1974-75 Waterloo – uSports men

	Acadia	83
	Loyola	69	Acadia	71
	Manitoba	73	Manitoba	73	Manitoba	79
	Ottawa	67
	St. Mary’s	72					—–WATERLOO
	U.B.C.	55	St. Mary’s	46	Waterloo	80
	Waterloo	76	Waterloo	70
	Sir Geo. Williams	61

Destiny’s hand cleared played a part in the victory of the Waterloo Warriors in the 1975 national finals. In the summer of 1974 star centre Mike Moser, for whom the national most valuable player trophy is named, was stricken with the flu while on tour with the Canadian national team in Florida. Moser subsequently died and autopsy revealed that had a heart attack brought on by a blood clot produced by a-bacteria called endocarditis. The death left the nation’s basketball fans in shock and the Warriors in mourning. For the entire 74-75 season, the team only introduced four starters at the commencement of each contest, honoring their deceased teammate. The Warriors ran through their schedule undefeated against Canadian teams, losing only four times all year in games against division II American schools. They entered the CIAU tourney as the nation’s number-one ranked team having rolled off 15 straight wins. The Warriors were led by 6-0 guard Bill Robinson from Chemainus, B.C.; 6-5 centre-forward Art White from White Plains, N.Y.; 6-5 forward Trevor Briggs from Chatham Collegiate and 6-1 guard Charles Chambers from Yonkers, New York.

       In the opening round, held in Waterloo, heavily-favored wildcard Acadia Axemen easily handled Loyola 83-69 after leading 42-36 at the half. The Axemen took command with a late 11-0 run. Joey Wells led the Axemen with 25. Glen Taylor added 19, Ricks 17, Saunders 12, Peter Leighton 8 (also reported as 17) and Aker 2, while Upshaw, Holland, Nomore, Mapp, Berry and Ives were scoreless. Acadia coach Dick Hunt told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we missed about seven straight shots ourselves before we finally pulled out of it. We can’t get cute. WE have to keep things simple as possible because we have a lot of young faces in our line-up.” The Axemen hit 11-17 from the line, while the Warriors were 11-17. Ron Pusarich led Loyola with 22. Bob Brix added 20, John Dore 14, Erglis 7, Kalikewicz 4 and Merlin 2, while Chesley, Cheam, Miller, Frost and Bregger were scoreless. John Dore told the Montreal Gazette that “the score was no indication. The game was close and a few breaks could have won it.” Warriors coach Doug Daigneault said “we didn’t want to start that slow. But we didn’t run like we should have. It wasn’t one of our better efforts, I’ll tell you that.” Acadia coach Dick Hunt said “they’re not big but they’re all good jumpers. Daigneault has don a really good job with that team.” Daigneault said “(Doug) Merlin was cold. We couldn’t buy a basket. But we all just went stone cold in those last few minutes.” Bob Brix said “I was wide open in the first half because they were concentrating on Erglis. And then they opened up in the second half, while we were cold.” Ron Puskarich said “they’re strong on the boards and we had to stop them inside. They have a well-balanced team, five good players. Us? Ran out of gas, that’s all.”

       The nation’s second-ranked team, Manitoba, coached by Don Hunter, dispatched wild card Ottawa 73-67. The Bisons sprinted to a 17-0 lead over Ottawa and led 26-4 before Gee-Gee guard John Plaskacz discovered a hot hand to pull Ottawa back within seven. But in the second half, Bison guard Angus Burr stifled Ottawa’s comeback with a series of outside jumpers. The Gee-Gees fought back to within one with ten minutes to go. But Bison 6-7 centre Darryl Rumsey took over the game, scoring 21 points in the contest, and Manitoba coasted to a 73-67 win. Angus Burr added 16 for the Bisons, while Martin Riley scored 13, Freeth 10, Watts 9, Brinton 2 and Watson 2, while Daniels, Korec and McKail were scoreless. The Bisons hit 11-18 from the line, while the Gee-Gees were 13-17. Merv Sabey led the Gees with 16 before fouling out. Davis added 13, Godden 10, Papi 8, Smith 6, Woodburn 6 and Cronin 4, while Mosey, Harmer and Baldock were scoreless. Gee-Gees coach Bob O’Billovich told Canadian Press that “we outscored them over the final 33 minutes, but that first seven was something else. We just couldn’t get going. I guess we were a little uptight.” Hunter was equally distraught, noting that the Bisons only played well through games first six minutes. “We didn’t have a good day. I wasn’t too happy with our shooting.” Hunter said “we played only six minutes of basketball the way we can play.” The Gees rallied to within five but Burr scored eight straight from the perimeter to stymie the comeback. O’Billovitch told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “I still thought we’d catch them in the second half. … A lot of teams would have hung it up after a start like we had but our guys kept pecking away.”

       Waterloo opened the tourney against the Sir George Williams Georgians, a surprise wild card selection for the national tourney, and prevailed 76-61. Most observers had expected the selection of Windsor, second place finisher in the OUAA west and winner of the consolation final of the Wilson Cup. But SGW and Acadia were chosen, even though Windsor was ranked fifth in the nation and higher than the Georgians all year. St. Mary’s coach Brian Heaney later noted that Windsor deserved the bid. But the chairman of the CIAU’s administrative council at the time was Joe Roboz of Sir George Williams. Waterloo breezed easily past the Georgians. Bill Robinson paced the Warriors with 20 on 9-20 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Art White added 18 on 7-11 from the floor, 4-5 from the line 4 boards. Trevor Briggs scored 11 on 5-15 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 6 boards. Charlie Chambers notched 10 on 5-9 from the floor and 8 boards. Phil Goggins scored 6, along with 4 boards, Phil Schlote 6, along with 4 boards, and Don Larman 5, along with 2 boards, while Jeff Scott, Ted Darcie and Ed Talaj were scoreless. Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “I’m glad we’re through that one. We knew we had to put a lot of pressure on (Carl) Whitfield since he brings the ball down for them and sets things up. Bill (Robinson) and Charlie (Chambers) worked him real hard. Also, we played behind their big man (Mike) Moore and that caused some trouble for us in the first half. It wasn’t a classical effort by any means but we’ll take it.” The Warriors hit 31-75 (.413) from the floor and 14-20 (.700) from the line, while garnering 33 boards and 18 fouls. All-Canadian first-team centre Mike Moore scored 24 for the Georgians. Kukauskas added 11, All-Canadian first-teamer Zan Pelzer 10, Whitfield 8, Haig 4 and Kurtz 4, while Arsenault, Cyrankowski and Jennings were scoreless. added 10. The Georgians hit 26-66 (.394) from the floor and 9-17 (.529) from the line, while garnering 35 boards and 21 fouls. Waterloo coach Don McCrae told the Montreal Gazette that “we had real trouble against them. We tried to play in from of Moore, and he was murder, and then tried to play behind him, and he was still murder.” Georgians coach Mike Hickey said “we had mental lapses now and then and I guess that’s what really hurt us. We might have been too up for the game. We wanted to be patient and over-reacted. A big factor had to be that they had several guys who can score from inside or outside.”

       The 3^rd-seeded St. Mary’s Huskies mauled the UBC Thunderbirds 72-55 in their opener. The teams kept it close for the first five minutes, but then U.B.C. went on a six-minute scoring drought and St. Mary’s went on a 14-0 run to take a 28-13 lead. They’d stretched their lead to 40-23 by the half. Huskies coach Brian Heaney noted that “the slow pace of the game kept us from breaking it open but the guys turned in good work, especially my two inside boys, John Dye and Lee Thomas.” Mickey Fox scored 20 for the Huskies, with 6-10 John Dye, Lee Thomas and Greg Redding each adding 14, while Fox scored 10, Collins 6 and Seaward 4, while Smith, Coleman, Follette and Santiago were scoreless. The Huskies hit 2-6 from the line, while the Thunderbirds were 1-3. Steve Pettifer led U.B.C. with 14. Randy Allen added 9 (also reported as 10, Turner 9, Brown 6, Iverson 6, Dunlop 6 and McKay 4, while Bowman, Bains, Trumpy, Lewin and Davidson were scoreless.

       In the semis, the Warriors manhandled the St. Mary’s Huskies 70-46. Waterloo took a 2-0 lead after nearly four minutes of play as St. Mary’s coach Brian Heaney had opened the game in a complete stall. The Huskies did not take their first shot of the game until 7:14 of the contest had expired and Greig Redding missed a 20-foot jumper. Waterloo soon led 4-0 and quickly expanded their margin to 14-6. The Warriors led 24-8 at the half and the high-powered Huskies were never able to gain any measure of offensive rhythm. Bill Robinson paced the Warriors with 22 on 11-20 from the floor and 4 boards. Phil Schlote added 16 on 6-10 from the floor, 4-7 from the line and 5 boards. Art White notched 10 on 5-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the line and 8 boards. Don Larman scored 5 on 2-2 from the floor and 1-2 from the line. Charles Chambers scored 4 on 12 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Jeff Scott scored 4 on 2-2 from the floor, while Phil Goggins, Ted Darcie and Ed Talaj were scoreless. The Warriors hit 30-52 (.566) from the floor and 10-16 (.625) from the line, while garnering 27 boards and 14 fouls. The Huskies hit 19-48 (.396) from the floor and 8-12 from the line, while garnering 16 boards and 19 fouls.

       In the other semi, Manitoba shocked Acadia 73-71. The Axemen led by 12 in the third quarter but the Bisons clawed and knotted the score at 67 on two Rick Watts free throws with 2:12 to play. The Bisons took their first lead of the game at 71-69 with 50 seconds to play on a bucket by Angus Burr. A Joey Wells tip-in tied it at 71 with six seconds to play. But Martin Riley drove the court and dished the ball to Darryl Rumsey for an easy layup at the buzzer as Manitoba pulled out the win. Rick Watts led the Bisons with 19. Angus Burr added 14. Gene Saunders led the Axemen with 23. Joey Wells added 20.

       In the bronze medal match, Acadia edged St. Mary’s 85-84 as Joey Wells scored 28. Lee Thomas paced the Huskies with 30. With Wells in first half foul trouble, Thomas led 46-34 at the half. But Wells returned and scored all his points in the second half before fouling out. THIS GAME IS ALSO REPORTED BY SOME AS ST. MARY’S DEFEATING ACADIA 85-84.

       In the final, held before 6,000 fans on Waterloo’s home court, the Warriors rallied from an eight-point deficit with four minutes to go and beat Manitoba 80-79 after little-used reserve 6-5 centre Phil Goggins hit a 30-foot jumper with four seconds left on the clock. The Warriors were outshot and out-rebounded by the Bisons in a closely fought battle which witnessed 10 lead changes. Manitoba led early with Watts scoring seven of the Bisons first 11 points before Schlote scored twice and Chambers scored once to pull the teams even at 18. The game seesawed back and forth until the Warriors jumped ahead 32-31 on a Briggs field goal and stretched their margin to five before two free throws by Rumsey late in the first half brought the Bisons to within three at the break, 41-38. The second half opened with a Briggs field goal but the Bisons steadily chipped away at the lead until Watts scored an old-fashioned three-point play five minutes into the half to give the Bisons a one-point margin. Over the next 10 minutes, the margin was stretched to nine and Manitoba appeared to be in control of the game. But with roughly six minutes to play, White (who’d left the game in the first half with a sprained left ankle but returned to play a strong second half) hit a bucket to trim the Manitoba lead to seven. With three minutes left, Goggins trimmed the lead to four. Riley countered with two free throws. Chambers responded with a bucket with 2:31 on the clock. Riley again countered with two free throws with 1:33 on the clock to stretch Manitoba’s lead to six, 78-72. But Chambers and Briggs promptly sunk two successive buckets. Watts was fouled but knocked down only one free throw with 32 seconds on the clock, to pull Manitoba ahead by three. With 26 seconds on the clock, Goggins hit a jumper to trim the margin to one. After Bison Angus Burr turned and bounced the ball on the boundary line, Goggins duplicated the feat with four seconds left on the clock by pounding down a 30-foot prayer, putting the finishing magical touch on the Warriors dream season. A last-ditch desperation pass by the Bisons was intercepted by Art White. Although Robinson shot an abysmal 5-24 for the game, TR MVP White, 22 points, and Briggs picked up the slack, and Goggins hit four for five, including the two critical baskets with time running out on the clock. “When I let it go, I knew it was going it,” the little-used Goggins told reporters. “I thought Charlie (Chambers) would shoot but he passed off to me. I look up at the clock and there was only 10 seconds left. I didn’t have time to pass off again so I let it go.” Variant: “I got the ball on the inbounds throw-in and looked for Charlie Chambers who had the hot scoring hand. I hadn’t planned to shoot but Charlie gave it right back to me and I got it up. I knew it was a good shot when it left my hand but I couldn’t believe it when it went through.” Hunter told reporters he thought the Bisons had the game under control. “I thought we were in charge at all times. We controlled the play and when we were up by as much as eight in the second half, I thought we had them.” Manitoba turned the ball over with 16 seconds to go. Burr was called for being out of bounds. Hunter said “My guys played super ball. We didn’t rattle. We just couldn’t control the ball when we had to.” Hunter was also unhappy with the two Ontario referees and argued you shouldn’t have refs from the conferences represented in the final. The Bisons were “jobbed” a number of times in the last minute, Hunter said. “I spoke to 10 people after the game and 9 of them said (Burr) wasn’t out of bounds. And at the same time, he was being fouled and they didn’t call that. I think that the referees because influenced by the crowd toward the end of the game.” On another occasion, Riley was knocked flat by a driving Waterloo player. “When asked why an offensive foul had not been called, the ref answered: ‘he didn’t hit him hard enough’,” Hunter said. There was also trouble with the clock. Seven seconds were added to the remaining 30 seconds when Manitoba was ahead. When Waterloo led, two seconds ran off the clock before the referee noticed. The timekeeper was forced to add two seconds. “I think we lost out on some valuable seconds during the game,” Hunter said. “I guess we should have been watching the clock a little more closely. I’m proud of the team though. We played very, very well and well, there is always next year.” Art White told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “our defensive work carried us through some tight situations and we stuck with what we do best, despite being down late in the game. There was no reason to despair; the win is evidence that nobody gave up. … If it wasn’t for trainer Steve Cole and Gus (Brian Gestaldi), I wouldn’t have made back to the game (after missing most of the first half with an ankle sprain). They put my ankle in the whirlpool for 15 minutes and it relieved the pain.” Trevor Briggs said “for the longest while, we just couldn’t seem to cut into their lead. We’d score but they’d come right back and score on us. However, that little press we gave with about two minutes to go shook them up. Maybe they didn’t expect it because they threw the ball away with a long pass down the court once. That play where their guy went out of bounds hurt them too.” Warriors coach Don McCrae said “it was unreal for a while, how we were going. They hurt us for about 10 minutes in the second half but our guys said they could see them giving us things that hadn’t been there all game. We man-pressed them and they got pitching the ball. That’s when I knew we had a good shot at them.” Hunter said “what can I say about a finish like that. Goggins? To lose the national championship on a 19,000-foot shot from the baselin. I thought we were in charge at all times. In fact, when we were up by eight and only had Martin (Riley) in serious foul trouble, I thought we had it won.” Art White paced Waterloo with 22 points on 10-15 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 6 boards. Trevor Biggs added 19 on 9-15 from the floor, 1-5 from the line and 9 boards. Charles Chambers scored 12 on 4-6 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 2 boards. Bill Robinson scored 11 on 5-24 from the floor. Phil Schlote scored 8 on 4-9 from the floor and Phil Goggins 8 on 4-5 from the floor and 3 boards. Don Larman, Jeff Scott, Ted Darcie and Ed Talaj were scoreless. The Warriors shot 36-74 from the floor and 8-17 from the line while grabbing 23 boards and committing 20 fouls. Rick Watts paced Manitoba with 25 points. Doug Freeth added 14, Martin Riley 13, Angus Burr 12, Greg Daniels 8 and Darryl Rumsey 7, while Tony Kurec, Craig Binton, Grant Watson and Ray McKall were scoreless. The Bison shot 31-62 from the floor and 17-24 from the line, while garnering 38 boards and 16 fouls. The Waterloo Warriors finished 33-4 on the season. One day after winning the title, Bill Robinson dropped out of school, the Windsor Star reported.

       The all-tourney team featured: MVP Art White (Waterloo); Bill Robinson (Waterloo); Mike Moore (Sir George Williams); Martin Riley (Manitoba) and Joey Wells (Acadia).

       The bronze medalist Acadia Axemen: Tony Aker; Peter Leighton; Ray Mapp; Eugene Saunders; Glenn Taylor; Robert Upshaw; Nick Vujuodic; Gord West; Shawne Ricks; Joey Wells; coach Dick Hunt

       The silver medalist Manitoba Bisons: Martin Riley; Greg Daniels; Tony Kurec; Doug Freeth; Craig Brinton; Darryl Rumsey; Angus Burr; Rick Watts; Grant Watson; Ray McKall; Herb Wiebe; coach Don Hunter; assistant Dave Guss; manager Rick Stefanyshyn

       The champion Waterloo Warriors: Mike Moser (posthumous); Art White; Jamie Russell; Bill Robinson; Charlie Chambers; Trevor Briggs; Phil Schlote; Jeff Scott; Phil Goggins; Don Larman; Ted Darcie; Ed Talaj; coach Don McCrae; assistant Fred Dimson; assistant Court Heinbuch; assistant Rich Slowikowski