Members of the Calgary Dinos celebrate while hoisting the W.P. McGee trophy after defeating the Ryerson Rams to win the U Sports men's basketball national championship in Halifax on Sunday, March 11, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
March 11, 2018 - 4:31 PM
HALIFAX - The Calgary Dinos have won their first U Sports men's basketball title.
David Kapinga had 25 points as the No. 2 Dinos held on to beat the No. 5 Ryerson Rams 79-77 on Sunday in the championship game.
Calgary was ahead 39-30 at the break and led by as much as 12 before Ryerson attempted a comeback in the second half. The Rams even went ahead by three in the fourth quarter before the Dinos pulled out the win.
Lars Schlueter added 18 points for the Dinos, scoring 10 of those in the opening quarter as Calgary led 21-18 after the first.
Ryerson's Manny Diressa scored a game-high 28 points — including 24 in the second half.
It's the first time in eight years that a program other than Carleton won the men's title, with the Ravens winning the W.P. McGee Trophy every season since 2011.
The Ravens had won 13 of the past 15 national titles dating back to 2002-03 season, with the Saskatchewan Huskies (2009-10) and Brock Badgers (2007-08) being the only other school programs to claim victory.
Earlier in the day, Eddie Ekiyor had 21 points and eight rebounds as the No. 1 Ravens bounced back from their semfinal loss against Ryerson to beat the No. 3 McGill Redmen 76-71 for third.
Yasiin Joseph added 16 points for the Ravens, who outscored McGill by 15 in the second half after trailing 34-24 at the break. Carleton shot 59.2 per cent from the field in the second half.
Alex Paquin led all Redmen scorers with 17 points.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2018