| Acadia | 83 | |||||
| Carleton | 79 | Acadia | 92 | —–ACADIA | ||
| Windsor | 96 | Windsor | 87 | |||
| Alberta | 78 |
Host and Maritime Intercollegiate Athletic Association champion Acadia avenged its 63-64 defeat at Windsor’s hands by capturing a four-point victory in the final of the third CIAU tourney. Windsor, 15-9 on the regular season, had averaged 94.8 ppg in overall competition, including 102.0 ppg in OQAA play. Carleton represented OSLAA and Alberta represented the WCIAA.
In the playoff entry game, held in St. Patrick’s High School Auditorium, Windsor opened with a 11-3 lead and quickly established their superiority over Wilfrid Laurier, OIAA champions with a 13-0 league record coached by Dick Buendorf. They shot 20-39 in the first half (.512), while Wilfrid Laurier shot 15-51 (.294), and took a 20- point lead. Their rebounding ability and floor savvy led the Lancers to a 50-34 lead at the half and although the Hawks rallied to within eight, 66-58, with 10 minutes to go, Windsor’s poise allowed them take control and breeze to a 90-76 victory. Bob Horvath scored 19, Joe Green 18, Joe Bardswich 15 while dominating the boards; Marty Kwiatkowski 8, Norb Keller 8, Gerry Horner 4 and Angelo Mazzuchin, Bob Billand and Doug Stocco, each 2. The Hawks were led by Bob Turner 24, Bob Eaton 16, Norm Cuttiford 10, Don Collins 11, Don Zdrahal 9, Bill Doyle 4 and Pete Misikowetz 2, while Baird and Wilkie were scoreless. The Lancers shot, 37-87 (.425) from the floor and 16-34 from the line, while the Hawks were 31-92 (.337) from the floor and 14-25 from the line. Lancers coach Bob Samaras told the Windsor Star that “I wouldn’t call it one of our better games. But we won it and I guess that’s what counts. … You’ve got to give them credit. They never gave up. They were still coming at us at the finish.” Laurier coach Dick Buendorf said “your fellows had too much experience for us. That number 30 (Joe Bardswich) played a tremendous game on the boards. He’s the fellow who hurt us more than anyone else.” Misikowetz injured his leg in a collision with teammate Bob Turner early in the affair.
Acadia coach Stu Aberdeen, whose promotional efforts are largely held to be responsible for the game popularity in Atlantic Canada, had led his team to a 17-5 record going into the tourney. They started Dave Rode; Andy Kranack; 6-2 freshman and Rockaway Beach native Brian Heaney, 5-8 g and Nashua, N.H. native Pete Pike and 6-2 Elmhurst, N.Y. native Steve Konchalski, the second leading scorer in the AUAA. A good defensive team, the Axemen had shot .523 from the floor during the season. “No one gave us much of a change to win the Maritime Conference,” Aberdeen noted. ‘We haven’t done too badly so far with a team that wasn’t supposed to make it.” Acadia coach Stuart Aberdeen was a native of Lewiston, N.Y. and an alumnus of Tusculum, located in Alabama.
Americans again proved pivotal in the CIAU crown as Elmhurst, N.Y. born Steve Konchalski, who’d played high school ball at St. Patrick’s High School in Halifax, which was the site of the CIAU tourney; and New York City-born Brian Heaney, a brash kid who’d been a second-stringer at Bishop Laughlin H.S. in the Bronx, dominated the tourney. Alberta was handicapped from the start, offering no scholarships and had no Americans on its team, compared to Windsor’s 10 and Acadia’s 7, was quickly relegated to the consolations. Alberta coach Jim Munro, when asked how many Americans he had on this team, told The Gateway: “What? And here I thought this was the Canadian championship.”
In the semi, Konchalski scored 41, an all-time tourney high, as Acadia defeated Carleton by four points. Aberdeen called the Ravens “the strongest team to come out of the OSLAA.” The Ravens had finished the season undefeated (16-0) in OSLAA and sported an overall 19-2 record heading into the tourney. 6-5 Pennsylvania native Andy Kranack added 15, Brian Heaney 10, 6-6 Pennsylvania native Dave Rode 10 and Peter Pike 7. Reserves 6-6 freshman Ward White from Fredericton, N.B., so Jim Clark from St. Thomas, Ont., and 6-4 sophomore Scott Lumsden from Saugus, Mass did not play. Konchalski hit 17 field goals and 7-8 from the line, scoring 20 in the first half and 21 in the second. Carleton coach Ernie Zoppa noted that his Ravens demonstrated “their best performance of the year. I’m proud of them.” Tom Gorman, who’d averaged 24.1 ppg through the season, scored 28 for Carleton, Wayne Kilfoyle added 24, Barry Nicholds 14, Dick Brown 5, Bob Moore 4, Don Home 2 and Cliff Lebrun 2. Acadia missed its first eight shots of the contest, including three free throws, as Carleton pulled ahead 6-0 en route to an 18-17 lead at the quarter. But Acadia took over the second quarter and were ahead 40-39 at the half but Carleton rallied to take a 56-52 lead five minutes into the second half before Acadia responded with a 6-0 run. Three long corner jumpers by Konchalski put Acadia ahead 63-56 at the seven-minute mark but when Rode fouled out with two minutes to play, the Ravens cut the lead to two points in the final minute. Acadia froze the ball and Carleton repeatedly fouled Konchalski in their bid to regain it. But Konchalski shot four free throws in the final minute to ice the victory.
In the other semi, Windsor pasted the University of Alberta Golden Bears, on a 17-point effort by Detroit-born Marty Kwiatkowski and the rebounding of Joe Green. Windsor opened with a 20-6 run but Alberta rallied to within two, 29-27 at the quarter, led by 6-5 c Nestor Korchinsky, 6-1 g Fred Shandro, 6-4 f Barry Mitchelson, born in Niagara Falls and previously a member of the U. of Western Mustangs, and 6-0 g Darwin Semotiuk. Alberta took the lead in the second quarter on field goals by Semotiuk and two buckets by Korchinsky. The game was tied four times in the quarter and the lead changed hands five times by the half. But Windsor’s superior bench and conditioning soon became evident in the second half, as the bigger, slower Alberta squad began to tire. Shandro and Bardwich opened the second half by trading buckets. Windsor was then hit by two technicals, one on Bob Horvath and the second on coach Bob Samaras. Semotiuk hit both free throws but the Lancers were fired up. A Billy Hassett field goal and a Joe Green free throw gave Windsor a 58-56 lead. Shandro tied it moments later but then Windsor went on an 8-0 run on two free throws by Horvath and field goals by Kwiatkowski, Horvath and then Kwiatkowski again. Windsor began dominating the boards and a tough defensive stance had the Lancers had of the tiring Bears by 19 points at the three-quarter mark. Windsor shot 40-78 from the floor and 18-34 from the line, while Alberta shot 32-68 from the floor and 14-28 from the line. Windsor was hit for 26 fouls and Alberta 24. Bill Hasset scored 13 and Bob Horvath, Angelo Mazzuchin and Joe Bardwich each scored 12. Joe Green added 11, Gerry Horner 8, Doug Stocco 6, Norb Keller 4 and Bob Billand 3. Alberta was led by Shandro and Korchinsky’s 20 points apiece, while Semotiuk added 16, Mitchelson 7, and 6-7 post Gordon Festor, the former Lethbridge Broder Sr. A star who hadn’t played the regular season opting instead to focus on his studies but joined the team for the tourney, scored 4 before fouling out with 13 minutes to play, Garth Hillman 2, Bill Strachan 2 and George Monkman 2. Starting guard John Hennessy was held scoreless, as were reserves Bruce Blumell, Ken Van Loon, George Fairbairn. Lancers coach Bob Samaras noted “Alberta had a lot of height but I was confident we’d run over them sooner or later. They simply didn’t have the speed or the manpower to keep pace with us after halftime. We worked a lot harder on the boards in the second half and our switch from zone press to man-to-man defence completely threw them off stride. I’d have to say that it was a pretty good victory.” Alberta coach Jim Munro, a 28-year-old who’d taken over the Bear helm in 1964 after serving as the office manager of the Dominion Bridge Co. Ltd., noted that “we simply ran out of gas in the second half. We couldn’t keep pace with Windsor. … the best Canadian team that we’ve faced.” Munro had played with the U. of A championship team of 1956 and was a member of the Edmonton Towne Hallers Sr. A men’s finalists in 1957 who’d begun coaching the U. of A Jayvees in 1958 and then served as an assistant to coach Steve Mendryk for five years. “We proved we could stay with them,” Munro told The Gateway. “If we hadn’t lost two players on fouls, we could have made things awfully close.” Darwin Semotiuk said “whenever I turned around it seemed I had a fresh man to check who was as good as the man he replaced. Still, I’m positive we could take them at home.” The Bears played without tar guard John Hennessy, who pulled a hamstring the week before the tournament. “It wasn’t much of a climax after three years of hoping to get into the championships,” said Hennessy. Munro said “it was a bitter blow to our title hopes. The players pinned John with the nickname ‘Excess Luggage’ but it was all in jest. Seriously, we all missed him out there.”
Carleton took the bronze medal with a 75-71 win over Alberta as Wayne Kilfoyle, the only Canadian selected to the all-tourney team, scored 29 and Barry Nicholds 18. Barry Michelson led Alberta with 21. Fred Shandro added 14, Jim Fisher 9, Gordon Fester 8, Nestor Korchinsky 3, Bruce Blummell 2 and Garth Hillman 2. Alberta led 18-8 early but trailed by 11 with four minutes to play before a late rally fell short.
In the final, before 1,074 rabid home town fans at St. Patrick’s High School Auditorium, Acadia prevailed 92-87 in overtime. The Axemen trailed by three at the half, 38-35, but tied the score at 77 with 12 seconds to go to put the game in overtime. In the added frame, Konchalski scored five points to lead Acadia to victory. He finished with 28, including 13 field goals. Acadia used a tight zone to keep Windsor from penetrating the paint but Detroit natives Bob Horvath, who fouled out with 23 seconds to go in regulation time, and Marty Kwiatkowski scored 23 and 24 points, respectively, to keep Windsor in the contest with their outside shooting. For Acadia, Dave Rode of Broomall, Pa. scored 17, Brian Heaney of Rockaway Beach, N.Y. scored 16 and Andy Kranack of Pittsburgh, Pa. added 15. Windsor coach Bob Samaras platooned all 10 of his players, while Acadia primarily played five players. Acadia shot .480 from the floor, while Windsor hit .390. Acadia led for most of the first half, pulling ahead by as many as seven when they took a 29-22 lead. But two field goals by Norb Keller and Marty Kwiatkowski near the end of the first half gave Windsor a three-point lead at the break. In the nip and tuck third quarter, the lead changed hands 10 times before Windsor moved ahead 47-42 and then 71-65 in the fourth quarter. Two long field goals by Steve Konchalski tied the score at 71. A field goal by Andy Kranack was matched by two free throws by Kwiatkowski. But then Windsor took a 76-73 lead on a field goal and free throw by Bob Horvath. On the play, Horvath fouled out with 1:13 to go. Pike hit two free throws. Windsor tried to run out the clock with a freeze. Brian Heaney fouled Horner with 22 seconds to play. Horner was short on the first free throw but hit the second. Pike them embarked on a “daring ‘solo dash’,” up the middle of the court and drove for a layup to tie the score and force overtime. Free throws by Konchalski and Heaney gave Acadia a 79-77 lead early in the extra period. But Kwiatkowski three times tied the score after Acadia took a two-point lead. With the score knotted at 83, Rode hit a layup. Doug Stocco fouled Heaney, who hit both free throws. Konchalski hit a field goal and a free throw with one minute to play to seal the victory. A teary-eyed Aberdeen said “this is the greatest moment of my life.” Windsor’s Bob Samaras told the Windsor Star that “you’ve got to give them credit. They played a mighty fine ball game. I was amazed that they went as far as they did with only five men. I honestly thought that we would beat them, even when the score was tied late in the game. I guess you’ll have to say that the turning point in the game came when Horvath fouled out. He fouled the man on the play, however, I’ll not dispute that.” Bob Horvath paced Windsor with 23 points. Marty Kwiatkowski added 22, Billy Hassett 8 Joe Green 7, Gerry Horner 7, Angelo Mazzuchin 6, Joe Bardswich 4, Norb Keller 4, Doug Stocco 4 and Bob Billand 2. Windsor hit 38 field goals, 11-25 from the line and committed 28 fouls, with both Horvath and Horner fouling out. Steve Konchalski paced Acadia with 28 points. Dave Rode added 17, while nabbing 23 rebounds. Brian Heaney scored 16, Peter Pike 16, Andy Kranack 15 and Jim Clark 0. Acadia scored 37 field goals, hit 18-25 from the line and committed 16 fouls, with Heaney fouling out. Acadia finished (19-5) on the season.
The all-tourney team featured MVP Steve Konchalski (Acadia); Bob Horvath (Windsor); Marty Kwiatkowski (Windsor); Brian Heaney (Acadia) and Wayne Kilfoyle (Carleton).
The bronze medalist Carleton Ravens: Tom Gorman; Dick Brown; Wayne Kilfoyle; Bob Moore; Barry Nicholds; Cliff LeBrun; Don Home; Paddy Stewart; John Scobie; Pat O’Brien; Mark Buchanan; Bruce Davey; Dwight Gibson; Brad Jones; Tom Tebbutt; Bob Wallace; Glen Gilbeau; coach Ernie Zoppa; assistant Barry Agar
The silver medalist Windsor Lancers: Bob Horvath; Bernie Friesmuth; Joe Green; Marty Kwiatkowski; Billy Hassett; Gerry Horner; Angelo Mazzuchin; Norb Keller; Mike Gloster; Bob Billand; Joe Bardswich; Doug Stocco; Gary Polano; Larry Kelly; Bob Penner; Steve Rogin; coach Bob Samaras; manager Bill McAdam; assistant manager George Takaki; statistician Bob Helgot; athletic director Dick Moriarty
The champion Acadia Axemen: Dave Rode; Andy Kranack; Steve Konchalski; Brian Heaney; Pete Pike; Ward White; Jim Clark; Scott Lumsden; coach Stuart Aberdeen; assistant Gene Chatterton; assistant Jim Logue; manager D. Meuse; assistant manager M. Trask