| EAST | |||||||||
| (1) | Acadia | 73 | |||||||
| (16) | McGill | 69 | Acadia | 74 | |||||
| (12) | St. F.X. | 78 | St. F.X. | 75 | St. F.X. | 79 | |||
| (10) | Saskatchewan | 71 | |||||||
| MIDEAST | Waterloo | 79 | |||||||
| (2) | Waterloo | 94 | |||||||
| (14) | Toronto | 80 | Waterloo | 75 | Waterloo | 87 | |||
| (9) | McMaster | 79 | McMaster | 73 | |||||
| (7) | Lethbridge | 78 | |||||||
| WEST | —–VICTORIA | ||||||||
| (4) | Victoria | 76 | |||||||
| (13) | Western | 67 | Victoria | 75 | |||||
| (6) | York | 84 | York | 62 | Victoria | 79 | |||
| (15) | Alberta | 73 | |||||||
| MIDWEST | Victoria | 93 | |||||||
| (5) | Manitoba | 57 | |||||||
| (11) | Calgary | 51 | Manitoba | 75 | Manitoba | 70 | |||
| (3) | U.P.E.I. | 66 | U.P.E.I. | 63 | |||||
| (8) | Winnipeg | 61 |
In the opening round of the eastern regional, Acadia defeated McGill 73-69. After racing to a 15-point lead in the first half, the Axemen held on against the Redmen, with Chris Sumner scoring 23 and Gary Towle 17. McGill was led by Simon Onabowale’s 17, Owen Officer’s 17 and Bernie Rosanelli’s 16 points. The Redmen (coached by Ken Schildroth, assisted by Carlo Del Bosco) also included Claude Briere, Francois Dion, Albert Israel, Michael Cohee, Ken Tucker, Owen Roberts, Patrick Arsenault, David Swaebe and Jaimie Crawford. …………………………………………………… In the other opening round game, St. FX defeated Saskatchewan 78-71. With 10 minutes to go the game was tied at 44 and the teams played it close until the last two minutes when Saskatchewan found itself ahead by six with 1:50 to go. But a series of miscues and errant in-bounds passes later, followed by a long-range jumper from Brent Baker, allowed ST FX to tie the game at 61 and send it into overtime. St. FX dominated the overtime period, out-scoring Saskatchewan 17-10. The X-Men were led by Brent Baker’s 21 points, while Paul Humbert and Kirk Jones each scored 18 and Byron Tokarchuk added 17 for the Huskies. Saskatchewan coach Guy Vetrie told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix that “it’s tough to come back in overtime when that happens. We had to win it in regulation. They had 2,000 screaming fans trying everything possible to upset us mentally. It eventually caught up with us. … This loss is hard to accept because we had our chances to win the game. They got a freebie into the final from us. We held our poise right down to the wire. It was really a freak that they got that final basket at the buzzer. Ninety-nine other times, it just wouldn’t have happened.” Saskatchewan (coached by Guy Vetrie, assisted by Tim Artemenko) also included John Cleland, Greg Jockims, David Karwacki, Rob Regnier, Mike Phillips, Scott McLaren, John Dewar, Mark Peters, Sheldon Ryma, Kirk Jones and Dan Dewar.
In the East regional final, the 12th seeded X-Men took on the same Acadia team that had defeated them in the AUAA semi-final by two points a few weeks earlier, and prevailed 75-74 in overtime. The X-men roared out the gate, out-scoring Acadia 8-2 but the Axemen fought back taking the lead 33-32 at the half. Acadia opened the second half with a 9-0 streak to pull ahead 42-32 but this time, the X-men fought back, tying the game at 48 with 9 minutes to go. The teams kept it close for the remainder of the contest, with neither gaining more than a two-point lead. With 48 seconds to go, Gary Toule put Acadia up by two 68-66. The X-Men’s Chris Ross countered with a baseline jumper with 15 seconds to go put the game in overtime. In the extra period, Kyle Gayle hit the front end of a one-and-one with 15 seconds to go to put the X-men up by a point. Acadia raced downcourt for the last shot but an errant jumper gave the upset victory to their AUAA rivals. Brent Baker, named the East Regional MVP, led the X-men with 24 points, while Gayle added 17. “Brent Baker did a great job defensively,” St. F.X. coach Steve Konchalski told the Xavierian. Acadia was led by Chris Sumner’s 23 points. The Axemen (coached by Dave Nutbrown, assisted by Bruce Hunt) also included Peter Morris, Gary Towle, Eugene Gibson, Colin Charles, Chris Sumner, Skeeter Mower, Dwayne Provo, Kevin Veinot, Dave Benson, Grant McDonald, Mike Carson, Greg MacDonald, Rod Martin and Mike Carson. The East region all-tourney team featured MVP Brent Baker (St. FX), Kyle Gayle (St. FX), Chris Sumner (UPEI), Gary Towle (Acadia) and Bernie Rosanelli (McGill).
In the West regional, the defending champion Victoria Vikings defeated the University of Western Ontario Mustangs 76-67 as their defence shutdown Western’s up-tempo run and run offence. The Vikings slowed the pace and pounded the ball inside and then coasted to victory. Phil Ohl paced the Vikings with 21. Cord Clemens added 17, along with 12 boards, Dave Sheehan 15, Graham Taylor 7, Lloyd Scrubb 6, Wade Loukes 4, Vito Pasquale 4, Randy Steele 2 and Shawn Kalinovich 2, while Rob Kreke, Jerry Divocky and Jamie Newman were scoreless. Chris Cavender led the Mustangs with 15. Greg Moore added 11, Peter Vandebovenkamp 10, Jamie Ziegel 7, Pod Armstrong 6, Mario Tarantino 6, Chris Simpson 4, Kevin Armstrong 4, Terry Thomson 2 and Gareth Whiteside 2, while John Mikhail and Dante Gatti were scoreless. The Mustangs (coached by Bill Horley, assisted by Bill Pangos) also included Mike Fedak. …………………………………………………… In the other opening round game, York thrashed Alberta 84-73, holding the Golden Bears scoreless for the game’s first five minutes, while scoring 9, and keeping the Golden Bears out of sync for the remainder of the contest. Tim Rider led York with 21. Ron Hepburn added 18, Mark Jones 13, Stuart levinsky 9, John Christensen 9, Jeff McDermid 8 and Wayne Shaw 4, while Bill Manos, Pete Luik, Mike Sherwood, Doug Kerr and Louis Karkabasis were scoreless. Mike Kornak paced the Golden Bears with 17. Mike Suderman added 15, Dean Peters 14, Mark Baker 10, Gerry Couzens 9, Dick Price 2, Scott McIntyre 2, Tom Demeo 2 and Gord Klootwyk 2, while Tim Becker and Glen Tinevez wee scoreless. The Golden Bears (coached by Don Horwood, assisted by Steve Roth) also included Chris Toutant. York opened with an 8-0 run, while shutting down Kornak in the paint. The Bears repeatedly tossed the ball away and rarely boxed out as York built a 40-32 lead at the half. York led by at least 13 throughout the second half. “We felt the pressure and our shooting percentage (.420) showed it,” said Suderman. Alberta coach Don Horwood said “we haven’t been this far before. It needs to be an annual event for us, so maybe this is the first step.”
In the West regional final, Victoria clipped York 75-62 to end the Yeomen’s 19-game winning streak. The Vikings tough defence proved the differing as they held the Yeoman to 36% from the field, some 17 percentage points below their season average. West region MVP Phil Ohl led Victoria with 18 points and 8 boards. Lloyd Scrubb added 15, Cord Clemens 12, along with 12 rebounds; Dave Sheehan 11 points, while nabbing 14 boards, Dave Sheehan 11, Vito Pasquale 9, Graham Taylor 8 and Jamie Morrison 2, while Randy Steele, Rob Kreke, Shawn Kalinovich, Jerry Divocky and Wake Loukes were scoreless. John Christensen paced the Yeoman with 17, along with 18 boards. Tim Rider added 16, Mark Jones 12, Ron Hepburn 8, Jeff McDermid 6 and Wayne Shaw 2, while Bill Manos, Peter Luik, Mike Sherwood, Doug Kerr, Louis Karkabasis and Stuart Levinsky were scoreless. Ohl and Sheehan masterfully controlled the temp, while Clemens dominated the boards. The Vikings led 34-25 at the half. The Yeomen (coached by Bob Bain, assisted by Mike Quigley and Aubie Herscovitch) also included Jim Flack. The West regional all tourney team featured MVP Phil Ohl (Victoria), Cord Clemens (Victoria), Mike Suderman (Alberta), Tim Rider (York) and Dave Sheehan (Victoria).
In the Midwest regional semi, Manitoba, featuring a rookie head coach and comprised almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores, defeated Calgary 57-51. The Bisons were led by 6-4 forward Tony Kaufman, who scored 15 points in the first half and finished with 21. Manitoba went ahead by 15 in the second quarter and led 34-21 at the half. Calgary came out pressing and with aggressive rebounding in the second half, chipped away at the lead and cut it to 52-51 with two minutes to go. Point guard Tony House rebounded a Calgary miss and was fouled. The book on House was to foul him as he shot .490 from the line on the season. Calgary coach Gary Howard noted that just goes to show you to never believe the book. House sank both free throws and then two more seconds later. Manitoba coach Rick Suffield later said that “what the book on House didn’t show is that he’s the kind of player who responds brilliantly under pressure. Or that his father had flown in from Ottawa to watch him. He could hardly miss.” House finished with 10 points. Kurt Kelly scored 12 for Calgary and John Vigna 11. The Dinosaurs (coached by Gary Howard, assisted by Bill Mitchell) also included John Rhodin, Bill Nash, Pat Harris, David Richards, Donovan Lawrence, Matt Pekar, Dave Clutchey, Chris Overwater, Jeff Cahoon and Rick Pease. …………………………………………………… In the other Midwest regional semi, UPEI defeated Winnipeg 66-61. Winnipeg was ahead 32-26 at the half but the Panthers rallied using their superior size and athletic leaping ability. Aion Pettigrew scored 16 for UPEI. Mike Morgan added 12, Tyrone Norman 10, Delroy Adams 10, Tejan Alleyne 8, Trevor Willock 6 and Dan Stoberman 4. Randy Pate led Winnipeg with 11, while Blaine Acton, Maurice Seales and Gord Tucker each scored 10. The Wesmen (coached by Bruce Enns, assisted by Devon Daley and Jameel Aziz) also included Perrie Scarlett, Willy Parker, Mark Johannson, Art Koop, Burke Toews, David Filmon, Murray Gehman, Dean Goodbrandson, Godfrey Brown and Merv Voth.
In the Midwest regional final, Manitoba defeated UPEI 75-63. The game was tied at 34 at the half and at 45 at the three-quarter mark. But Manitoba pulled ahead in the final five minutes of play. Quicker and more aggressive Panthers and forced a series of turnovers and dominated the boards. But they shot poorly. Midwest tournament MVP Tony Kaufman scored 25 for the Bisons. 6-6 centre Joe Ogoms added 21. Bisons coach Rick Suffield said “they earned it. They played very tough. Joe was big inside and Tony House ran the whole thing both ways.” House said he came by his motivation honestly. “Well, you see, I really like lobster.” Tyrone Norman led the Panthers with 21. Mike Morgan added 13, along with 12 boards, Tejan Alleyne 9, Trevor Willock 6, Aion Pettigrew 6, Glen Grant 4, Delroy Adams 2 and Dan Stoberman 2. The Panthers (coached by George Morrison) also included Mark Thomas, Mark Roberts, Alonzo Wright, Mark McKellar and Curtis Brown. The Midwest regional all-tournament team featured MVP Tony Kaufman (Manitoba), John Rhodin (Calgary), Mike Morgan (UPEI), Tyrone Norman (UPEI) and Blaine Acton (Winnipeg).
In the Mideast regional semis, Waterloo defeated Toronto 94-80 as Peter Savich scored 29. Paul Boyce added 17, along with 12 boards, Rob Froese 16, Randy Norris 10, Harry Van Drunen 8, Dave Moser 4 and Tom Schenider 4. Waterloo coach Don McCrae told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “I think it’s safe to say that’s as good a first half offensively as we’ve had since early in the season. We decide to pick up the tempo tonight because we’ve been playing too carefully in recent games. We decided we’d come out tonight and go right at them … I don’t think there’s any doubt in anyone’s mind that Peter (Savich) and Paul (Boyce) were the game’s dominant figures.” Ranald Davidson paced the Blues with 17. Fred Murrell added 16, Mike Forestell 16 and Roger Rollocks 15. Waterloo led 26-17 after one quarter and by 20 at the half. Blues coach Brian Heaney said “we knew they could play but we weren’t ready for their quickness. Heaney told the Varsity “we tried to cut the lead by 10 and take it from there, but there were times we couldn’t control their fast break, and they caught us in the transition.” The Blues drew no closer than 82-66 with 5 minutes to play but Waterloo guard Peter Savich promptly responded with a steal and a runout slam. The Blues (coached by Brian Heaney, assisted by Bernie Offstein, Gene Chatteron, Jack Eisenmann and John Robb) included Jonathan Roy, Sam Hill, Terry Victor, Jim MacLellan, Al Saplys, Graham Reside, Tim Healey, Chris DeSouza, Jim Desmarchais, Mario Tenentes and Mike Powers. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, McMaster edged Lethbridge 79-78 as Tony Valaitis scored 22. The Pronghorns took a 42-35 lead at the half on the marksmanship of Murray Hanna and Ken McMurray. But the Marauders took control at the start of the second half, rallying to a 47-46 lead in the first four minutes. Dave Ross paced Lethbridge with 17. Bob Arnett added 14, Ken McMurray 13 and Jerome Ell 10. The Pronghorns (coached by Ken Olynyk, assisted by Tom Elwood) also included Don Webb, Brent Maxwell, Dave Racz, Shawn Gilborn, Chad Bowie, Curtis French, Dave Westwood and Mike Hogg. “We didn’t execute, we missed some key shots and made about three mental errors that took us out of the game,” Pronghorns coach Ken Olynyk said. “We started to come back but by then it was too late.” McMaster coach Barry Phillips said “we gave them a little bit of a half court zone press and it looked like it rattled them a little bit just before the half.” Lethbridge held a 58-54 lead with about 11 minutes left, but McMaster went on an 8-1 scoring outburst to lead 62-59 with 7:20 remaining. Hanna fouled out six minutes to play and McMaster extended its lead to 71-63 before hanging on for the win.
In the Mideast regional final, Rob Froese hit a 15-foot jumper to give Waterloo a 75-73 win over McMaster. Froese, hampered by a strained right toe for weeks, received an inbounds pass from Tom Schneider, dribbled into the front and nailed the jumper. “I had a clock in my head and I knew there wasn’t time to pass,” said Froese, a 6-0 sophomore who scored 12. McMaster coach Barry Phillips said Froese traveled on the play. “I saw so much traveling in that game and (in the regional semis) that I’m not sure what they think traveling is.” Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we don’t have any play designed to get one particular player loose for a shot. We merely look for areas where somebody should get a chance for a high-percentage shot.” Phillips said his troops “showed a lot of heart and character” in making a second half comeback. Waterloo had taken a 51-38 lead at the half before going cold midway through the second half. Paul Boyce hit a free throw to give Waterloo the lead but McMaster evened the score at 59 on Perry Bruzzese’ shot from 15 feet. The teams traded baskets and then the Warriors took a 69-61 lead with 4:27 to play, only to have McMaster knot the score at 71 when Ralph Rosenkranz hit a pair of free throws with 46 seconds left. Tom Schneider countered with a pair from the line to give Waterloo the lead with 27 seconds to go. But Peter Ross tied it with a hook shot with 14 seconds left, setting the stage for Froese’ game winner. Norris led the Waterloo attack with 21, including 17 in the first half. Peter Savich added 20, Froese 12, Paul Boyce 11, Dave Moser 5 and Harry Van Drunen 4. Waterloo hit 19-29 from the line and outrebounded McMaster 45-38. Tony Valaitis paced McMaster with 18. Tony Sterling added 16, Peter Ross 10 and Jim Hoyle 10. Froese was chosen player of the game for the Warriors, while Bruzzese earned the laurels for the Marauders. Waterloo coach Don McCrae told the Hamilton Spectator that “we came out (in the second half and went up and down the floor five times very casual. We did some foolish things and you could see them say ‘wait a minute. We can come back’. All of a sudden, they were back in the game and it was inch by inch.” At one point, Marauder Perry Bruzzese was whistle for elbowing Randy Norris in the groin. Bruzzese said “when I was fastbreaking, he wouldn’t let me by. He was holding me. That’s how it started. Then it developed into retalization, which is foolish.” McCrae said Bruzzese “flat out outplayed (us). He knows no fear. He really hurt us.” Tony Valaitis paced the Marauders with 18. Tony Sterling added 16, Jim Hoyle 10, Peter Ross 10, Ralf Rosenkranz 8, along with 16 boards, Perry Bruzzese 7 and Ed Zubas 4. The Marauders (coached by Phillips, assisted by Harvey Singleton and Joe Raso) also included Jamie McNeill, Phil Gardham, Mark Traynor, Scott Thornton, Peter Drake, Chris Duggan and Ray Bergstra. McMaster hit 29-81 from the floor and 15-20 from the line. Phillip said “they beat us four times and they deserve to go on. … The kids took it really hard. … We played too much zone in the first half. We came back in the second half with straight up man-toman, what we’ve been playing (all year) … We got behind and that happens. I’m not disappointed in our kids. They plugged into it, got clutch basketbs. We just kept coming back.” …………………………………………………… The all-regional team featured MVP Paul Boyce (Waterloo); Peter Savich (Waterloo); Randy Norris (Waterloo); Tony Valaitis (McMaster); Tony Sterling (McMaster); and Murray Hanna (Lethbridge).
In the national semi-finals, Victoria trailed by 18 at the half and were down as much as 20 early in the second half but prevailed 79-70 over Manitoba in overtime. Vikings coach Ken Shields opened the second half with his team in a full-court press and Cord Clemens slowly began taking the game over. Clemens woke up in the second half, scored 22 of his 27 points, while nabbing 11 boards, as the Vikings rallied to within five with nine minutes to play and within one with 3:16 to play. A Clemens bucket with 2:14 to go put Victoria ahead for the first time. Phil Ohl subsequently missed the front end of a one and one and the Bisons tied the at 64 forcing overtime on a layup by Joe Ogoms. Overtime belong to the Vikings, as they outscored the Bisons 15-6 in the extra period. “We went in at halftime, the coach left the room and we decided on our own we were going to dig in deep, get some guts and show everybody what we’re made of,” said Clemens. “We were playing as bad as I’ve ever seen us play. We knew we were better than them. We knew 18 points was not insurmountable.” Phil Ohl added 16 for the Vikings, Graham Taylor 15, Jamie Newman 8, Lloyd Scrubb 7, Dave Sheehan 5 and Randy Steel 1, while Vito Pasquale, Shawn Kalinovich, Wade Loukes, Jerry Divocky and Rob Kreke were scoreless. Manitoba, which had gone 2-14 in GPAC play a year earlier, was coached by Rick Suffield in his first year at the Bison helm, was led by Jo Ogoms with 23 before fouling out with two minutes to play in overtime. Tony Kaufmann added 18, Terry Garrow 14, J Himanen 7, B Light 4 and Tony House 4, while L Verstrate, S Martin, K Laycock, M Ross and B Gray were scoreless. Shields later noted that “at halftime in that game with Manitoba there was a kind of euphoria in the building because people thought we were finally going to lose. As I left the court, I could hear all the catcalls and everyone kind of laughing and saying, ‘you’re history and finally it’s over’.” But team “determination” pulled out the victory, Shields said. “Things were looking very bad. No phases of our game were in shape. We regrouped and came out with a new approach. The difference was night and day.”
In the other semi, Waterloo defeated St. FX 87-79. The Warriors started slowly but finished strong against St. FX. The X-Men were up 43-42 at the half. Randy Norris fouled out with 18 points and 21 rebounds and fouled out with 3:45 to play and Waterloo leading 75-73. Brent Baker hit a bucket to tie the game at 77 but jumpers by Savich and Paul Boyce plus six free throws gave Waterloo the victory. Player of the game Peter Savich led Waterloo with 24. Rob Froese added 19, Paul Boyce 18, Randy Norris 18, along with 21 boards, Schneider 6 and Harry Van Drunen 2. Savich told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “when Randy went out (fouling out with four minutes to play), I think it just made the rest of us work harder and wasn’t that just a great effort by Boycer (Paul Boyce) in those last couple of minutes. He tore down about four clutch rebounds and sank those two free throws (with 21 seconds to play) which gave us some breathing room.” Warriors coach Don McCrae made an early adjustment after St. FX had leapt out 9-0 and 13-5 lead, switching the Warriors to a zone. “We went to the zone before we really wanted to,” McCrae told Canadian Press. “But we did it almost in desperation and it probably was the key for us. We really dug a hole for ourselves but I guess I was the only one afraid. The players were okay.” McCrae told the Record that “I was delighted to get out of the first half only down one (43-42) because we made some awfully bad plays against a team that was on a roll and pumped up by the crowd. Offensively, in the second half, we were okay but what a job Robbie (Froese) and Tom (Schneider) did defensively in shutting down most of their outside stuff from the top of the key.” St. FX led 43-42 at the half. Chris Sellitri paced the X-Men with 23, while nabbing 14 boards. Brent Baker added 16 and Chris Ross 14. X-Men coach Steve Konchalski said “I don’t care what our record was before tonight, my kids come to play and we did just that. … I think the outside shooting of Boyce was the biggest surprise because that boy just had an excellent game.”
In the bronze medal match, Manitoba defeated St. FX 77-69 as player of the game Joe Ogoms scored 20 and nabbed 17 boards. Tony Kaufman added 21 and Terry Garrow 16. Manitoba led 36-30 at the half. Chris Sellitri led the X-Men with 17. Ken Scott added 15 and Kyle Gayle 14. St. FX led 24-16 in the first half but the Bisons rallied to a 28-26 with three minutes to play in the first half. The X-Men (coached by Steve Konchalski) also included Brent Baker, Chris Ross, Andy Ledoux, Roger Jolicoeur, Monty Gallant, Tom Chadwick, Bruce MacKenzie and Rich Foshay.
In the final, Victoria won its sixth straight title before a crowd of 6,521 fans at Halifax’ Metro Centre by raking Waterloo 93-79. Entering the tourney, fourth-ranked in the nation, having lost Greg Wiltjer and Eli Pasquale from a year ago, they featured only one senior in guard Phil Ohl. The Vikings were led by 7-1 c Cord Clemens, whose teammates nicknamed him Gumby earlier in the year for dogging it. Player of the game Clemens scored 32, nabbed eight rebounds and outplayed 7-0 Warriors pivot Randy Norris. Vic took the early lead 34-24, and led 46-35 at the half on a sterling effort by Clemens. He scored 20 of his 32 points in the first half, including 10-11 from the line. Although Victoria took an early lead, national player of the year Peter Savich rallied Waterloo early in the first half, scoring three straight buckets to give the Warriors their only lead of the contest 10 minutes into the game. But the Vikings came out strong in the second half and soon had a 15-point lead. The Warriors rallied to within 82-75 with 1:43 to go. But the Vikings hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. Lloyd Scrubb added 14 for the Vikes, tournament MVP Phil Ohl 13, Graham Taylor 10, Dave Sheehan 10, Jamie Newman 10 and Vito Pasquale 4, while Randy Steele, Rob Kreke, Shaun Kalinovich, Wade Loukes and Jerry Divocky were scoreless. Clemens told Canadian Press that he was extremely miffed at not having been chosen as the All-Canadian centre during the previous night’s national awards ceremony. “I had something to prove. I remember sitting in my bed saying, ‘well, that’s fine. If they want to give out All-Canadians, I’ll show them’. The next day I’ll show them.” Savich finished with 32 for Waterloo, while second-team All-Canadian centre Randy Norris was held to 22, most of them achieved while Clemens was on the bench. But beyond that the Warriors could generate little offence. R Froese added 10, P Boyce 8, T Schneider 3, H Vandrunen 2 and D Moser 2, while J Nolfi, C Bada, B Alvareth, M Naus and S Rand were scoreless. Shields said “each championship is special within itself. Our team had a different chemistry this year because we were so young. It really wouldn’t be us if we weren’t erratic. We could have put them away several times, but they kept coming at us. (Peter) Savich single-handedly kept them in the game. … We were inconsistent all year. We had a lot of new people in our program who didn’t have the Viking work ethic that we have. Often, they figure just because they put on a Victoria uniform, automatically things look after themselves. Well that doesn’t happen.” With only two regular starters returning from the previous year, Sheehan and Ohl, Victoria had not expected to be seriously in the title hunt. But Cord Clemens replaced All-Canadian Wiltjer at centre and former U.B.C. starter Lloyd Scrubb had transferred in, while Vito Pasquale was returning to the team after a one-year absence. And then there was Shields, who’d taken the Victoria head coaching position in in 1976 after six years at Laurentian where he had a 93-70 record and was named national coach of the year. Shields told The Xavierian that the Vikes “had ups and downs over the season and even wondered if we would make the playoffs.” Waterloo coach Don McCrae told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “for a while our only offence was free throws and we weren’t playing very good at either end of the floor. We did some stupid things in regard to turnovers and it was very frustrating to come out of the first half down 11. I was proud of the boys in the middle of the second half because we worked hard to get back in the game but Vic showed their ability when they got some timely scoreing from a variety of people (Scrubb, Ohl and Taylor) and they made their foul shots. The Vikings hit 21-26 from the line while committing 11 turnovers and nabbing 28 boards. Waterloo hit 15-18 from the line, while nabbing 33 boards and committing 17 turnovers.
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Phil Ohl (Victoria); Chris Sellitri (St. Francis Xavier); Joe Ogoms (Manitoba); Peter Savich (Waterloo); Cord Clemens (Victoria); Dave Sheehan (Victoria)
The bronze medalist Manitoba Bisons: Terry Garrow; Lorne Verstraete; Trevor Hoilett; Brian Light; Joe Ogoms; Tony House; Scott Martin; Rob Laycock; Mark Snidal; Brian Gray; John Himanen; Tony Kaufman; Mike Ross; coach Rick Suffield; assistant Laurie May; trainer Gord Mackie; athletic director Joyce Fromson; SID Terry Gavan
The silver medalist Waterloo Warriors: Peter Savich; Randy Norris; Rob Froese; Paul Boyce; Harry Van Drunen; Tom Schneider; Scott Rand; Jerry Nolfi; Craig Beda; Dave Moser; Bernie Alvarez; Marcel Naus; Tony Schneider; coach Don McCrae; trainer Manny Rocha; assistant trainer Ron Thorne; manager Tom Valcke; athletic director Carl Totzke, SID Paul Condon
The champion University of Victoria Vikings: Cord Clemens; Phil Ohl; Dave Sheehan; Graham Taylor; Lloyd Scrubb; Jamie Newman; Randy Steel; Wade Loukes; Shawn Kalinovich; Vito Pasquale; Jerry Divoky; Bob Kreke; Ryan Burles; Ellis Whelan; coach Ken Shields; assistant Quinn Groenheyde; assistant Tom Narbeshuber; trainer Steve Parker; manager Al Duddridge; athletic director Ken Shields; SID Barry Read