Playing without their star guard, the Winnipeg Wesmen looked like they still might have enough to take down one of the country's top teams.

But the No. 4-ranked Wesmen men's basketball team went cold in the final two periods as the No. 2-ranked Calgary Dinos pulled off an 89-78 Canada West conference win in a battle of two of the nation's best Friday at the Duckworth Centre.

The Wesmen (7-2) led by as many as 11 in the second quarter and carried a 51-43 lead into halftime before the offensive touch disappeared.

Winnipeg shot 2-for-20 from three in the final 20 minutes and were outscored 46-27 in the second half in losing their second straight conference game. 

By contrast, the Wesmen were 7-for-14 from three in the first half.

Winnipeg played without fifth-year guard Shawn Maranan, and early on got a boost from Lamar Everd, who scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the first half. In addition, Donald Stewart scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half as the Wesmen built up their double-digit lead. 

And the Wesmen maintained their edge for most of the third quarter until a devastating 8-0 run over the final 1:32 gave the Dinos a 67-65 edge, their first lead since the first minutes of the first quarter. 

Winnipeg forced Calgary into a season-high 23 turnovers, which resulted in 24 Wesmen points on the night. 

Malachi Alexander and Elijah Mensah also had 14 points for the Wesmen, while Stewart completed his double-double with 11 rebounds. 

Nate Petrone, the second-leading scorer in U Sports, went for 24 for the Dinos, who got 14 from Noah Wharton, 13 from Martynas Sabaliauskas and 10 from Declan Peterson. 

Tip time for Saturday's rematch is set for 5 p.m. at the Duckworth. (Tickets)