line going 21-30, while the Dinos went 10-16. 

Led by Alexander, the Bisons also had three other players in double-figures, including A.J. Basi, Wyatt Anders and Justus Alleyn. With the victory, the Bisons improve to 6-2, while the Dinos drop to that same record. The two teams are now tied for first place in the Pioneers Division. 

Next week, the Dinos will host the Trinity Western Spartans before wrapping up the first half of the season with a big game against the Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton on December 5. Manitoba host Lethbridge on Friday, November 28 at 8 p.m. CT and Saturday, November 29 at 7 p.m. CT.