Dinos come up short in U SPORTS Men’s basketball championships finals

By Maggie Hsu with files from Dinos’ Communication, March 16 2025—

The Dinos tipped off the national championship tournament with a huge win over the Queen’s Gales to earn them a semifinal appearance at the U SPORTS Men’s basketball championships.

The Dinos and the Gaels traded shots throughout the first half with Queen’s physically challenging the Dinos’ ability to score from all areas of the court by putting on a strong man-on-man defense. Calgary would manage to escape into halftime with just a two-point lead and a reminder that this tournament would necessitate a need for a whole-team effort for them to succeed. Reoriented and refreshed, the Dinos stepped on for the second half, blazing and explosive as they went on a 15-0 run early in the third quarter to take the wind out of the Gaels. Led by Dylan Lutes with a 27-point showing and Aidan Smith with 20 of his own, the Dinos secured a massive 109-98 win over the Gaels.

“They pressed like crazy, even on a miss, we had to be tough with the ball,” said Dinos head coach, Dan Vanhooren. “For us to have 25 assists and only 13 turnovers, that was a terrific showing.”

Canada West Player of the Year Nate Petrone, who was also named U SPORTS Player of the Year the night before the quarterfinals, put up a team second 26 points and eight assists. However, with the team’s starting point guard, Noah Wharton, going down with an apparent ankle injury in the third quarter, Petrone needed to step into a facilitating role as the Gaels’ defense put the double-team on him. 

A setback for most teams proved to be an opportunity for the Dinos to flex their flexibility and strong bench as Lutes capitalized with 28 minutes of play and shooting 57.9 per cent from field goal range. The Queen’s double-team on Petrone also opened up plenty of space for one of the Dinos’ best three-point shooters, Aidan Smith to go 6-11 from the outside and centre Declan Peterson to stand strong in the paint for offensive rebounds.

“Everyone’s going to have a moment where they’ve got to perform,” Vanhooren said on the team stepping up.

This proved to be key as the team returned to the court against the UPEI Panthers, who boast a dangerous two-headed monster in AUS First Team All-Star, AUS Championship Tournament MVP and AUS Championship Tournament All-Star Kyree Thompson and AUS Championship Tournament All-Star Kamari Scott, who combined for 566 points during the regular season.

Short-handed but unfazed, the Dinos remain resilient as the took a lop-sided 87-54 victory over the Panthers to end the island’s Cinderella run and book their spot in the national championship game.

Petrone played the entire game barring a well-deserved substitution in the final minutes of the final quarter to rest him for the final game. His 36-minute performance delivered a near triple-double with 30 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, earning his second straight player of the game honour of the tournament. Despite missing starting point guard Noah Wharton and losing center Declan Peterson early in the game, Calgary’s depth proved to be too much for the Panthers.

The Dinos controlled the game early on, opening with an 11-2 run and maintaining a steady lead. The Panthers who booked their ticket for the national tournament by upsetting AUS’s perennial favourites, St. FX X-Men by breaking down a 24-point lead in the AUS gold medal game showed they would not back down as they managed to cut the deficit to two points late in the first quarter. The Dinos quickly responded with Petrone set off on a solo 11-2 run to close the quarter with a solid lead.

From there, the Dinos never looked back.

Despite facing foul trouble and giving up turnovers throughout the first three quarters, UPEI struggled to convert, unable to set up plays in their offensive zone and shooting just 57.1 per cent from the free-throw line.

With Declan Peterson going down early in the game after coming down on his leg hard from a rebound, the Dinos’ bench stepped up with their “next man up” mentality. Daniel Baumanis, Aidan Smith and Dylan Lutes filled the gaps well, combining for 38 points of their own. Baumanis, with his first start of the season, played a crucial role in the absence of key veterans, earning praise from Coach Vanhooren.

“[Baumanis] was terrific,” Vanhooren said. “For someone we’re going to need in the future, this is a great experience for him, and he contributed so well.”

The entire Dinos bench saw action in this important game, including rookie Arinze Aniagu, who recorded his first points in his university career.

The Dinos’ bench would have to step up once again as they open a rematch of the Canada West semifinal game against the Victoria Vikes without starting point guard Noah Wharton and starting center Declan Peterson. The Vikes went undefeated throughout the 2024-25 regular season with the Dinos being their only loss as the only imperfection in their near-perfect season. 

The first quarter opened slowly for the Dinos as they scored just two points to the Vikes’ 10 when Dinos’ head coach Dan Vanhooren called the first time out of the game to try and get his players to settle into the game. With Canada West Defensive Player of the Year Sam Maillet assigned to defend Nate Petrone, Petrone struggled to get any offensive momentum going. Not only would the Vikes put on a shooting gallery, they would be strong against the boards with 11 offensive rebounds and 21 defensive going into the half and carrying a 40-23 lead over the Dinos.

The Dinos would bump up their offense in the third quarter, returning closer to form as they downed 19 points to the Vikes’ 25 however, foul trouble would put the Vikes into the bonus, penalizing the Dinos for every foul moving forward. Dylan Lutes would step up on both ends with strong defensive boards and standing strong offensively in the paint to force opportunities for his teammates. However, Victoria’s team play and opportune buckets would give them a 65-42 lead to carry into the final frame of the game.

The Vikes would hold the Dinos at just 11 points in the final quarter of the 2024-25 season as the Vikes managed to shut down the Dinos’ offense to charge their way forward with an 82-53 victory over the Dinos for their ninth national banner in program history.

The Dinos now look ahead at their turn to host the U SPORTS Championship Final 8 next year with much of the same roster with just seniors Noah Wharton and Spencer Roberts graduating the program. As hosts, the Dinos have an automatic bye into the tournament, they will look forward to their chance at redemption with a roster full of players with experience on the big stage.