| (1) | Alberta | 100 | ||||||
| (8) | Ryerson | 83 | Alberta | 79 | ||||
| (4) | Brandon | 76 | Brandon | 74 | Alberta | 69 | ||
| (5) | Bishop’s | 60 | ||||||
| (2) | Western | 62 | —–ST. MARY’S | |||||
| (7) | St. Mary’s | 66 | St. Mary’s | 77 | St. Mary’s | 73 | ||
| (3) | Victoria | 58 | McMaster | 68 | ||||
| (6) | McMaster | 71 |
In the annual wild card debate, McMaster’s selection was the topic of heated debate. “McMaster deserves a gold medal for scheduling but nothing else,” groused Laurentian coach Peter Campbell. “Give them a wild card for scheduling but don’t put them in the tournament.” The Marauders were crushed by Waterloo 80-51 in the OUA semis and many believed the Warriors were a more deserving entry. But Waterloo wasn’t even in the running. In faxing his school’s wild card application to the CIAU, Waterloo coach Tom Kieswetter was somehow provided with the wrong FAX number. The application went through, but not to the CIAU, and the Warriors were never officially involved in the process. “We got faxed (in a manner of speaking),” said Kieswetter. The school dropped the issue after Kieswetter talked to the selection panel and was told the Marauders would have still been selected even if the application had been received. Concordia, Lethbridge and Laurentian were also equally meritorious possibilities as wild cards. The wildcard criteria: final regular season record and standing; playoff performance; games versus other conference champs; games versus other teams in wild card consideration; team results in the last 10 games of conference play; game results non-conference versus CIAU opponents; game results non-conference versus CIAU opponents outside of own conference; final CIAU top 10 ranking; total number of weeks as a top 10 team; position in the top 10 over the last five weeks of the ranking.
In the opening round, Alberta thrashed Ryerson 100-83 as 6-8 forward and Cincinnati native Nick Maglisceau posted 28 points and nabbed 23 rebounds, only four fewer than the entire Rams team, which was making its first ever appearance in the CIAU tourney. The 28 boards tied a 34-year-old record set by Dave Rode with the Acadia Axemen. “Really,” Maglisceau asked. “I didn’t even know about the record. I didn’t even know how many rebounds I had.” Coach Don Horwood said Maglisceau’s selection as an honorable mention all-Canadian had to have been an oversight. “I think Nick would have been a first team all Canadian if people had of known about him before. He knows that and we know that and we understand that. It’s just the way it works. It’s not anybody’s fault. We know how he plays, and obviously we’re looking forward to two more games from the big guy.” Horwood added that it quickly evident Maglisceau would have a big game. “Within the first four or five minutes, I thought we were going to be able to handle them inside fairly easily. Nick’s pretty strong. From the videotape, we did think we could take advantage of them inside. I think Ryerson deserves credit for the way they played. They didn’t quit. They kept pressing us all game long. They kept coming after us. They created some turnovers and opportunities. And as far as I’m concerned …I thought Ryerson showed a lot of class.” Maglisceau said the Bears were confident they could handle the Rams. “Victoria’s a lot bigger than they are so, especially in the post, we had a lot more confidence and we knew we weren’t likely to see many teams as good defensively as Victoria.” Alberta took an 8-0 lead before the game was three minutes old and quickly stretched it to 15-6. But the Rams used their quickness and a full-court press to cut the lead to 29-25 with eight minutes to play but then abandoned their defence and the Bears powered their way to a 51-33 lead at the half and were never threatened after that. “They killed us on the boards and that’s a big part of easy points,” said Rams coach Terry Haggerty. “For the guys who will be back next year, this will be an incredible learning experience for them.” Nick Maglisceau paced Alberta with 28 on 11-22 from the floor, 6-6 from the line, 23 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Stephen Parker added 20 on 7-15 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 5 boards and 4 steals. Brad Berikoff scored 16 on 5-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 3 boards and 4 assists. Pat Crevolin notched 9 on 3-3 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 3 blocks. Ryan Dunkley scored 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 8 boards and 4 assists. Ryan Mulholland added 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 3 assists. Chris Horwood added 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 2 assists. Alex Michalas notched 4 on 2-3 from the floor and 3 boards, while Jason Maher scored 2 on 0-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Ryan Baldry, Max Darrah and Adrian Neale were scoreless. Alberta hit 34-69 (.493) from the floor, 6-16 (.375) from the arc and 26-29 (.897) from the line, while garnering 51 boards, including 24 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 25 assists, 26 turnovers, 6 blocks and 8 steals. Rookie guard Ben Gorham led Ryerson with 19 on 6-15 from the floor. 7-8 from the line, 3 boards, 2 blocks and 3 steals. Brian Smith added 17 on 7-16 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 3 boards, 14 assists and 7 steals. Rob Armstrong scored 16 on 7-12 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 1-1 from the line. Jan-Michael Nation notched 15 on 6-13 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 8 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Sasha Ivankovic 8 on 4-9 from the floor, 8 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Duane Quashie added 8 on 4-8 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 4 assists and 4 steals. Ryerson shot 34-73 (.466) from the floor, 3-15 (.200) from the arc and 12-18 from the line, while garnering 27 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 28 assists, 15 turnovers, 6 blocks and 20 steals. “I think we’ve got all the weapons,” Horwood said. “Now this is a different kind of pressure. You’re playing in a national championship. But I don’t think it can get any tougher here than the series we had with Lethbridge or going into Vic and beating them twice” as the Bears did in the Canada West playoffs.
Brandon defeated Bishop’s 76-60 after taking advantage of 13 first-half Gaiters turnovers to take a nine-point lead at the break. Brandon extended its lead to 20 early in the second half, taking a 38-29 lead about five minutes into the half. It took Bishop’s nearly eight minutes to score a field goal. But the Gaiters began rallying back. They cut the lead to 56-43 midway through the half. A Patrick Lemieux bucket cut the margin to 11 and the frenzied Bishop’s crowd began to go wild. Ryan Thorne’s two free throws cut it to 57-48 and then a Lemieux jumper narrowed the gap to 57-50 with 8:48 to play. But they were unable to get closer as the Bobcats stemmed the bleeding with four points of their own and moved back ahead 61-50. The teams traded baskets. Joel Sherbino hit a three to cut the lead to 65-57 with 2:51 to go. The Gaiters stole the ball but missed a bunny layup and the Bobcats held on down the stretch. Gaiter Patrice Lemieux told the Montreal Gazette that he felt deflated. “Not another game. Just two more minutes against them. That’s all we would have needed.” Lemieux had rallied the Gaiters with 10 quick points, including a pair from beyond the arc which left Bishop’s trailing 65-57 with three minutes to play. Then disaster struck. Lemieux failed to convert on a wide-open layup on a no-look pass from Ryan Thorne, who’d stolen the ball from Brandon. Seconds later, 6-8 centre Rob Burns had an easy layup blocked. Brandon quickly regained a 10-point lead by hitting 7-8 from the line and out-scoring Bishop’s 11-3 in the final two minutes of play. “What happened to Patrice and Rob was indicative of how the momentum went,” said coach Eddie Pomykala. “We could never get it really to go, no matter if it was an easy shot or a jump shot that went in and out. Those were the shots we made here last year and even against Concordia in the conference final last week. But you know, we played a few guys a lot of minutes this year, and that wears down on you after a while. It just seemed that we weren’t in step with Brandon. They were more athletic and I give them a lot of credit for that. But they were also just so well-balanced. They came at us from every side. They played like we wanted to play.” Bishop’s coach Eddie Pomykala said Brandon did an excellent job on Burns. “They gave him a lot of attention. They understood what a good player he is and how important he is and …A lot of times there were three people covering him. But give credit to Brandon. We could not match their athleticism.” Maurice Carter paced Brandon with 17 on 7-19 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. David Paris added 16 on 7-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 11 boards, 4 assists and 5 steals. Richard Lovelace scored 15 on 4-16 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 6-8 from the line and 6 boards. Mark Passley scored 14 on 5-11 from the floor, 4-5 from the line, 11 boards, 12 assists, 2 blocks and 4 steals. Trevor John scored 10 on 5-9 from the floor, 11 boards, 4 blocks and 3 steals. Richard Ashmon added 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 2-6 from the line and 11 boards. Greg Walker, Garfield Parke, Chris Passley, Nigel Escoffery, Len Mauthe and Andrew Schurman were scoreless. Parke nabbed 2 boards. Brandon shot 29-68 (.426) from the floor, 3-11 (.273) from the arc and 15-25 from the line, while garnering 55 boards, including 25 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 21 assists, 22 turnovers, 9 blocks and 14 steals. Patrice Lemieux led Bishop’s with 14 on 6-16 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 7 boards. Joel Sherbino added 13 on 4-14 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 2 boards. Rob Burns 12 scored on 4-11 from the floor, 4-5 from the line, 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 4 steals. Ryan Thorne notched 11 on 2-10 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 6-8 from the line, 6 boards, 6 assists and 4 steals. Matt Hehn added 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 6 boards. Shawn Craik scored 4 on 0-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. Sam Rogers added 2, while Kris Ruiter was scoreless, while nabbing 7 boards and dishing 4 assists. David Suzuki, Remi Aucoin, Darin Newton and Andrew Carter were also scoreless. Bishop’s shot 18-60 (.300) from the floor, 5-21 (.238) from the arc and 19-25 (.760) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 16 assists, 20 turnovers, 4 blocks and 9 steals.
St. Mary’s upset Western 66-62 on the basis of superior play in the paint. The Huskies also withstood a second half surge by the Mustangs. St. Mary’s had led by 18 at 52-34 with 16 minutes to play. But Western cut the margin to 64-62 with 47.8 seconds to go. Cory Janes hit a bucket with 21 seconds to go to secure the win. Micah Bourdeau, who’d once played for St. Mary’s, hit a layup to open the affair. But the Huskies took a 12-8 lead as all-Canadian Nat Graham was forced to the bench with two quick fouls, including one that had Western coach Craig Boydell up in arms. The teams then traded threes and St. Mary’s led 27-22 with 5:47 to play in the half in a slugfest in the paint. Most of the calls went against Western and the Huskies led 39-27 at the break. St. Mary’s extended their lead to 16 early in the second half. But a 7-2 Western run midway through the half cut the margin to 56-48 before the teams traded baskets. St. Mary’s led 62-55 with 4:40 to go, But Western trimmed the margin to 62-59 with 3:40 to go. Three failed attempts to tie from the arc and SMU then opened a five-point advantage. Bourdeau finally hit a three with 47.8 seconds on the block to cut the margin to 64-62. But St. Mary’s hit another bucket to ice it. “We didn’t do some of the things we can do in the first half,” Mustangs coach Craig Boydell told The Halifax Gazette. Guard Micah Bourdeau said “we had a tough first half. We didn’t generate enough offence, didn’t do the job.” Huskies forward Cory Janes said “before the game there was a lot of talk about Micah and what we needed to do to stop him. The fans really concentrated on him, but we knew the kind of player he is and we knew we couldn’t fully stop him. We just wanted to limit his chances and not give him an opportunity to win [Western] the game.” Huskies coach Ross Quackenbush said “basketball is a game of runs and we handled them better in the first half than in the second. In the end our guys stepped up and hit some big shots.” Janes was chosen player of the game for St. Mary’s after scoring 23 on 8-15 from the floor, 7-10 from the line, 15 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Jonah Taussig added 10 on 5-8 from the floor, 0-1 from the line, 6 boards, 7 assists and 5 steals. Patrick Toulouse notched 9 on 4-10 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 10 boards, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Lloyd Thomas scored 9 on 3-11 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 4 boards. Kurt Henry added 8 on 3-11 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 5 steals. Nathan Anderson added 6 on 3-5 from the floor and 2 boards. Ryan McClintock added 2, along with 4 boards, while Cyril smith, Nelson Carvery, Colin Allum, Paul Bromby and Wayne Hines were scoreless. Smith nabbed 2 boards. St. Mary’s shot 27-65 (.415) from the floor, 2-7 (.286) from the arc and 10-15 from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 22 turnovers, 8 blocks and 11 steals. Micah Bourdeau led Western with 16 on 7-14 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 3 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Matt Tweedie added 14 on 5-11 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 8 boards and 2 assists. Nat Graham notched 11 on 5-14 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Chris Brown scored 10 on 5-10 from the floor, 10 boards and 3 blocks. Mark Neilson added 7 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 0-1 from the line and 5 boards. Jim Grozelle notched 4 on 1-10 from the floor, 0-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards, 11 assists and 2 steals. Rich Tamminga, Chedo Ndur, Stephan Barrie, Shaun Lodge, Pete Kratz and Paul Abrams were scoreless. Ndur had 2 steals. Western shot 26-66 (.394) from the floor, 7-24 (.292) from the arc and 3-9 from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 22 assists, 17 turnovers, 3 blocks and 12 steals.
In the last quarterfinal, 6th-seeded McMaster upset 3rd-seed Victoria 71-58. The Marauders hit the first eight points of the game and twice led by double digits before Victoria cut the margin to 31-27 at the half. McMaster started the second half with another 8-0 run, as part of an 18-3 run, that gave them a 49-30 lead with 13 minutes on the clock. Vic rallied before Steve Maga hit three from beyond the arc to put the game out of reach. McMaster led 63-53 with 2:57 to go, forcing Victoria to foul. But Maga hit 6-6 from the line down the stretch. The
Marauders pressure defence proved the difference. “Obviously I’m disappointed, but we have nothing to be ashamed of. We had a great year,” said Vikes coach Guy Vetrie. “Mac is a very athletic team with a lot of depth, and we have had trouble with teams that have a lot of speed. We match up well in our conference in terms of speed, but there are three or four teams down here that are very quick.” Vetrie says the Marauders ceaselessly attacked the backcourt which led to the Vikes having trouble executing on offence. Marauders coach Joe Raso felt his post players did an excellent job covering Hinrichsen. “Eric is such a huge part of them, and our posts have been much maligned all season. But as a committee, I thought they did a great job. We didn’t want to give Eric anything easy, we wanted to make him work for it. When you’re playing against the (CIAU player of the year), you have to make sure your game plan is built around him.” Vetrie says Mac’s aggressiveness was just too much. “They kept rotating guys in and wore us. They forced us out of our offence … more power to them, they went at our jugular.” Turnovers weren’t the big problem for Uvic, but the coach admits there were some ill-timed mistakes. “Let’s just say there were some key turnovers that led to easy transition layups and that kept them rolling. They are a transition team.” Maga led all scorers with 18 points, including 16 in the second half, on 4-11 from the floor, 4-10 from the arc, 6-6 from the line, 5 assists and 2 steals. Player of the game Rodney Baptiste added 16 on 8-12 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 0-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 steals. Vojo Rusic notched 13 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Justin Boye scored 7 on 3-3 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 2 assists. James Akrong added 5 on 2-3 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Doug Doyle notched 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Nick Rupcich added 4 on 2-6 from the floor, 12 boards and 2 assists. Brian Taylor scored 2, along with 2 boards, and Daren Spithoff 2, along with 2 boards, while Mark Maga, Graham Hewitt and Jamie Loucks were scoreless. McMaster shot 27-60 (.450) from the floor, 6-18 from the arc and 11-13 (.846) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 18 assists, 17 turnovers, 3 blocks and 8 steals. Keith Bustard paced Victoria with 12 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Colin Martin added 12 on 5-9 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 steals. Eric Hinrichsen notched 12 on 4-11 from the floor, 4-7 from the line, 12 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Ralph Chillious-Carter added 9 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4 boards and 4 assists. Stephen MacDonald notched 6 on 2-3 from the arc. Aaron Buckham added 4 on 2-4 from the floor. Robbie Green scored 3 on 1-6 from the arc, while Joel Neilson, Ole Schmidt, Neal Cranna, Tyler Bates and Jason Crawford were scoreless. Victoria shot 23-55 (.418) from the floor, 6-18 from the arc and 6-11 (.545) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 15 assists, 16 turnovers, 3 blocks and 8 steals.
In the semis, Alberta defeated Brandon 79-74 to reach its fourth national final of the decade. The Golden Bears trailed 47-40 at the half but held Brandon scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half while taking command. “We knew we needed a run right at the start because if they got a run we would have been in a deep hole,” said Nick Maglisceau. “I had a bit of an off day and Brandon is more physical than Ryerson was.” Both teams started slowly but began to heat up about six minutes into the game. The score was tied at 20 mid-way through the first half when the Bears began to pound the ball inside to Nick Maglisceau and took a 30-26 lead. But the Cats bounced back to move ahead 35-32 with three minutes to play and went into the lockers up 47-40. The second half was equally ragged at the start. But Brandon didn’t register a bucket for seven minutes while Alberta ripped off a 14-3 run to take a 54-50 lead with 12 minutes to play. Brandon rallied back to a 62-58 lead. Ryan Baldry tied it at 62 with a three-pointer with just under nine minutes to play and Alberta moved ahead 70-66 with 3:44 to go. Brandon hit a pair of free throws and Alberta hit a hoop and then a free throw to move ahead by five. Two more free throws and they moved ahead 75-68 with a minute to go. Mark Passley hit a running jumper to cut the lead to five. An offensive foul on Ryan Baldry gave Brandon to cut the margin with 38 ticks on the clock. But David Paris missed the front end of a one and one and the Bears grabbed the rebound, were promptly fouled and added an insurance free throw. Ryan Baldry led Alberta with 22 on 8-12 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 10 boards and 2 assists. Ryan Dunkley was chosen player of the game for the Bears after scoring 17 on 7-13 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 16 boards and 3 assists. Nick Maglisceau notched 15 on 5-16 from the floor, 5-9 from the arc, 9 boards, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Stephen Parker added 10 on 4-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 3 steals. Max Darrah notched 5 on 1-3 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 5 boards. Chris Horwood 4 scored 4 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 7 assists. Jason Maher added 3 on 3-4 from the line, 3 boards and 3 assists. Brad Berikoff scored 3 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 2 boards, while Ryan Mulholland, Pat Crevolin, Adrian Neale and Alex Michalas were scoreless. Alberta shot 27-57 (.474) from the floor, 3-9 from the arc and 22-33 from the line, while garnering 48 boards, including 19 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 19 assists, 21 turnovers, 4 blocks and 5 steals. Maurice Carter led Brandon with 19 on 7-21 from the floor, 4-12 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 5 steals. Richard Lovelace had 18 on 7-18 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 9 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Mark Passley scored 15 on 6-10 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 3 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. David Paris scored 7 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-5 from the line, 10 boards and 6 assists. Richard Ashmon scored6 on 1-8 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 12 boards and 2 assists. Garfield Parke notched 3 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Trevor John added 2 on 0-3 from the floor, 2-3 from the line, 2 boards and 2 steals. Greg Walker added 2 and Chris Passley 2, while Nigel Escoffery, Len Mauthe and Andrew Schurman were scoreless. Brandon shot 27-76 (.355) from the floor, 6-22 (.273) from the arc and 14-22 (.636) from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 25 on the offensive glass, 26 fouls, 22 assists, 15 turnovers, 4 blocks and 15 steals. In their sterling first half, Brandon hit five from the arc, collected 14 offensive rebounds and forced 13 turnovers.
In the other semi, St. Mary’s defeated McMaster 77-68 as Jonah Taussig tossed in 20 points. It was the Huskies second straight upset. The Marauders jumped out quickly, scoring the first 12 points of the game. But the Huskies shook off their jitters and brought the frenzied crowd to their feet as they rallied back to take a 29-28 lead and went into the lockers up 39-35. St. Mary’s quickly stretched their lead to 58-49 midway through the second half. McMaster rallied back to cut the margin to 60-55 with seven minutes to play despite losing reserve center Nick Rupcich to fouls. When James Akrong fouled out with three minutes to play, St. Mary’s led 66-57 and won going away. Jonah Taussig led St. Mary’s with 20 on 9-16 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 4 boards, 7 assists and 5 steals. Cory Janes added 15 on 4-7 from the floor, 7-8 from the line, 9 boards and 3 assists. Patrick Toulouse notched 13 on 5-13 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 7 boards. Kurt Henry scored 8 on 0-5 from the floor, 8-12 from the line and 4 boards. Nathan Anderson added 8 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 2 boards, 3 assists and 4 steals. Lloyd Thomas scored 6 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 11 boards and 4 blocks. Ryan McClintock added 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Cyril Smith added 2, while Nelson Carvery, Paul Bromby and Wayne Hines were scoreless. St. Mary’s shot 25-57 (.439) from the floor, 4-10 from the arc and 23-36 (.639) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 17 assists, 13 turnovers, 5 blocks and 10 steals. Vojo Rusic led McMaster with 15 on 6-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Steve Maga added 14 on 5-13 from the floor, 4-10 from the arc and 6 assists. Doug Doyle scored 7 on 3-8 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 7 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals. Rodney Baptiste scored 6 on 2-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Nick Rupcich added 6 on 2-7 from the floor. Mark Maga added 6 on 2-6 from the floor and 2-5 from the arc. James Akrong added 4 on 2-2 from the floor and 3 boards. Justin Boye added 4 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 3 boards. Graham Hewitt notched 3 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 11 boards. Brian Taylor added 3 on 1-4 from the floor and 1-3 from the arc, while Daren Spithoff and Jamie Loucks were scoreless. McMaster shot 26-68 (.382) from the floor, 7-24 (.292) from the arc and 9-13 (.692) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 24 on the offensive glass, 28 fouls, 20 assists, 18 turnovers, 1 block and 7 steals.
In the final, St. Mary’s posted a 73-69 overtime win over Alberta as Cory Janes scored 26 points and the Huskies captured their fourth national crown in the first overtime final in CIAU history. The title was the first for St. Mary’s since back-to-back crowns in 1978 and 1979 when coach Ross Quackenbush was a player. “It was a great feeling as a player and it was a great feeling as a coach and I’m really thrilled that these guys have it now. I wanted them to win a national championship. And now they’ve got it.” Janes, who hit two free throws with five seconds to play to ice the win, said “I’ve been missing so much lately it didn’t matter. I just figured I’d step up to the line and knock it down. It’s an easy two. I shot well all season except for the last damn month.” The game was tied 10 times and the lead changed hands 9 times. Neither side led by more than four in the street brawl. Point guard Jonah Taussig narrowly missed a chance to win it in regulation play when a finger roll kissed the glass and fell off. In overtime, Alberta led 69-66 when Lloyd Thomas drilled a three with 43.5 seconds to play to tie the score. The Bears brought the ball up court and after a miss, Janes grabbed the loose ball in a wild scramble under the basket. Fouled by the Bears Ryan Baldry with 15.6 seconds to play, James hit the first to put the Huskies ahead 70-69 but missed the seconds. Huskie point guard Nathan Anderson was fouled with 8.7 seconds remaining. He hit of one two free throws. But the rebound off the miss was captured by Janes, who called timeout with 6.6 seconds to play. The ball was inbounded to Janes with 4.8 ticks on the clock and he was fouled and hit both to ice the victory. The Middleton, Nova Scotia native raced back down the court pumping his left arm in the air. “We’re a bunch of misfits,” a sobbing Janes said. “We had a lot of transfers, a lot of guys who had been out of school and came back, a lot of guys that maybe somebody didn’t want. But it’s just nice to play with these guys.” Sophomore guard Stephen Parker got the Bears going early hitting a layup 15 seconds into the affair. Kurt Henry responded with a three-pointer and then stole the ball at center court to give St. Mary’s a 5-2 lead. The Huskies led 9-7 after four minutes but the Bears responded to take a 16-11 lead with 11:47 to play. In the rugged first half, Alberta took a 21-14 lead on a pair of Ryan Dunkley free throws with 9:48 to play. The Huskies battled back and a pair of Janes free throws tied it at 29 with five to play. Moments later, Kurt Henry drilled a three to put St. Mary’s ahead 32-29. Alberta rallied back to take the lead but Janes powered inside to tie the game at 36 just before the half. Alberta scored the first four points of the second half. St. Mary’s responded with a 9-1 run to retake the lead. They traded the lead for next few minutes. It was tied at 47 with 14:51 to play when St. Mary’s ripped off a 6-2 run. But the Bears cut the margin to 57-56 with 4:30 to go. The teams slowed it down. St. Mary’s led 6057 with the ball with 1:38 to go but Taussig put up an airball. Mason Maher hit a pair of free throws to cut the margin to one but Taussig hit one of two at the other end and it was 61-59. Alberta tied but the scoreboard operator only gave them a point. Horwood was upset. The error was corrected. Taussig missed a leaner at the buzzer and the game headed into overtime. Alberta scored first in the extra session but St. Mary’s responded with 14 points. Stephen Parker tied it at 65 and then put Alberta head 67-65 with a bucket. An Alberta foul with 57.5 seconds to go put Toulouse on the line for St. Mary’s. He hit one of two. Nick Maglisceau was fouled on the rebound and hit both. But Lloyd Thomas calmly hit a three to tie. Parker missed a jumper and the Huskies were fouled on the rebound, putting Janes on the line. He hit one of two. A tie-up gave the ball to St. Mary’s with 11.5 seconds to play and the Huskies leading 70-69. Taussig inbounded to Nathan Anderson, who was fouled with 8.7 seconds to go. He hit one of two but the rebound fell out of Alberta’s hands and into St. Mary’s. Another time out and 6.6 seconds to go, St. Mary’s was unable to inbound and took their last timeout. Taussig just got the ball in and Janes went to the line with 4.8 seconds to go, hitting both and giving the Huskies the title. St. Mary’s coach Ross Quackenbush said his Huskies gelled as the season progressed. “These guys are all survivors. They’ve overcome a lot of obstacles, each and every one of these kids. They’re all a success story and because of that, this team is a success story.” Alberta coach Don Horwood said his Bears didn’t capitalize on their chances. “Things just didn’t fall for us. A number of things happened that just didn’t work out for us and I can’t explain that. St. Mary’s is a true champion. They worked hard and deserved to win it.” Horwood was furious at the conclusion of regulation play, when he approached the scorer’s table and yelled at an alternate official about the work of Les Saulnier, Pierre Marion and Rick DeGagne. “These are the same refs that let St. Mary’s win last night,” Horwood railed. “This is the national championship. What the hell is wrong with you?” He later refused further comment. “What do you think? I’m not the expert. I’m a basketball coach. You watched the game and you saw probably the same thing I saw. Why don’t you write what you saw and I’ll talk about St. Mary’s, who I thought worked very hard, are deserving champions. We’re extremely disappointed right now and the rest of it you saw as well as I did.” Taussig noted that “if we played this game in Hamilton, I don’t know if we would have won. It certainly would have been much harder. This crowd just pushes you to play better.” The final was attended by 8,385 fans, all but handful supporting the Huskies. Janes paced the Huskies with 26 points on 8-14 from the floor, 10-12 from the line, 13 boards and 3 blocks. Kurt Henry scored 15 on 5-14 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3-9 from the line and 4 boards. Jonah Taussig scored 10 on 2-12 from the floor, 6-8 from the line, 13 boards, 8 assists and 3 steals. Ryan McClintock scored 7 on 2-6 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 12 boards and 3 blocks. Lloyd Thomas scored 6 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 5 boards and 2 assists. Patrick Toulouse scored 3 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 7 boards. Nathan Anderson scored 4 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Cyril Smith added 2 on 11-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2 boards and 3 assists, while Nelson Carvery, Paul Bromby and Wayne Hines were scoreless. The Huskies shot 22-68 (.324) from the floor, 5-11 (.455) from the arc and 24-37 (.649) from the line, while garnering 58 boards, including 29 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 17 turnovers, 9 blocks and 7 steals. Stephen Parker led Alberta with 19 points on 8-18 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-6 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Ryan Baldry scored 12 on 5-9 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 5 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Nick Maglisceau scored 12 on 4-7 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 13 boards and 7 blocks. Brad Berikoff added 11 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 4-6 from the line. Jason Maher added 8 on 3-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Ryan Dunkley scored 7 on 2-6 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Chris Horwood was scoreless, while grabbing 3 boards and dishing 3 assists. Max Darrah, Ryan Mulholland, Pat Crevolin, Adrian Neale and Alex Michalas were also scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 25-57 (.439) from the floor, 4-12 from the arc and 15-21 (.714) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 25 fouls, 21 assists, 17 turnovers, 8 blocks and 6 steals. Janes said “there are a lot of great players on good teams out there but I’m just a good player on a great team. The guys really came together again tonight. I’m just proud of my teams. I’m proud of the way Patrick (Toulouse) played and I’m just proud of everyone. I really don’t think I’m actually the MVP tonight. A total team effort.”
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Cory Janes (St. Mary’s); Stephen Parker (Alberta); Steve Maga (McMaster); Mark Passley (Brandon); Jonah Taussig (St. Mary’s); Nick Maglisceau (Alberta)
The co-bronze medalist Brandon Bobcats: Richard Lovelace; Trevor John; Clarence Vigilance; Len Mauthe; Maurice Carter; Garfield Parke; Dwayne Burkett; Mark Passley; Ben Simmons; Andrew Schurman; David Paris; Chris Passley; Tyler Tegg; Richard Ashmon; Greg Walker; Nigel Escoffery; Earnest Bell; Donald Phillips; coach Jerry Hemmings
The co-bronze medalist McMaster Marauders: Rodney Baptiste; Steve Maga; Doug Doyle; Brian Taylor, Vojo Rusic; coach Joe Raso
The silver medalist Alberta Golden Bears: Nick Maglisceau; Stephen Parker; Ryan Mulholland; Ryan Baldry; Ryan Dunkley; Chris Horwood; Max Darrah; Brad Berikoff; Jason Maher; Pat Crevolin; Adrian Neale; Alex Michalas; Andrew Melnychuk; coach Don Horwood
The champion Saint Mary’s Huskies: Jonah Taussig; Cory Janes; Lloyd Thomas; Patrick Toulouse; Kurt Henry; Ryan McClintock; Cyril Smith; Nathan Anderson; Paul Bromby; Nelson Carvery; Wayne Hinds; Colin Allum; Ryan Demone; Cecil George; coach Ross Quackenbush, assistant Les Berry, manager John Landry; assistant manager John Gilhen; therapist Kevin Miller
Thanks to: Jonah Taussig and Ryan Demone for clarifying Huskies roster information.