| U.B.C. | 78 | |||||
| Sir George Williams | 70 | U.B.C. | 70 | |||
| Windsor | 107 | Windsor | 94 | ——WINDSOR | ||
| Acadia | 69 |
Still in its infancy, the CIAU tourney was again captured and hosted by a U. of Windsor Lancer team coached by Bob Samaras and predominately featuring American-born players. Rapidly establishing a dynasty at the southwestern Ontario school, Samaras had lured 6-4 forward-centre Bernie Friesmuth from Detroit Notre Dame; 6-4 Sr. Bill Brown from Rochester; 5-11 sophomore guard Bill Hassett from Detroit Holy Redeemer; 6-1 junior guard Bob Horvath from Detroit Holy Redeemer; 6-5 sophomore centre Bob Billand from Detroit Austin Catholic; 6-3 forward Joe Green from River Rouge Lourdes; and 6-3 sophomore forward Norb Keller from Rochester and molded them into a powerhouse along with Canadians Ed Petryshyn, Gerry Horner and Angelo Mazzuchin. Led by Friesmuth, Green and Horvath, the Lancers again swept (12-0) the OQAA, averaging 93.5 ppg and giving up a stingy 74.2 ppg. They entered the draw with an overall 20-5 record, while U.B.C. was 20-8, Sir George Williams 16-6 and Acadia 14-5.
In the semis, U.B.C., which averaged 73 ppg during the regular season and allowed only 58 ppg, opened with a 25-22 lead at the quarter but Sir George Williams led the T’Birds 38-22 at the half was Warren Sutton scored 21 in the first half, including 9-19 from the floor. But the Thunderbirds roared back in the second half as Bill McDonald scored 10 in the third quarter to send the Montreal-based OSLAA champs, who’d averaged 90 ppg during the season and allowed only 65 ppg, into the consolation game. U.B.C.’s strong outside shooting proved the difference and when Georgian forward George Igaz fouled out in the second half, the Thunderbirds pulled ahead to a 67-62 lead. But when 6-4 Dave Osborne fouled out for U.B.C., the Georgians rallied to tie the game at 67 on three free throws by Sutton and a field goal by Gord Collyer. When Georgian starting centre 6-4 Bob Habert fouled out with 6:10 to go the T-Birds took control on a field goal by Bill McDonald and two fields goals by Dave Way. U.B.C. shot 30-79 from the floor and 18-27 from the line to capture the eight-point win despite being out-rebounded 33-30. Sir George Williams shot 27-70 from the floor, including 21-37 in the first half, and 16-19 from the free throw line. SGW was whistled for 22 fouls while U.B.C. was called for 13. Sutton, a 25-year-old veteran of Sr. A play with the Montreal Yvan Coutu Huskies who years earlier had played with Acadia and then with the Tilsonburg Livingstons, finished with 32 points, just below the 39 ppg he’d averaged in OSLAA play to lead the league in scoring. Forward George Igaz added 9, Bob Habert 7, starting guard Mike Barkun 13, Gord Collyer 6, starting guard Ken Green 3 and starting forward Allan Sinclair and reserves Norm Loftus and Brian Barton were held scoreless. U.B.C. was paced by 6-5 forward David Way 17, 6-1 guard Bill McDonald 14, 6-4 John Cook 12, 6-7 forward Ron Erickson 11, 6-1 guard Ken McDonald 11, 6-4 Dave Osborne 6, 5-11 guard Gord Betcher 2, 6-2 guard Bob Barrazzoul 2 and 6-4 Morris Douglas 2, while 6-4 Steve Spencer was scoreless.
In the other semi, Windsor opened on a 9-1 run but then stalled briefly, as Acadia rallied to within two 16-14 at the first quarter. But after their slightly sluggish start, Windsor began dominating Maritime Intercollegiate Athletic Association champion Acadia, running away in the second quarter to a double-digit lead to lead 50-24 at the half, 80-44 at the three-quarter mark, and breezing to a 24-point victory. The Lancers outscored Acadia 36-8 in the second quarter. “They whomped us,” Acadia coach Stu Aberdeen told the Windsor Star. “I thought we had them for a while but we can’t play their style of basketball. Once they started running on us, we were beaten. Their press was very effective and they killed us on the backboards.” Windsor shot 39-88 from the floor and 31-50 from the line and out-rebounded Acadia by an astonishing 68-15 margin. Acadia, which had finished 11-1 in league play and had the toughest defence in the nation allowing only 47.9 ppg in league play and 54.8 ppg in all games, shot 24-63 from the floor and 19-31 from the line. Windsor dominated the boards by a 68-15 count. Idle for two weeks, the Lancers had five players score in double figures, led by Bernie Freismuth’s 20, Joe Green’s 20, Gerry Horner’s 16, Bob Horvath 15 and Billy Hassett 11, Bob Billand 6, Ed Petryshyn 6, Tom Henderson 4, and Bill Brown 2. Acadia was led by Richie Spears, who’d scored 29 in the MIAA final against St. Francis Xavier and was averaging 19 ppg and .548 from the field, scored a mere 14, Ken MacMillan’s 12 and Andy Kranack and Steve Konchalski, each 10, 6-7 Dave Rode 4, John Olinto 4, Damon Pouyat 8, Ian Hendry 4 and Simon Chiasson 2. Windsor’s Samaras later noted that “frankly, I didn’t expect it would be that easy. They tried to slow us up but we made them play our game. They couldn’t run with us, they couldn’t handle our press and we rebounded very well.”
In the bronze medal match, Sir George Williams defeated Acadia 63-57 as TR MVP Warren Sutton scored 24, Bob Habert 15, Mike Barkun 10, George Igaz 5, Gord Collyer 4, Ken Green 3 and Eric Wolff 2, while Norm Loftus and Brian Barton were scoreless. Richie Spears led Acadia with 17. Dave Rode added 12, Andy Kranack 10, Damon Pouyat 8, John Olinto 7, Ian Hendry 2 and Steve Konchalski 1. The Axemen (coached by Stu Aberdeen, managed by Phil Wright, Jim Clarke and Jim Rose) also included Ken MacMillan and Simon Chiasson.
In the final, the ‘Blue & Gold’ Lancers led U.B.C. by a narrow three-point margin after ten minutes, 21-18 when reserve post Bill Brown, playing on a gimpy ankle, went on a personal 8-0 run to key a rally that left Windsor ahead by five 39-34 at the half. The Lancers took control in the second half, shooting 33-84 from the floor and 28-42 from the line. But U.B.C. out-rebounded the Lancers 9-52, while shooting 23-83 from the floor and 24-33 from the line. Windsor won the McGee Trophy on their home court before 2200 screaming fans. In the final, starting g Bob Horvath scored 23, starting g Bill Hassett and reserve Bill Brown each scored 14. Starting c Ed Petryshyn added 4 and starting forward Bernie Friesmuth and Joe Green each scored 12. Starting f John Cook led UBC with 25 points, starting f Dave Way added 19 but starting c Ron Erickson only scored 2, while starting guards Dave Osborne added 2 and Bill McDonald 10. Samaras told the Windsor Star that “I’m proud of how everybody played that we won this championship again. … We shot very well and played a strong defence game throughout.” UBC coach Peter Mullins noted that “the Lancers are good, real good and they’re well coached. …Samaras has done a great job with them. Their outside shooting hurt us the most and we let the game get away from us by shooting poorly in the second half. We were beaten by a better team, make no mistake about that. But if our shooting would have been better, I figure that the winning margin should have been about 10 points.” Windsor coach Bob Samara, dumped into the university pool by his celebrating Lancers, noted that “I’m proud of how everybody played and that we won this championship again. …We shot very well and played a strong defensive game throughout. This club has been winning the big games all season and I never for one moment figured that we would not win this one. Sure, we were sluggish again at the start but I could sense even early in the game that we’d win this with quite a few points to spare.” Bob Horvath paced Windsor with 23 points. Bill Brown and Bill Hassett each added 14, while Bernie Friesmuth and Joe Green each hit 12. Tom Henderson added 8, Ed Petryshyn 4, Angelo Mazzuchin 4, Norb Keller 3 and Gerry Horner 1. Windsor shot 33-83 from the floor and 28-40 from the line while grabbing 54 rebounds and committing 58 fouls. John Cook paced UBC with 25 points. Dave Way added 19, Bill McDonald 10, Bob Barrazzoul 4, Ken McDonald 3, Ron Erickson 2, Dave Osborne 2, Morris Douglas 2, Gordie Betcher 2 and Steve Spencer 1. The Thunderbirds shot 23-85 from the floor and 24-33 from the line, while nabbing 58 boards and committing 28 fouls. Windsor closed out the season with a (22-5) record.
The all-tourney team featured MVP Warren Sutton (Sir George Williams); Bernie Friesmuth (Windsor); Bob Horvath (Windsor); David Way (U.B.C.) and Bill McDonald (U.B.C.)
The bronze medalist Sir George Williams: Warren Sutton; Mike Barkun; Robert Habert; George Igaz; Allan Sinclair; Ken Green; Gord Collyer; Eric Wolff; Norm Loftus; Brian Barton; coach Al Hirsch; manager A.D. Inslay
The silver medalist British Columbia Thunderbirds: Dave Way, Bill McDonald; Gord Betcher; Ron Erickson; John Cook; Dave Osborne; Steve Spencer; Morris Douglas; Bob Barrazoul; Ken McDonald; coach Peter Mullins; manager Mel Galloway
The champion Windsor Lancers: William Brown; Bob Horvath; Bob Billand; Bernie Friesmuth; Tom Henderson; Joe Green; Bill Hassett; Gerry Horner; Norb Keller; Angelo Mazzuchin; Ed Petryshyn; Claude MacMillan; Doug Kane; Joe Bardswich; coach Bob Samaras; assistant Eddie Chittaro; manager Bob Carron; athletic director Dick Moriarty