CALGARY, Alta. – The gauntlet was laid out by Nate Petrone to Declan Peterson - eclipse the Dinos' block total from last season in a single night. He may have fell shy, but seven swats by Peterson propelled Calgary to a 95-77 victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies. 

Peterson's storybook debut, which saw him tie Brett Layton for most blocks in a single game in recorded history, kept the Calgary faithful energized throughout the night, but it was All-Canadian Nate Petrone that brought the fans to their feet early. Petrone poured in 12 points in the opening quarter, capped off by a circus buzzer-beating three-pointer to build a nine-point advantage after one.

Following the departure of nine players, including four of five starters from their 2024 postseason squad, Saskatchewan presented a new-look balanced attack. The Huskies had 10 players see meaningful minutes and kept the Dinos within striking distance midway through the second quarter. A Ryker Wuttke dunk and block on consecutive possessions trimmed the lead to five points midway through the quarter. 

Petrone started the third quarter the same way he opened the game, notching jumper after jumper en route to a game-high 30 points on 11-18 shooting. The Huskies' Owen Murphy-Wiebe did his best to keep pace with Petrone, knocking down 4-6 from three in his Canada West debut. 

Calgary's backcourt pushed the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, with Noah Wharton setting the table for his Dinos teammates, as part of a 14 point, eight assist performance. 

Easton Thimm led the way for Saskatchewan with 21 points and 12 rebounds. 

The two teams are right back at it for the opening-weekend finale Saturday night again at 8 p.m. from the Jack Simpson Gym. You can catch the action on CanadaWestTV presented by BioSteel.