| (1) | McMaster | 80 | ||||||
| (8) | Laurentian | 78 | McMaster | 75 | ||||
| (4) | Cape Breton | 78 | Winnipeg | 66 | McMaster | 66 | ||
| (5) | Winnipeg | 89 | ||||||
| (2) | Alberta | 89 | —–ALBERTA | |||||
| (7) | St. Mary’s | 85 | Alberta | 79 | Alberta | 73 | ||
| (3) | Concordia | 72 | Brandon | 75 | ||||
| (6) | Brandon | 88 |
The wildcard selections were Brandon and St. Mary’s, even though UPEI had hammered St. Mary’s 89-67 in the AUAA semi-finals. Equally controversial was the awarding of the top seed to McMaster. The national rankings had Concordia on top of the roost but those were held to be inadequate justification. The Stingers were the only undefeated team in the country. “I don’t know what happened. You would think you have six intelligent people across the country looking at this thing logically,” said head coach John Dore. “To me this is kind of mind-boggling. I just don’t understand the rationale.” Quebec’s delegate to the CIAU’s six-man ranking and tournament seeding committee agreed. “We’re bankrupt of intelligence,” Keith Coffin told the Montreal Gazette. “I hope they (the CIAU) fire all of us.” Coffin said that in the end the majority of committee members decided that while the weekly top-10 ranking was based on conference play, it didn’t reflect the level of play in the conference. “The logic was that Concordia played in the weakest conference in the country. I did my best to counter what was happening – after all, we were the ones who made Concordia No. 1 and we should not have taken that away at the last instant.” Members of the committee include Halifax Herald reporter Steve Bezanson (Atlantic) Bernie Offstein (Ontario East) Peter Barnsley (Ontario West) Shaun Coates (Great Plains) and Jim Leith (West). Also annoyed were the UPEI Panthers. “To beat somebody by 22 points in a playoff game, when you’re supposed to be playing your best, and then have that team selected ahead of you is crazy,” said Barb Mullaly, director of athletics, who was preparing a letter of protest to the CIAU.
In the quarterfinals, 5th-seeded Winnipeg, led by 7-0 centre Norm Froemel, who dominated the boards and scored 24, easily handled 4th-seeded, smaller but quicker Cape Breton 89-78. “It’s not one man who makes the show. Obviously, we moved the ball really well and, when we didn’t get inside, the perimeter knocked down some key shots,” said the Winnipeg-born Froemel. Cape Breton was making its inaugural appearance in the tourney, which was held at the Halifax Metro Centre. Beaver mascot danced to fiddle and a piper blew reels. It did little to distract the Wesmen. “We love that,” said coach Bill Wedlake. “In our conference, it’s the same thing. We just won the final in Brandon and I’ll tell you, Brandon is a lot unfriendlier than here.” Capers coach Tim McGarrigle thought his troops “hung pretty tough. I thought that Troy’s (Jones) third foul in the first half hurt us because he can score inside against those guys. With him sitting on the bench, it took a lot away from us.” Capers forward Pat Lahey said Cape Breton did a good job of containing Froemel and Jeff Foreman “But their other players really hurt us with the outside shooting. We gave everything we had and we’re proud of the effort we gave and they were just a better team tonight.” Froemel said “everyone had to pick up their games and I think we did and that’s why we won.” Rob Derksen added 19 and Foreman 19. John Ryan paced Cape Breton with 23 points and 7 assists. Troy Jones scored 19 and nabbed 10 boards.
Top seeded McMaster faced a Wilson Cup rematch against 8th-seeded Laurentian in its opener. The Marauders had slaughtered Laurentian 107-74 in OUAA final a few weeks earlier but only prevailed 80-78 in their quarterfinal. The Marauders looked awful through most of the game and only a layup by freshman Titus Channer with 2:20 to go, capped a 10-point rally and gave McMaster its first lead in the second half. “If we don’t use this game as a learning experience, tomorrow could be our last game,” said all-Canadian centre Jack VanderPol, who nabbed 17 boards but had only seven points. “Every time I touched the ball, there were three or four guys around me. If their game plan was to stop me, they did a good job. But they still lost the game.” Joe Raso, who was in his second year as McMaster coach, told the Hamilton Spectator that “we ran into a Laurentian team that controlled the game on us. The saving grace for us was that it was done by a couple of freshmen.” Titus Channer and Keegan Johnson scored 12 of the Marauders’ last 18 points. VanderPol said “you’ve got to hand it to Titus and those guys for hitting those shots at the end. … If there was a plan to stop me, they did it but they still lost.” Johnson said “I think Titus and I in the close games, coming to the end, that’s when we love to play the most.” Laurentian looked tight early and indecisive. The Voyageurs trailed 30-18 with four minutes to play in the first half. But they caught fire and cut the margin to 35-34 at the intermission. Asked how he managed to make his players forget the Wilson Cup loss, Laurentian coach Peter Campbell said, “It didn’t try to convince them it was an aberration. I just tried to convince them that if they played like that this week, it would be another 33-point loss.” Laurentian appeared to have command of the game in the second half but went for four minutes without a field goal midway through the half to allow the Marauders back in the game. Titus Channer led McMaster with 22 points. Shawn Francis added 14. Shawn Swords led Laurentian with 28 points Chris Fisher added 22.
The 6th-seeded wildcard Brandon Bobcats stunned the heavily favored, 3rd-seeded Concordia Stingers 88-72. Brandon trailed 17-2 after three minutes of play but came roaring back. The Bobcats completely broke open the affair when, after trailing 38-34 at the half, they exploded with a 30-4 run to take a 62-42 lead. Second-team all-Canadian Keith Vassell overcame early foul trouble and scored 15 of his 22 points during the run. Centre Euan Roberts added 18 points and grabbed 15 boards, including 10 on the defence glass. “This wasn’t the first time we’ve been in a bad situation early in a game and had to fight back,” said Roberts. “But there was a sense of panic. We started wondering when we’d get a shot to fall for us.” Despite the runs, both teams shot poorly. Brandon hit .360 from the field and was 29-45 from the line. Concordia shot .320 from the floor and 18-31 from the line. Brandon out-rebounded Concordia 50-45. The Stingers were devastated. “I don’t know what to say; I’m speechless,” point guard Robert Ferguson told the Montreal Gazette. “It’s fine for us to talk about getting back into it after we got down in the second half. But in the end, Brandon wanted it more than we did. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We knew Brandon was athletic and tenacious, especially on the boards. We came out flat in the second. Our shots weren’t falling and we weren’t getting any second or third opportunities. We didn’t control the boards and that was the difference.” Centre Frederic Arsenault, who aggravated an ankle injury during the game, stared blankly at reporters. “The ankle doesn’t hurt as much as losing this game,” said the 6-9 centre from Mascouche. “Losing hurts way more. …Three times in that first half I got called for traveling and each time they came back to score. I also made a couple of bad passes. I did a lot of things wrong out there. I have to take the blame.” Forward Emerson Thomas said “the machine broke down. In many ways, this game reflects our season. We got by not playing for 40 minutes against teams like McGill and Bishop’s. But it’s a different story here. You just can’t do that here.” Ferguson led Concordia with 16 points. Thomas added 14, as did rookie Maxime Bouchard.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Alberta Golden Bears collected an 89-85 overtime victory over 7th-seeded wildcard St. Mary’s as guard Greg Devries from Nelson B.C., scored 35, including 8-9 from the arc and a four-point play with 1:18 to go in overtime. The score was knotted at 79 when Devries hit a three pointer and was fouled. He hit the free throw to put the Golden Bears ahead by four and they ran the clock out after that. Devries had scored the tying bucket in regular time to knot the score at 72 with four seconds to go in the contest. Bill Seaward had put the Huskies ahead by two with 10 seconds to go. Horwood in his 11th year at Alberta helm, was named national coach of year. “I haven’t been shooting well all week, basically. They left me open. I felt good and got the green light from coach. He’s a nice enough guy to do that, so I’ll take it,” said Devries. “We’re such a balanced team. At the awards banquet, none of our team even got honorable mention to All-Canadian.” Murray Cunningham added 13 for Alberta, while Scott Martell tossed in 12. Will Njoku scored 25 and nabbed 15 boards to lead St. Mary’s. Richard Sullivan also notched 25. “We put it all on the line,” said Sullivan. “it was a great game. We were in it as much as they were and it was just a couple of breaks that went their way.” Devries scored 21 in the first half as Alberta built a 45-42 lead. “They left me open and I have the green light, so I have to take that stuff,” said Devries. Murray Cunningham held All-Canadian post Will Njoku scoreless for the first nine minutes. The Bears extended their lead to 52-44 to start the second half but St. Mary’s rallied with aggressive offensive boardwork. They took a 68-67 lead with 2:12 to play. Njoku added a bucket to extend the lead to three. Devries answered with a trey with 30 seconds to play and then a short jumper with four seconds to play to force overtime. “I was relieved that we got to overtime,” said Bears guard Greg Badger. “We were fortunate to get back into the game but I knew we’d win if we got five more minutes.” Devries hit a four-point play, a trey and a free throw as Alberta pulled off the win in overtime. “If there was ever a time I could live with a loss, this would be the one,” said St. Mary’s coach Ross Quackenbush.
In the semis, McMaster defeated Winnipeg 75-66. The Marauders came out firing, survived a cold snap and finished strongly to win it. The Marauders held the Wesmen to 13 points over the first 13 minutes and led 37-21 with five minutes to play in the first half but an 11-0 Winnipeg run allowed the Wesmen to pull within eight at the intermission. Winnipeg cut the lead to three early in the second half but couldn’t get any closer. “I’m going to enjoy this one,” said McMaster coach Joe Raso. “We try to wear teams down. We have gift athletes and we have a lot of them. Everybody contributes, be it a minute or 35 minutes.” The Marauders held 7-0 Wesmen centre Norm Froemel to 13 points and contained CIAU player of the year Jeff Foreman to 22. Froemel added 19 boards, while Foreman was 14-16 from the line and nabbed 12 boards. All-Canadian Jack VanderPol did a sterling job defensively on Froemel. “Unfortunately, McMaster played better than us and we came up on the short end of the stick,” said Foreman. McMaster forward Tom Newton, who scored 14, said “we knew we had to shut down their inside game because they’re a lot bigger than Laurentian and I think we did that.” VanderPol grabbed 14 rebounds but missed a series of bunnies in the paint and only scored 11. “Jack wasn’t happy with the way he played (against Laurentian) and I still don’t think he played well offensively today,” said Raso. But Jack has done a great job rebounding. He was great on the boards.” Marc Sontrop, who scored 14, noted that “we were told to double down on their big men because they did have a big size advantage. Even when we doubled down we had to worry about their guards because they were good shooters.” Sontrop added that Newton stepped up. “He sat out last year and it’s great to have him back. He really played a hell of game tonight.” Winnipeg point guard David Zagordo noted that “their guards put a lot of pressure on us. It kind of speeds up our offence. We rushed a lot of shots and we weren’t getting the ball inside, which is our game.” Titus Channer, Shawn Francis and Jack VanderPol each scored 11 for the Marauders.
In the other semi, Alberta nipped Brandon 79-75 as guard Greg Devries converted a four-point play with just over a minute to play. With the Golden Bears leading 66-64 with 1:32 on the clock, the 20-year-old form Nelson, B.C. was fouled as he hit his fourth trey of the match. He converted the free throw to give Alberta a six-point lead. Brandon cut it to two but the Bears hung on for the win as Greg Badger hit four free throws in the final minute. “This is what I’ve worked for, for four damn years,” said guard Greg Badger, who like Devries scored 15. The Golden Bears hit 12-18 from the arc. “We’ve got about six or seven guys who can knock down the big threes and that’s the important thing,” Devries added. “Who do you cover? If you cover me, then the other guys are wide open.” Clayton Pottinger led Alberta with 17 points and 10 boards, while Keith Vassell paced Brandon with 18. Shawn Gray added 17. Badger canned added a trey from 28 feet with the shot clock expiring and 18 seconds left on the clock. He hit nothing but het. “When I was a little pup, they would take me to the gym and I would shoot from three-point range and from halfcourt. I’ve been doing it so long, it comes naturally to me.” Brandon coach James Hillis said “they played very disciplined basketball and that’s why they won.” Bears forward Clayton Pottinger said “last night, De Vries carried the team. Tonight, everyone was playing real well and I think that was the key. … I’m going to have nightmares about that (De Vries four-point) play.” Keith Vassell said “Badger hitting those threes was so unexpected and the last one broke us.”
In the consolation final, Cape Breton down Concordia 95-87 despite 27 points from rookie Maxime Bouchard.
In the final, the Golden Bears scorched the Marauders 73-66 with their inside game, neutralizing 6-8 All-Canadian centre Jack VanderPol. The Bears held him to two points in first half, while Scott Martell and Murray Cunningham dominated the boards, grabbing 18 rebounds between them. Alberta led by 17 with 3:21 to play in the first half and by 41-29 at the break. But the Bears went stone cold in second. McMaster clawed their way back to within 43-39 on a 10-2 run. The Marauders trailed 62-61 with 4:40 to play after a brilliant baseline drive by forward Paul Maga. But each time McMaster neared, the Bears refused to fold, coming up with a big three pointer or forcing a turnover. When asked by CBC radio reporter John Hancock, a former Montrealer living in the Halifax area, if he thought “the arse was out of her” when McMaster got within a point in the second half, Alberta coach Don Horwood, a Carbonear, Newfoundland native replied in a thick island accent: “My son, we do that just to tease ‘em. What’s wrong with you? You should know that after three games.” Horwood added that “you can’t measure heart with height. That comes from inside. These guys have just had so much determination all year.” Star guard Greg Devries said the Bears were determined to demonstrate their defensive prowess. “We felt slighted that nobody talked about our defence. In the three years that I’ve been at the U of A, we’ve been the best defensive team in Canada West. And we concentrated a lot on that today to stop their perimeter game and take away as much as we could of their inside stuff. …The way we closed the door every time they got close reflected the chemistry and determination of our team. We’ve been in tons of close games throughout the year and when you keep winning the close ones, that’s when you get a lot of confidence. And winning this in our first appearance is a great feeling. We’re very proud.” Devries, who’d early joked with the press that the team was a bunch of losers, the lamest in the tourney, added that winning was “an unbelievable feeling. We’ve been talking about it all week and all year and now we’ve done it. Now we’re going to take it home proud.” Clayton Pottinger, 6-6- forward called it a “dream season. …I was here a few years ago (1990) and to get back here and win this in my last year, well, it’s the icing on the cake. We did a good job today. We did it on defence.” Guard Greg Badger called the victory “the highlight of my life, both in sports and personally. I’ve won provincial championships in high school but it doesn’t compare to this.” McMaster coach Joe Raso said “we ran into a team that was the most composed team in this tournament. I think the composure and the consistency of that team is what won it for them. We simply did not do what we had to do to stop them. We really hurt ourselves. They’re a good defensive team. We knew that going in. What was surprising was how tough they played us inside even after their big starters were on the bench in foul trouble. We expected them to go inside on us but they really kicked us. The difference today was that Alberta kept playing to win. We played like we were trying not to lose.” Tournament MVP Murray Cunningham finished with 14 and grabbed 13 boards. Scott Karaim added 12 off the bench. Greg Devries scored 10, including 4-6 from the line down the stretch. Pottinger scored 7 and grabbed 8 boards. McMaster was paced by Titus Channer’s 18 points, Vanderpol’s 13 and 7 boards, well below his reb average of 16.7 rpg. The win was also a testimony to Horwood’s effort to build the Alberta program into a model Canadian university organization. Horwood was tireless in working community groups, service clubs and building ties to high school programs while he built the Bears into a juggernaut. “I’m tremendously proud of players,” said Horwood. “They’ve worked so hard and believed in themselves all year. There’s nothing more that I could have asked for them.” Cunningham said “we have the best bench in the league and we proved it tonight.” The Bears opened the second half with a 7-2 run but McMaster rallied behind Jack Vander Pol’s offensive putbacks. Alberta staved off several McMaster rallies. “Sometimes, when you come within one point, you get a team in a situation where they start playing not to lose,” said Marauders coach Joe Raso. “They just kept playing to win. Horwood said “what a tremendous showcase for the championship game. McMaster brought out the best in us today because they played their best.” Bears guard Scott Karaim said “It’s an incredible feeling. I guess this is what you play for. There’s no other reason for playing, other than trying to get to the top. Well, now we’re at the top.” Post Scott Martell said “I always felt like we were going to win. There was never a second that we doubted ourselves because we always seem to find a way to win.” Raso said “we ran into a team that was the most composed team in the tournament. I think the composure and consistency of this team is what won it for them. I was very impressed.”
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Murray Cunningham (Alberta); Greg Devries (Alberta); Jack VanderPol (McMaster); Shawn Francis (McMaster); Troy Jones (Cape Breton); and Keith Vassell (Brandon)
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Wesmen: Norm Froemel; Rob Derksen; Dave Zagordo; Clarence Vigilance; Kevin Chief; B.J. York; Steinar Cramer; Chris Passley; Steve Newton; Murray Davidson; coach Bill Wedlake
The co-bronze medalist Brandon Bobcats: Keith Vassell; coach James Hillis
The silver medalist McMaster Marauders: Titus Channer, Jack VanderPol; Marc Sontrop; Shawn Francis; Keegan Johnson; Tom Newton; Cesare Piccini; Paul Maga; Jamie Girolametto; Andrew Peters; Lance Postma; Andrew Middleton; Jeremy Storry; coach Joe Raso
The champion University of Alberta Golden Bears: Murray Cunningham; Greg Devries; Greg Badger; Scott Martell; Tally Sweiss; Marc Semeniuk; Scott Karaim; Clayton Pottinger; Jay Johnstone; Peter Knechtel; Mikel Schmidt; Jeff Collier; Joel Chalifoux; coach Don Horwood