On Thursday afternoon at War Memorial Gym, the University of Calgary Dinos defeated the Queen’s University Gaels 109–98 to move onto the national men’s basketball semifinals.
Both teams got off to a rocky start, struggling to connect on offence early. Throughout the first quarter, however, they hit their stride, with the match turning into an intense, fast-paced game. The Gaels’ offence was led by AJ Cummings (24 points and 5 rebounds) and Ollie Engen (20 points and 2 rebounds), while it was Dylan Lutes (27 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists) and Nate Petrone (26 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists) who powered Calgary’s attack. Petrone in particular stood out, having been named the U Sports men’s basketball player of the year the night before the game.
“The award is just a testament of hard work,” said Petrone. “It’s just all part of the journey to get here and it’s the hard work paying off and people believing in me.”
The Dinos’ started the first quarter up 4–0, but with a three in the third minute, Queen’s finally got onto the board. Lutes brought the energy early for the Dinos’ when he made a quick catch-and-release three-pointer. On the other side, Cummings held down the Gaels’ offence, shooting 4 for 4 from behind the arc in the first quarter. As the pace of play picked up, the first quarter ended with Calgary up 31–25.
In the second quarter, Calgary continued to hold the lead, but Queen’s kept it close. As the Dinos started to pull away, Queen’s Luka Syllas muscled his way to the net, drawing a foul and making the free throw for a three-point play, closing the gap to 46–42. Then, Engen started to hit his stride — spinning in the paint to get the jumper and give Queen’s first lead, 48–47. Back-and-forth fastbreak points by both teams brought the score to 57–55 to end the first half, looking like anyone’s game.
Queen’s made quick offensive moves to start the third quarter and tie it up, but the Dinos quickly answered. Petrone showed off his skills, putting on an offensive clinic in the third minute with a sharp layup and two consecutive three-pointers, putting Calgary up 69–57. Yet, the Gaels stayed in it, with Cummings making another three-pointer and Engen working the paint, making a layup to end the third with Queen’s only trailing 78–71.
Calgary took a commanding lead early in the fourth quarter, thanks to Petrone, going up 85–77. Nearing the end of the fourth, Queen’s had their full court press going trying to stop Calgary’s offence, but the Dinos were still able to break away with Petrone driving to the net to score. Queen’s competed to the very end, but couldn’t catch up as Calgary earned the win, 109–98.
The Dinos made the game theirs, pushing the energy and pace, earning 20 fast break points. Although Queen’s kept it close at times, Calgary kept the lead throughout, highlighted by a 15–0 scoring run in the third quarter.
With this win, the Dinos’ punched their ticket to the semifinal, where they will play the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers tomorrow night at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
“I believe we are the best team in this tournament,” said Petrone. “Now it’s just about proving it.”
This article is part of our 2025 Final 8 coverage. Follow us at @UbysseySports on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, as well as @theubyssey on TikTok, to follow our U Sports basketball coverage starting March 12.
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