The UBC Thunderbirds nearly pulled off an incredible fourth-quarter comeback over the Calgary Dinos, but were unable to get it over the line in the battle of nationally-ranked opponents.

Nikola Guzina led the way for the T-Birds with a career-high 27 points along with nine rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Arnaud Konan scored 13 points while Micah Jessie put up 10 points and seven boards off the bench.

Nate Petrone did damage for the Dinos with 29 points and five assists. Aidan Smith was a fantastic Robin to his Batman with 24 points and six rebounds on 9-15 shooting.



Petrone scored six early points to stake the Dinos out to an 8-4 lead to begin the night. UBC then scored 10 unanswered, a run capped by a three-pointer from Gus Goerzen.

The T-Birds led by as many as 10 points in the first, before the Dinos closed well in the final couple minutes to make it 20-16 for the home team at the break. Seven different Thunderbirds scored in the opening quarter.

A Konan triple made it 25-16 UBC early in the second, followed soon after by a nice driving layup from Guzina.

They were unable to extend their lead though, as the Dinos ripped off a 13-0 run in the middle portion of the quarter, hitting a flurry of three-pointers. That put them up 36-32, their first lead since the first few minutes of the game.



A catch-and-shoot three from Brendan Sullivan briefly recaptured the lead for the T-Birds, before the Dinos took it right back with another big run. They led 46-37 at the half, taking some of the air out of what had been a loud UBC crowd.

Calgary kept the momentum going to begin the third, stretching the lead to 55-39 before Konan hit a much-needed three-pointer. That didn't slow the Dinos though, as they kept their foot on the gas pedal, going up 68-46 midway through the quarter.

Consecutive buckets at the rim from Guzina cut the lead to 16, as the T-Birds aimed to close the quarter strong. They got it as close as 13, before a couple of late Dinos buckets, including a triple from Smith right before the buzzer, made it 73-55 going into the fourth.

Down 18, things seemed close to hopeless for the home team, but they were not going to go down without a fight.



Buckets by Jessie and Toni Maric early in the final frame sparked a UBC run, as the 'Birds slowly whittled down the lead. Guzina continued his strong night with a series of good finishes inside, scoring 10 points in just over three minutes to cut the deficit to 12.

A three-pointer from Goerzen made it a seven-point game with two minutes to play, and the T-Birds got it as close as four after a layup from Guzina made it 93-89 with just under a minute left.

Sadly, that was as close as they could get, as a couple late misses combined with a few Calgary free throws salted away the game.

Now 4-3 on the year, the Thunderbirds will aim to get one back on the Dinos on Saturday night. The game is part of UBC's annual Courtside festival, promising a big crowd of T-Birds supporters. The rematch is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. (PT) at War Memorial Gym.