It was the Mambi Diawara show at the Northern Sports Centre (NSC) on Friday as his game-high 38 points led the Calgary Dinos to a 69-53 victory over the UNBC Timberwolves in Canada West men’s basketball.
He broke open what was a 54-53 game with five minutes left in the fourth quarter and propelled the visitors to a 15-0 run to seal the road win.
Timberwolves Head Coach Todd Jordan says Diawara’s lanky frame caused all sorts of problems at both ends of the court.
“He is one of the best players in our conference, he’s super long and can get into the paint and makes so tough, tough shots. We don’t have a great matchup for a guy like that right now but at the same time we have to make him convert on tough shots as he had a great night tonight (Friday) but we have to do a better job on him tomorrow (Saturday) and keep guys out of foul trouble.”
The Dinos came into the contest ranked third in a Canada West pre-season coaches poll only behind the Alberta Golden Bears and the UBC Thunderbirds.
Jordan says even though he was happy with the effort through three-and-a-half quarters, getting into foul trouble with some of their better players put them in a bad spot.
“Anytime we can only play Vova Pluzhnikov 14 minutes a game hurts us because he is a big offensive piece for us, it was definitely tough slugging not having him out there.”
Calgary begins the season at 1-0, while UNBC drops to 0-1.
Both teams play again tomorrow at 7PM at the NSC.
In women’s action, the Calgary Dinos coasted to an 80-55 victory over UNBC.
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Bobbi Jo Colburn led the visitors in scoring with 16 points, while Vasiliki Louka had a game-high 17 points in a losing cause for the Timberwolves.
Calgary went an astounding 13-for-30 from the three-point line.
The same two teams play again at 5PM in Prince George.
The Dinos completed the hat-trick earlier in the day against UNBC in Canada West women’s soccer playoff action with a 3-0 win.
Calgary advances to play the Victoria Vikes on Sunday, eliminating the T-Wolves from playoff contention.
In men’s soccer, UNBC faces off against the defending national champion-Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton on Saturday.