| (1) | St. F.X. | 95 | ||||||
| (8) | Laval | 68 | St. F.X. | 78 | ||||
| (4) | Carleton | 77 | McMaster | 76 | St. F.X. | 83 | ||
| (5) | McMaster | 78 | —–ST. FRANCIS XAVIER | |||||
| (2) | Western | 77 | ||||||
| (7) | Victoria | 64 | Western | 76 | Brandon | 76 | ||
| (3) | Brandon | 65 | Brandon | 77 | ||||
| (6) | St. Mary’s | 57 |
Top-seed St. FX opened defence of their crown with a 95-68 pasting of 8th-seeded Laval. The X-Men trapped at will and forced 29 turnovers. “Defence wins games. Defence wins championships,” said Dennie Oliver. “We tried to set that tone tonight. They only have one or two ballhandlers, so take it out of their hands. Chaos.” After Fred Perry picked up two quick fouls early in the first half, Oliver and center James Maksymiw picked up the offensive slack. “They were saying, go to the hole, go to the hole’ but they were backing off, so I had no other choice but to shoot the J and hey, they were falling for me,” said Oliver. Laval was never able to get into an offensive flow. “X are a hell of a team,” said coach Jacques Paiement. “They’re defending national champions and they played as such. They’re so quick and aggressive. We wanted to take care of the ball. Obviously, we didn’t do it very well.” X-Men point guard Randy Nohr said pressure defence was the difference. “That’s been our theory all year and we didn’t want to change the way we play. We want to play 40 minutes of pressure every game and that’s what we did today.” Paiement said “first of all, they’re great athletes but secondly they really believe in it and they’re so confident they can do it.” All five X starters scored in double figures. Randy Nohr notched 18 on 6-7 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 10 assists and 8 steals. Dennie Oliver added 17 on 6-15 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 10 boards, 3 assists and 5 blocks. Jordan Croucher scored 16 on 7-18 from the floor, 2-9 from the arc, 5 boards and 7 assists. Fred Perry added 12 on 4-10 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. James Maksymiw scored 11 on 4-9 from the floor, 3-5 from the line, 10 boards and 3 assists. Alexander Stephen added 6 on 3-3 from the floor. Jason Kerswill added 5 on 2-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Everett Adams added 4 on 2-5 from the floor, 2 boards and 4 assists. Dion Williams added 2, Krzysztof Stach 2, along with 3 boards and Mike Budreski 2, while Johnathan Daniel was scoreless. X shot 37-75 (.493) from the floor, 4-18 (.222) from the arc and 17-32 (.531) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 30 assists, 8 turnovers, 6 blocks and 18 steals. Charles Fortier led Laval with 19 on 7-16 from the floor, 5-6 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. David Brownrigg added 14 on 6-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3 boards and 3 assists. Samuel Audet-Sow scored 13 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Marc-Antoine Horth added 8 on 3-10 from the floor, 2-7 from the line and 9 boards. Yannick Boileau added 8 on 4-5 from the floor, 5 boards and 2 assists. David Kerouac-Dumont notched 3 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 4 boards and 4 assists. Marc-Olivier Bessette added 2 and David Ruel 1 on 0-4 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards, while Daniel Lacasse, Francoise Caussignac, Luc Paquet and Yuan Jomphe were scoreless. Paquet nabbed 2 boards. Laval shot 25-59 (.424) from the floor, 5-10 from the arc and 13-23 (.565) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 16 assists, 4 blocks and 2 steals. St FX led 49-31 at the half.
Brandon defeated St. Mary’s 65-57 with a 10-2 run midway in the second half to take a 51-44 lead which they never relinquished. St. Mary’s looked flat early and couldn’t get into any offensive rhythm. Forward Ashkan Rajaee hit the Huskies first shot from the floor with 14:23 left in the half. But Brandon had 14 turnovers in the first half, allowing St. Mary’s to keep it close. A Jonah Taussig trey capped a 12-0 run that gave St. Mary’s its first lead at 27-24 with 2:18 to play in the half. St. Mary’s led 29-27 at the break. Earnest Bell picked up his third foul with 9:23 to go but stayed in the game and put the Bobcats in front for the first time since late in the first half with a slam dunk off an alley-oop lob to take a 45-44 edge. A three-pointer by Aaron Mitchell, part of an 18-4 Brandon run, gave the Bobcats a 10-point lead with 2:31 to play. Taussig noted that “it’s real disappointing to lose but Brandon played a great game. We were in it the whole game. We just had a little trouble with their zone. I wish them the best the rest of the way.” Taussig had 11 steals to go along with his 15 points. Brandon coach Jerry Hemmings said that “Once we got back in it, I thought they tightened up because they started throwing passes away and missing shots and once we had those two lob plays, it really took the wind out of their sails.” Hemmings said Bell’s rebounding was phenomenal. “He didn’t have a great game on the offensive end but I thought he was an animal on the backboards tonight.” Bell paced Brandon with 16 on 7-12 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-3 from the line, 15 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals. Donald Phillips added 16 on 6-14 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 8 boards and 2 assists. Aaron Mitchell scored 11 on 4-8 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 5 boards and 5 assists. Scott Walton notched 9 on 4-6 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Joshua Masters scored 6 on 3-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 3 boars. Tyrone Smith notched 5 on 2-4 from the floor and 1-2 from the line. Charlton Weasel Head added 2 on 1-5 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 3 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Brandon shot 27-59 (.458) from the floor, 5-19 (.263) from the arc and 6-10 from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 20 assists, 21 turnovers, 3 blocks and 10 steals. St. Mary’s led 29-27 at the half. Jonah Taussig led St. Mary’s with 15 on 6-10 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 3 boards, 4 assists and 11 steals. Kurt Henry added 9 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Gabriel Goree added 8 on 2-11 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 4 boards, 2 blocks and 3 steals. Ashkan Rajaee added 7 on 3-15 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 7 boards and 2 assists. Ryan McClintock notched 7 on 3-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Collin Allum scored 7 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 0-1 from the line. Nate Philippe added 2 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 6 boards and 2 assists. Damon Parachnowitz added 2, along with 2 boards and 2 assists, while Peter Turnbull, Shawn Smith, Stuart Josselyn and Austin O’Reilly were scoreless. St. Mary’s shot 22-60 (.367) from the floor, 3-15 (.200) from the arc and 10-13 (.769) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 13 fouls, 14 assists, 16 turnovers, 4 blocks and 17 steals. Bell said the Huskies zone “was so tough I couldn’t get any looks so I had to rebound. Coach told us to run the alley-oop play because we weren’t getting anything and then I started hitting some jump shots.”
Western defeated Victoria 77-64 with a late 11-2 run to seal it. Western wore down the Vikings. “We didn’t know anything about them and it’s kind of tough feeling your way,” said Andy Kwiatkowski. “They’re a quick team and really surprised us but it turned out all right in the end. Every team here is going to be a good team and there were definitely some scary moments. But coach put in some special defensive wrinkles in the second half and that was the difference in the game.” Vikes coach Guy Vetrie said his team needed to play a near perfect game. “If you have an opening against a team like that, you have to grab it. We had our opportunities but didn’t take advantage.”
Vikes forward Etienne Orr-Ewing said “I think Western thought that this was going to be a typical first-round game – not much competition. We had them, and we let them back in.” Uvic jumped to an 8-2 opening lead against the No. 2-seeded Mustangs. The Vikes were awesome in the transition game, and defended their territory with a vengeance, shutting down Andy Kwiatkowski. “It was a battle, that’s for sure. They had us running around a bit,” said Kwiatkowski, an All-Canadian who was held to eight points in the first half. “The one area that haunts us in that game is the droughts we had offensively,” Vetrie said. “When you run an offence effectively, but don’t come away with a cookie at the end, and you do that consistently, it starts to wear on you.” The Vikings trailed by three at the half. Victoria kept pushing, and seven points by Wilmott, who played all 40 minutes of the game, had the Vikes leading 44-39 in the first five minutes of the second half. Eventually, however, the Vikes ran into another scoring drought, and the range of the Mustangs got out of control. “Our effort was there the whole game, but down the stretch, our legs were gone,” Vetrie said. “If you give a team like Western that many opportunities to get back into it, it’s going to cost you.” The Mustangs nine treys, including five stroked in by Mark Porte. “We said in our scouting report, `He can’t drive. He can only shoot,’ and we let him shoot. The mental mistakes really added up tonight,” Orr-Ewing said. Scrambling to control the outside game, the Vikes opened up space inside and Kwiatkowski and Chris Brown took advantage. “They had to spread the floor, especially when we got behind,” Western coach Craig Boydell said. “Had we not taken the lead there … we had a very difficult time against their defence, because they’re so educated.” Andy Kwiatkowski paced Western with 24 on 6-14 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 11-13 from the line, 17 boards, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Chris Brown added 14 on 6-8 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Mark Porte notched 15 on 5-10 from the floor, 5-9 from the arc and 3 boards. Jimmy Grozelle added 9 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 4 assists. Chedo Ndur scored 6 on 2-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Matt Tweedie scored 6 on 1-7 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc and 3-3 from the line. Adam Peaker added 3, along with 2 boards, while Rich Tamminga, Nick Salomons, Scott Seeley, Sagar Desai and Tim Shanks were scoreless. Western shot 24-57 (.421) from the floor, 9-31 (.290) from the arc and 20-22 .909) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 13 assists, 17 turnovers, 6 blocks and 4 steals. Western led 35-32 at the half. Allister Wilmott led Vic with 23 on 8-19 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 4 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Chris Trumpy added 12 on 4-12 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists. Tyler Bates added 9 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Greg Bateson scored 8 on 4-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the line and 8 boards. Keith Bustard notched 5 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 2 boards. Eric Rushton scored 4 on 2-2 from the floor. Jason Crawford added 3 on 1-10 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists, while Alexander Bisaro, Nathan Ashmead, James Blake, Reagan Daly and Kerry Westmore were scoreless. Ashmead nabbed 5 boards and Bisaro 2. The Vikes hit 25-70 (.357) from the floor, 3-12 from the arc and 11-15 (.733) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 12 assists, 15 turnovers, 1 block and 8 steals.
In the most entertaining quarterfinal, 5th-ranked McMaster defeated 4th-ranked Carleton when forward Rodney Baptiste grabbed a deflected 18-foot shot by teammate Steve Maga when it went into the air and laid it up at the buzzer to give the Marauders the win. “It’s the greatest moment of my life right now,” said Baptiste who scored 11 and had six boards for McMaster. “I just went straight to the basket and I saw the ball out of the corner of my eye. I just grabbed it and tried to put it up because I didn’t know how much time was left on the clock. I heard the buzzer afterward and it felt great. It felt great. … I didn’t even see the play. As soon as the ball got inbounded I just went straight to the basket and next thing I know the ball’s right there. It’s the great moment of my lift right now.” Marauders coach Joe Raso noted that “we’ve been here a long time. I don’t mind a break or two. And that’s one we’ll take.” Carleton led by as many as 17 in the first half by a 46-29 margin. They hit 18-28 from the floor in the first half and led 50-38 going into the lockers. But coach Dave Smart was fuming with his team despite their lead. “Defensively, I wasn’t very happy with the way we played. That’s what kept them in the game. We didn’t defend the way we’re capable of defending in the first half and because of that it was 50-38 instead of 50-29.” The Marauders held the Ravens to just nine points in the first 10 minutes of the second half and eventually, Baptiste tied it at 71 with four minutes to play. Carleton point guard Robbie Smart noted that “it’s too bad we couldn’t get past this one. But we’ll work hard over the summer and make some noise next year. I’d like to see how far we can go in this tournament.” Steve Maga led McMaster with 29 on 8-19 from the floor, 3-9 from the arc, 10-10 from the line and 2 assists. Doug Doyle added 21 on 7-14 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 6-9 from the line, 4 boards and 4 steals. Rodney Baptiste added 11 on 5-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Graham Hewitt notched 9 on 3-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 7 boards and 3 assists. Adam Guiney added 5 on 1-1 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 2 assists and 3 blocks. Mark Maga scored 3 on 1-2 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc, while Justin Boye, Jamie Loucks, Brian Taylor, Emanuel Ostojic, Kevin McKenna and Stephen Martin were scoreless. Boy nabbed 3 boards and stole 2 balls. McMaster shot 25-55 (.455) from the floor, 5-16 (.312) from the arc and 23-31 (.742) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 10 assists, 13 turnovers, 5 blocks and 9 steals. Jafeth Maseruka paced Carleton with 24 on 8-13 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 5-6 from the line and 5 boards. Paul Larmand added 21 on 7-12 from the floor, 5-8 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 7 boards. Ben Doornekamp notched 11 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Josh Poirier added 9 on 4-4 from the floor, 1-3 from the line and 3 boards. Robert Smart scored 7 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 0-1 from the line, 3 boards and 6 assists. Matt Ross notched 3 on 1-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Mike Smart added 2 on 0-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and six assists. Charlie Cattran, Dean Petridis, Mark McMahon, Chabine Tucker and Matt McKechnie were scoreless. Carleton shot 27-53 (.509) from the floor, 11-23 (.478) from the arc and 12-18 from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 23 fouls, 13 assists, 22 turnovers, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Carleton led 50-38 at the half. “The strength of our team all year has been consistency on the defensive end,” said Raso. “That’s what we do well but in that first half we were god-awful.”
In the semi-finals, St. FX defeated McMaster 78-76 as Randy Nohr hit a fadeaway 12-footer from behind the backboard with 6.5 seconds on the clock to elate a near capacity crowd of 8,516 at the Halifax Metro Centre. McMaster subsequently turned the ball over trying to get it up court as Emmanuel Ostojic was called for traveling and James Maksymiw subsequently hit a free throw to ice it. Nohr noted. “I was fouled and I shot from a really bad angle … not a good combination. But it’s great when it goes in. I told coach that if we’re down, I want the ball in isolation. We had some shooters in the corners, but I just hit a tough shot.” Rodney Baptiste had hit a pair of free throws to give McMaster its first lead with 14 seconds to play. “Can you believe that shot?” asked St. FX coach Steve Konchalski. “Randy Nohr showed why he’s one of the greatest players I’ve ever coached. But this was a war. Joe Raso did an unbelievable job. He’s just having very tough luck here at nationals but his day will come. Fortunately for the X-Men, it didn’t come today.” St. FX had led by as many as 17 in the first half on blistering shooting but a late 15-9 McMaster rally cut the margin to 50-39 at the break. ST. FX hit 20-27 in the first half. But national player of the year Steve Maga hit a couple of three-pointers early in the second half as the Marauders chipped away at the lead. An 18-8 run cut the deficit to 58-57 with 13:19 to play but Nohr zipped an alley-oop slam to all-Canadian Fred Perry to trigger an 8-0 run. Maga then sprained his ankle and spent four minutes on the bench, returning with 4:46 to play but not taking another shot and limping noticeably. Still McMaster rallied. Nohr said the X-men almost gave it away by getting away from their offence. “A couple of guys were frustrated because they weren’t getting enough shots,” said Nohr. “We were flat and didn’t move the ball. It really showed in our offence. Way too much one-on-one stuff.” McMaster coach Joe Raso noted that “I’ve never seen a group that hurts more than this. When you show your soul and you show your heart. … God, emotions are drained. It was more than a basketball game. It was much more than a basketball game. I thought my team deserved a shot at a national championship.’ All five St. FX starters scored in double figures. Fred Perry paced St. FX with 16 on 7-13 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 blocks. Dennie Oliver added 14 on 7-14 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 0-3 from the line, 12 boards, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Randy Nohr notched 14 on 6-8 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 6 boards, 15 assists and 3 steals. Jordan Croucher scored 14 on 6-12 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 3 assists and 3 steals. James Maksymiw scored 11 on 3-8 from the floor, 5-12 from the line and 11 boards. Jason Kerswill added 7 on 1-3 from the floor, 5-6 from the line and 3 boards. Everett Adams added 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 4 assists, while Alexander Stephen, Dion Williams, Krzysztof Stach, John Bustin and Johnathan Daniel were scoreless. The X-Men hit 31-59 (.525) from the floor, 2-8 from the arc and 14-27 (.519) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 27 assists, 19 turnovers, 8 blocks and 10 steals. Steve Maga led McMaster with 21 on 6-11 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 5 assists and 2 steals. Doug Doyle added 17 on 8-18 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 3 boards. Graham Hewitt added 14 on 6-14 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-5 from the line and 6 boards. Justin Boye notched 8 on 4-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the line, 8 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Mark Maga added 6 on 2-3 from the floor and 2-3 from the arc. Rodney Baptiste scored 4 on 0-6 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 8 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals. Adam Guiney added 4 on 2-4 from the floor and 7 boards. Brian Taylor added 2, along with 2 assists, while Emanuel Ostojic, Kevin McKenna, Jamie Loucks and Stephen Martin were scoreless. McMaster shot 29-65 (.446) from the floor, 7-18 (.389) from the arc and 11-20 (.550) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 21 assists, 22 turnovers and 10 steals. St. FX led 50-39 at the half after shooting a blistering 20-27 from the floor.
In the other semi, Brandon nipped Western 77-76 as Tyrone Smith hit a five-foot leaner in the lane with 6.3 seconds on the clock to complete a Brandon rally from a six-point deficit in the final two minutes of play. “I was open and I took the shot and it went in,” said Smith. Western’s Mark Porte missed an open 18-footer at the buzzer form the left wing. Jimmy Grozelle had hit a pair from the line with 18.3 seconds on the block to give Western a one-point lead. Tyrone Smith paced Brandon with 19 on 7-15 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Earnest Bell added 13 on 6-11 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 9 boards and 3 assists. Charlton Weasel head notched 13 on 5-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 2 assists. Scott Walton added 11 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 10 boards. Joshua Masters added 6 on 3-8 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 4 boards and 4 steals. Chris Passley added 6 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 boards. Donald Phillips notched 4 on 0-3 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 3 boards. Aaron Mitchell added 3 on 1-3 from the arc, and Ronald Leslie 2, while Gilford Cheung, Joseph Asante and Kwasi Osae-Danso were scoreless. The Bobcats hit 30-66 (.455) from the floor, 5-16 (.312) from the arc and 12-19 (.632) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 23 fouls, 10 assists, 15 turnovers, 3 blocks and 7 steals. Andy Kwiatkowski scored 25 on 6-19 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 11-12 from the line, 21 boards and 4 assists before fouling out with minutes to play. Jimmy Grozelle added 15 on 5-12 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 assists. Chris Brown notched 13 on 6-16 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 14 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Chedo Ndur added 9 on 4-12 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 6 boards and 2 assists. Matt Tweedie scored 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Mark Porte notched 5 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 3 assists. Nick Salomons added 2, while Rich Tamminga, Scott Seeley, Adam Peaker, Sagar Desai and Tim Shanks were scoreless. Western hit 26-72 (.361) from the floor, 7-21 from the arc and 17-21 (.810) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 25 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 19 assists, 20 turnovers, 3 blocks and 4 steals. Western led 34-24 at the half.
In the final, St. FX defeated Brandon 83-76 as ex-Bobcat Dennie Oliver scored five of his game-high 25 points in overtime. Minutes earlier, Oliver had missed a pair of free throws with no time on the clock at the end of regulation that would have given St. FX the win in regulation on a bad call. “I’m a 60% shooter, I thought I could hit one but my Mom always told me nothing in life comes easy and especially in my life,” said Oliver. “My head was blank, like there was nothing on my mind. When I went up to shoot, my calves cramped up so I should have been thinking of something but I just tried to keep my focus and not listen to anyone.” Oliver was awarded the free throws after pulling down a defensive board as time ran out. “I knew when we went out that me and Randy (Nohr) and Jordan (Croucher) had to step up because we’re seniors,” said Oliver. “I was disappointed to see him go out like that but hey, that’s how life goes, that’s how the ball rolls. We had great chemistry this year and the guys just stuck together.” Nohr noted that “I’ve got to stop getting tattoos that say back-to-back of I’ll be all filled up.” Brandon coach Jerry Hemmings said that with Perry out of the game, he felt confident going into overtime. “We felt like we had the momentum but Oliver and Adams kind of took the game over. We just had too many miscues. We did a decent job on Randy Nohr but their other guard, E.L. Adams stepped up and hit some tough shots.” The X-men scored last 10 points of overtime and outscored Brandon 11-4 in extra session. Everett Adams hit a layup with 26 seconds to play that gave X a five-point cushion. “I was in the land-of-the-giants, man, the land of the giants. My mom said to make something happen, not to score or rebound, just to make something happen. It’s been a story book season.” A three-pointer and a layup by Randy Nohr over a 19 second span had put X ahead 56-45 with 13:49 to play. But Brandon rallied with a 16-5 run to tie the game at 61 with 6:35 to play. Jordan Croucher forced overtime with a 15-footer from the top of the key with 21 seconds to play in regulation. “This is one of the great teams in the history of CIAU basketball,” said Konchalski. “29 times we hit the floor with an X on our back being the biggest game on our opponents schedule, and 29 times in a row we turned up on the right side of the ledger. That takes character.” Nohr said that “winning championships never gets old. That’s what makes it exciting. It gets more difficult every year. … You have to rekindle the fire.” Perry added that “the season we had was unbelievable. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better ending.” Brandon coach Jerry Hemmings questioned the foul on Phillips to end regulation but praised his club for battling back. “We showed a lot of heart to come back. This is a tough place to win. We were down and could have packed it in, but we’re fighters.” Konchalski noted that “when Fred Perry, our all-Canadian, fouled out with four minutes to go and then having Dennis miss those two free throws, it would have been easy for us to hang our heads. But this team has the heart of a champion and that’s why we’re here two years in a row.” Nohr also said that “this has great character and it’s nice to just be a part of it. … I’ve got to stop getting tattoos that say back-to-back or I’ll be all filled up. … Dennie had an awesome game today, especially down the stretch. After the two free throws I knew guys were going to step up cause there’s no way we’re going to let Dennis have to think about a free throw all summer. It says a lot about him because he played awesome after that.” Oliver had a massive three-point play with 1:37 to play in overtime and sophomore El Adams hit a tough shot under the hoop with 24 seconds to go to give X a five-point lead. James Maksymiw closed it out with two free throws.” Charlton Weasel Head hit a three to cap a 14-5 run that pulled Brandon with two with eight minutes to play. They moved ahead after Nohr fouled Smith beyond the arc with 1:29 to play. Smith drained all three foul shots to give Brandon a 70—68 lead. But Adams made a tough putback off a miss to tie it 30 seconds later. Bell hit a jumper for Brandon but Jordan Croucher tied at 72 with 21.7 seconds to go. “E.L. Adams made that tough shot. Dennie Oliver had that tough shot. It just wasn’t our day.” Oliver and Adams kind of took the game over. I was glad Nohr didn’t beat us but that other guard Adams did.” Perry added that “we never lost focus, even when we were 6-0, 10-0, 20-0. We knew it wasn’t going to matter to us if we didn’t get this championship. This is all that matters.” The foul was dubious. Even Oliver admitted that “it was kind of a cheap call. But, hey, it was a foul and the ref had to call it. But we’ll take a win no matter what.” Adams, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina and a 5-10, 140-pound guard, thought he was calling St. Francis College of Pennsylvania when he called while playing for a prep school at Phillips Academy in the Boston area and ended up talking with St. FX coach Steve Konchalski. He later called the coach of Andover, Mass school. “They kept talking and coach K kept calling me and one thing led to another and now I’m here,” playing on second straight title team. “I came up here at night and when we were driving from the airport to Antigonish it felt like we were driving to the edge of the earth. Birds were falling everywhere cause they didn’t have nothing to rest on. I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into. I had second thoughts but they are all erased now.” Dennie Oliver paced the X-Men with 25 points on 11-20 from the floor, 3-6 from the line, 12 boards and 5 steals. Randy Nohr scored 13 on 5-6 from the floor and 12 assists. Fred Perry scored 15 on 6-11 from the floor. Jordan Croucher noted 10 on 3-11 from the floor and 4 assists. James Maksymiw scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor and 8 boards. Everett Adams scored 10 on 5-6 from the floor, 6 assists and 3 steals. Jason Kerswill scored 2, while Krzysztof Stach was scoreless. The X-Men shot 34-62 (.548) from the floor, 5-15 from the arc and 10-10 (.526) from the line, while garnering 35 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 26 assists, 19 turnovers, 7 blocks and 12 steals. Earnest Bell led Brandon with 21 points on 9-22 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 9 boards, 2 blocks and 3 steals. Tyrone Smith scored 19 on 7-13 from the floor, 5-5 from the line and 3 steals. Donald Phillips notched 15 on 5-11 from the floor and 6 boards. Scott Walton scored 6 on 2-5 from the floor and 8 boards. Charlton Weasel Head scored 6 on 2-8 from the floor and 4 steals. Joshua Masters scored 6 on 2-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Chris Passley scored 3, while Aaron Mitchell and Junior Leslie were scoreless. The Bobcats shot 28-66 (.424) from the floor, 5-20 from the arc and 15-19 (.789) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 18 assists, 19 turnovers, 4 blocks and 12 steals. The X-Men finished (31-1) on the season.
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Randy Nohr (St. FX); Fred Perry (St. FX); Earnest Bell (Brandon); Charlton Weasel Head (Brandon); Andy Kwiatkowski (Western); Steve Maga (McMaster)
A month later, Randy Nohr was suspended and stripped of his awards, including the national tourney MVP, after testing positive for having used the banned stimulant pseudoephedrine. Nohr said the drug came from taking Tylenol. He was suspended for three months and stripped of his national championship medal, his tourney MVP award and his all-Canadian status. The team was not penalized. “To have the type of season I had to finish the way I did and then have them take it all away because of some flu medication just doesn’t seem fair,” said Nohr, claiming he took seven Tylenol Cold tablets, one a time over a few days without checking to see if they contained a banned substance. “As a CIAU athlete, you don’t think about it. They don’t test that often.”
Following the season, the CIAU announces plans to restructure its format for the national tourney. In 2002 and 2003, the tourney will remain in Halifax as an eight-team tourney. Four berths will go to the OUA, Canada West, GSSF and Atlantic conference champs. The Atlantic will receive a host berth. The OUA will receive one berth. Canada West will receive one berth. The final berth will go to a lottery berth, with Canada West having 12 entries, OUA 16 and QSSF 4. A draw will be made to determine which conference gets the berth. In the subsequent equity draft, Canada West wins third berth in 2002. OUA wins it for 2003. Commencing 2004, the tournament will feature 10 teams, i.e., the four conference champs, 3 OUA berths (to include host if applicable), 2 Canada West berths (to include host if applicable) and 1 Atlantic berth (to include host, if applicable). Should the QSSF host the championship, it’ll receive a host berth and the men’s coaching association will determine how to assign the five remaining berths.
In August 2001, the CIAU changes its name to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). “Our previous name was a lengthy one, our previous logo was dated so we felt that it was time to refresh both the name and the logo,” said Marg McGregor, the organization’s chief executive officer. “In addition to that, I think it’s more than cosmetic change or just a change in scenery. I know it’s a signal that our organization is committed to upgrading our services, promoting university sport and raising the profile of university sport and delivering better value back to our university members across Canada.”
The co-bronze medalist Western Mustangs: Andy Kwiatkowski; Jim Grozelle; Chedo Ndur; Chris Brown; Sagar Desai; Adam Peaker; Rich Tamminga; Matt Tweedie; Mark Porte; Nick Salomons; Scott Sealey; Tim Shanks; coach Craig Boydell; assistant Pete Schmidt; assistant Brad Campbell; trainer Joe Larsen; manager Jay Barkly; manager Sean Byrne; trainer Ron Sarid; SID Kimberly Moser
The co-bronze medalist McMaster Marauders: Steve Maga; Rodney Baptiste; Justin Boye; Graham Hewitt; Adam Guiney; Doug Doyle; Jamie Loucks; Mark Maga; Brian Taylor; Emanuel Ostojic; Stephen Martin; Kevin McKenna; David McKinty; Anthony Aiello; Philip Vayalumkal; Goran Franjesevic; Jeremy Storry; Jay Egobo; Toms Lokmanis; Charles Kissi; Jonathan Joseph; coach Joe Raso
The silver medalist Brandon Bobcats: Earnest Bell; Charlton Weasel Head; Tyrone Smith; Donald Phillips; Chris Passley; Scott Walton; Gilford Cheung; Joseph Asante; Mike Raimbault; Bijan Jiany; Joshua Masters; Ronald Leslie; Kwasi Osae-Danso; Carlos Martinez; Aaron Mitchell; Charles Jacoway; coach Jerry Hemmings; assistant John Rivett; assistant Ron McCutcheon; therapist Steve Dzubinski; manager Bill Badd; SID Erin Mills; athletic director Ken Friesen
The champion St. Francis Xavier X-Men: Fred Perry; Randy Nohr; Dennie Oliver; Jordan Croucher; James Maksymiw; Krzysztof Stach; Everett (E.L.) Adams; Jason Kerswill; Jonathan Daniel; Alex Stephen; Mike Budreski; Dion Williams; John Bustin; Paul Ricketts; coach Steve Konchalski; assistant Augy Jones; assistant Jeff Piers; student assistant Vince Marra; therapist Jim Hardy; athletic therapist Tara Sutherland; manager Kara Spencer; athletic director Tom Kendall; SID Matthew Davies