| (1) | Concordia | 62 | ||||||
| (8) | St. Mary’s | 63 | St. Mary’s | 74 | ||||
| (4) | Brandon | 81 | Brandon | 79 | Brandon | 49 | ||
| (5) | Windsor | 54 | ||||||
| —–CARLETON | ||||||||
| (3) | Carleton | 86 | ||||||
| (6) | Acadia | 38 | Carleton | 80 | Carleton | 52 | ||
| (2) | U.B.C. | 85 | Ottawa | 58 | ||||
| (7) | Ottawa | 92 |
In the quarterfinals, held at the Halifax Metro Centre, the 8th-seeded St. Mary’s Huskies stunned the top-seeded Concordia Stingers 63-62 in a victory for crawl ball. Periodically, both the teams and the ball were moving so slowly, they could’ve been timed with a calendar. Sophomore guard Mark McLaughlin nailed the winning free throw with three seconds remaining on the clock. It marked the first time since 2000, when Brandon stunned Alberta 73-57, that the top seed has fallen in the opening round. McLaughlin admitted to experiencing a bit of nerves after misfiring on the first of a pair of free throws he’d been awarded for being hacked on a 15-foot pull-up jumper in the dying seconds. “After missing the first one, in and out, which I thought was good, I started feeling for the second one. I just had to focus, use my legs, just do what I normally do. I didn’t really feel any pressure. I just thought I’d go and shoot a foul shot. I’ve taken millions before, what’s the difference.” Indeed, the Huskies played like poised vets, completely dictating the tempo against run-and-gun Concordia. They patiently built a 31-29 lead at the half on the perimeter shooting of McLaughlin and a pair of late buckets in the blocks by Ikeobi Uchegbu as he took advantage of the Stinger’s indifferent post defence. Dwayne Buckley briefly got the Stingers on track early in the second half, notching a putback rebound, a fallaway 15-foot jumper and Concordia’s first transition bucket of the game after pilfering the ball near midcourt. Concordia’s interior defence, though, continued to be porous, allowing St. Mary’s to claw back from a 50-46 deficit as point guard Mark Ross masterfully handled Concordia’s pressure and found the passing lanes into the blocks. They took a 56-54 lead on a trey by Clint Bateman with five minutes to play but surrendered a pair of interior buckets to Damian Buckley and Jamal Gallier before McLaughlin and Cordell Wright again worked their way inside for layups, and football quarterback Eric Glavic hit a free throw to give St. Mary’s a 62-58 lead. Then Gallier hit a free throw and Buckley hit a trey with 24 seconds to knot the score and set the stage for McLaughlin’s last second heroics. Ross said the Huskies executed their game plan to perfection. “We just tried to slow them down, take our time and make them play our game. We feel we can beat anybody right now.” Huskies coach Ross Quackenbush was elated with the Huskies poise and defensive transitions. “Stopping the fastbreak is something we should be able to do, no matter, regardless of who (we’re playing).” Buckley said the Stingers foolishly allowed St. Mary’s to dictate the style of play. “We weren’t as aggressive defensively as we needed to be.” Concordia coach John Dore said the Huskies did an exceptional job of protecting the ball. “They didn’t make mistakes. They didn’t turn over the ball and they competed hard. They were the better team today … They played with great chemistry. They really competed hard. …And I told Ross Quackenbush after the game that I think this is the best coaching job he’s ever done, and I sincerely believe that. He’s done a great job coaching this team to bring them to where they are now. They’re playing really well. We didn’t deserve to win the game. Too many turnovers. Too many mistakes. … It’s inexcusable to shoot that poorly from the free throw line in a one-point game at the national championship. We did not play our best game and did not deserve to win.”
McLaughlin said that “our pregame motivation was when we saw one of their players comment about how they were looking forward to getting back at Carleton and stuff. They were looking right pas us because we’re the host. But it’s tough to come to play in here against a hometown team. The fans were all with us the whole game. … They were looking right past us because we were the host. We just wanted to kick them out.” Quackenbush noted that “you can do it if you want to. You just have to be committed. Just play basketball and not worry about all that jazz (athleticism of foes).” Bateman noted that “it’s a great feeling to knock off the No. 1 monster. We just wanted to keep playing. We all played our hearts out.” Mark McLaughlin paced Saint Mary’s with 24 on 10-23 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 4 boards. Clint Bateman added 11 on 4-6 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc and 3 boards. Ikeobi Uchegbu notched 11 on 4-13 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 12 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Cordell Wright scored 9 on 3-14 from the floor, 2-11 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Mike Poole scored 5 on 2-2 from the floor and 5 boards. Mark Ross added 2 and Erik Glavic 1. The Huskies shot 23-60 (.383) from the floor, 6-22 (.273) from the arc and 11-16 (.688) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 15 assists, 10 turnovers, 2 blocks and 8 steals. Dwayne Buckley led Concordia with 11 points on 5-14 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 9 boards and 4 assists. Damian Buckley added 11 on 4-8 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 6 boards, 7 assists and 4 steals. Patrick Perrotte notched 10 on 5-13 from the floor and 6 boards. Benjamin Sormonte scored 8 on 2-5 from the arc, 2-5 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Andre Johnny scored 7 on 3-6 from the floor and 3 boards. Levin Vann notched 6 on 2-4 from the arc. Jamal Gallier scored 5 on 2-6 from the floor and 3 boards. Sebastien Martin added 1 and Henri Sarr 2, while Pierre Thompson was scoreless. The Stingers shot 25-61 (.410) from the floor, 6-16 (.375) from the arc and 6-13 (.462) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 14 assists, 13 turnovers, 3 blocks and 6 steals.
The 4th-seeded Brandon Bobcats whipped the 5th-seeded Windsor Lancers 81-54. Windsor built a 31-22 lead by patiently working the ball inside to Kevin Kloostra and Greg Surmacz but then mysteriously stopped defending and decided to run with the Bobcats, essentially allowing racehorse Brandon to scoot to an 18-7 run and a 40-38 lead at the half. Dany Charlery opened the second half by scoring 11 as Brandon extended its lead to six and then buried the Lancers as Nevada-born 6-9 behemoth Yuri Whyms bulled for three buckets in the blocks and Chad Jacobson nailed a pair of treys. “Once we shoot off the rust, we were okay. We needed to run our motion, get things going up and down the floor and once we did, it was over,” said Charlery. Bobcats coach Barnaby Craddock raved about Yul Michel’s defence on Kloostra. “That was the difference in the game.” Windsor coach Chris Oliver lamented defensive lapses. “We were borderline D in stretches. We had so many breakdowns. (After building the lead), we missed a hedge. We missed a switch at the clock. It was a case of bad concentration. We struggled defending the three and we struggled shooting the three.” Chad Jacobson said defence proved the difference. “That’s been our style of game all year long. We like to get up in people’s faces. We like to play up-tempo defence, put pressure on people and make them turn the ball over. I think we did a good job on the defensive end tonight.” Windsor coach Chris Oliver described his team’s defence as “brutal. We gave up back-door cuts, we gave up offensive rebounds. Our team’s a pretty good defensive team, usually and we just had so many breakdowns.” Windsor post Greg Surmacz said “we couldn’t get the looks we wanted (on offence). Their intensity was right up on you. We couldn’t get to the rim as much as we’d like.” Oliver said the Huskies did an excellent job of forcing Surmacz outside. “Even the points he was getting were all perimeter. We didn’t get anything inside. We got pushed off the blocks and we became purely a perimeter team. We just made so many mistakes on defence and they made us pay for everyone. I’m real disappointed by the last five or eight minutes. We should have showed more character than we did.” Steer said “We got ourselves out of sync by taking bad shots. We got uptight on offence and we started pressing and we couldn’t put a run together.” Dany Charlery paced Brandon with 22 points on 9-16 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. David Yul Michel added 17 on 6-7 from the floor, 5-7 from the line and 6 boards. Chad Jacobson notched 16 on 6-18 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc, 5 boards and 4 assists. Adam Hartman scored 9 on 4-13 from the floor, 10 boards and 3 assists. Yuri Whyms notched 8 on 4-9 from the floor, 5 boards and 3 steals. Stevens Marcelin added 4 on 2-4 from the line and 9 boards. Taylor Cherris-Wilding added 3 and Chris Schmidt-Watt 2, while Nathan Grant, Erik Holm, Jon Thompson and Liam Ricci were scoreless. The Bobcats shot 32-69 (.464) from the floor, 8-16 from the arc and 9-14 (.643) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 17 assists, 7 turnovers, 5 blocks and 7 steals. Ryan Steer paced Windsor with 21 on 5-12 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 8-9 from the line and 2 boards. Greg Surmacz added 14 on 6-11 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 8 boards. Kevin Kloostra scored 12 on 5-15 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Greg Allin added 6 on 3-7 from the floor and 11 boards. Rich Allin added 4, Matt Handsor 3, Kevin Cameron 2 and Tyler Carey 2, while Kyle Kane, Corey Boswell and Conor Allin were scoreless. The Lancers shot 24-62 (.387) from the floor, 4-25 (.160) from the arc and 12-17 (.706) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 13 assists, 9 turnovers, 3 blocks and 4 steals.
The spotlight was on the 2nd-seeded U.B.C. Thunderbirds, who were hoping to finally shake the choke tag that hung around their necks after losses to lower seeds in their past three appearances at the Canadian Interuniversity Sports men’s basketball championships. But it was point guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe’s coming out party as the 7th-seeded University of Ottawa Gee-Gees dusted the T-Birds 92-85. Gibson-Bascombe dominated the floor, scoring 23 while dishing 7 assists and masterminding the offensive attack as the Gee-Gees rallied from a two-point half-time deficit to secure their first win on the championships side of the draw since 1993. “I just wanted to do whatever I could to help us win,” said Gibson-Bascombe. “We had good ball pressure, good team defence and we just ran our offence well.” The opening half featured a phenomenal set of runs, including 17-0 and 9-0 outbursts by the Gee-Gees, and 10-0 and 9-0 blasts by the Thunderbirds. The Gee-Gees spotted the T-Birds an opening bucket but then exploded for 17 unanswered points, including a pair of three-pointers from Alex McLeod and singletons from Jermaine Campbell and Gibson-Bascombe. Matt Rachar finally stemmed the three-point outburst by posting-up for a layup and the Thunderbirds began attacking with the penetration-dribble, drawing a second defender, and dishing the ball to open teammates for uncontested layups as they countered with a 10-0 run before Gibson-Bascombe resumed the three-point barrage with a pair from beyond the arc to rebuild Ottawa’s lead to 25-14. Willy Manigat promptly added another as the Gee-Gees doubled-up U.B.C. 28-14. But Gibson-Bascombe was forced to the bench with his second foul and the Birds began pounding the ball inside to Bryson Kool to ignite their own 9-0 run and rally within 28-23. A bit of normalcy finally set in as the teams began exchanging buckets and the Birds began capitalizing from the free throw line to take a 39-37 lead at the half. Gibson-Bascombe’s return re-animated the Gee-Gees in the second half. He found Dax Dessereault, Curtis Shakespeare for buckets in the low post, drained another trey and then found Campbell on a run-out transition as the Gee-Gees rebuilt a 55-53 lead and then exploded for a 15-2 run featuring an array of dazzling low post buckets by Campbell. Archibald drove for a slam-dunk and a layup, and drilled a trey U.B.C. ripped-off a 14-2 run to trim the margin to 72-71 with seven minutes to play. Gibson-Bascombe had the answers, though. He threaded the ball to Sean Peter on a backdoor cut and McLeod on an in-bounds play and then drilled another trey as the Gee-Gees regained a slim lead which they maintained down the stretch and then iced the win with five free throws in the final minute. The Gee-Gees wanted to demonstrate they were a deserving selection as wildcard, said Campbell. “People didn’t think we should be here and we really wanted to prove that we did.” McLeod added that “we played without doubt. We got a good start and kept the pressure on.” Gee-Gees coach David DeAveiro said his troops couldn’t have performed more effectively. “Everybody got a chance to see how great Josh is going to be and our fifth-year seniors really stepped up in the second half.” Thunderbirds coach Kevin Hanson called it one of the toughest losses he’s experienced. “You can’t give up 19 offensive rebounds in a quarterfinal and expect to win. They crushed us on the glass and turned the ball over too many times. … It was really a game of runs. Especially in the first half, we had to come back from so far behind, I think that maybe hurt us a little down the stretch. … You just can’t give up 19 offensive rebounds in a quarterfinal national championship game and expect to win. I thought they crushed us on the glass and we turned the ball over too much, two things we tried to work on this year. I was proud of the guys though – we made two really big runs to tie it and go ahead, and Casey had a heck of a game. But you need more than one guy to win this time of year. … Casey cramped up because we had to give him so many minutes and he’s just coming off an illness. You can’t ask anything more than he did for us tonight but unfortunately, as a team we didn’t have the performance we needed against a very tough team.” Josh Gibson-Bascombe paced the Gee-Gees with 23 points on 7-10 from the floor, 5-7 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 5 boards, 7 assists and 5 steals. Jermaine Campbell added 20 on 5-8 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 8-16 from the line, 9 boards and 3 assists. Alex McLeod scored 14 on 3-8 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 6-7 from the line and 3 boards. Dax Dessureault scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Sean Peter scored 6 on 2-7 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Willy Manigat notched 6 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Donnie Gibson added 3 while David Labentowicz was scoreless. Ottawa shot 29-65 (.446) from the floor, 11-24 (.458) from the arc and 23-37 (.622) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 19 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 19 assists, 16 turnovers, 2 blocks and 11 steals. Casey Archibald led U.B.C. with 32 on 13-15 from the floor, 5-6 from the arc, 1-4 from the line and 3 boards. Bryson Kool notched 13 on 5-8 from the floor, 34- from the line and 8 boards. Jason Birring scored 13 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 5-6 from the line. Matt Rachar scored 8 on 3-4 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Adam Friesen added 7 on 3-5 from the floor. Chris Dyck scored 6 on 2-12 from the floor and 4 boards. Alex Murphy added 4 and Cody Berg 2, while Brett Leversage and Brent Malish were scoreless. The Thunderbirds shot 31-55 (.564) from the floor, 8-14 (.571) from the arc and 15-21 (.714) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 28 fouls, 12 assists, 20 turnovers, 1 block and 9 steals.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Carleton Ravens rode their stoic bulldog defence and impeccable ball movement against a zone to an easy win while stomping the 6th-seeded Acadia Axemen 86-38 to extend their undefeated streak in this Maritime seaport to 15 games. Carleton’s defence was, well, Raven-like in its focus and intensity. Their rotations and weak-side defensive help were crisp, instantaneous and suffocating as they readily dispatched the Axemen on a night in which all four conference postseason tournament champs went down to defeat. So stifling was the Ravens defence that they held the Axemen to third lowest scoring output in CIS history. Only U.B.C., with 36 in 1963, and Bishop’s with 37, in 1967, had more anemic offensive production. And only a last-second three pointer by Patrick McIver prevented the Ravens from setting new records in both categories. Defence was the focus and the key, said forward Rob Saunders. “That’s what we’re going to do. That’s our identity.” Guard Ryan Bell said the Ravens were determined to atone for a lackadaisical defensive effort in their last outing, a loss to Windsor in the Wilson Cup. We played with fear on defence. We’re fearing right now. So, on the defence end and the rebounding end, we definitely came out with fear. That’s our cue. That’s what motivates us.” Indeed, the Ravens dominated both defensively. and on the boards, where the out-worked Acadia by a 42-28 margin. The Ravens repeatedly posted-up Aaron Doornekamp and Kevin McCleery as they broke to an early 15-10 lead despite shooting the ball poorly from the perimeter. Ryan Bell drained a trey to ignite a 10-0 run as Carleton extended its lead to double digits. Although their ballhandling was occasionally sloppy, their ball movement against Acadia’s zone was often breathtaking as they whipped the ball into the gaps to create open looks and took a 38-17 lead at the break on a series of mid-range jumpers by Stuart Turnbull, Osvaldo Jeanty, Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie and Daron Leonard. The Ravens continued to dominate the defensive boards and defend like they were in a nailbiter as they turned the affair into a total rout in the second half. Their lead (36) far exceeded the Axemen’s output (25) with 10 minutes to play. It only got worse, from Acadia’s perspective, although Carleton coach Dave Smart was soon exploring the dimensions of his bench and player combinations that typically are only seen during Ravens practice. The margin reached as many 51 and might well have exceeded the remaining fans in the audience, where it not for Ravens supporters in the stands who opted to savour the moment instead of the fabled flavours of the dozens of local saloons within walking distance of the Centre. Smart said he couldn’t have expected more effort at the defensive end of the floor. “When we’re successful, that’s what we do and that’s certainly what we did tonight.” Jean-Marie noted that “our focus was defence. Last weekend, we went down to Windsor and I guess we were cocky and lost by nine. Our focus all week was to play defence like we now we can.” Acadia coach Les Barry said his troop’s inexperience was evident. “The bottom line is we were a little bit timid. The rebounding and the defensive intensity that they bring every game is why they’re the four-time champions. That’s the thing that’s unmatchable by most teams in the country and that’s why they’ve won four in a row. They bring it every single possession and they don’t take one off. … It doesn’t matter if you lose by one, or 40, or 50. The bottom line is that were timid and hopefully our guys will learn from it. Paulo (Santana) was attacking. Andrew (Kraus) was attacking but Achuil (Lula) and Luckern (Dieu) … It was a tough night in the post for them. … We have a young team. It’s a long haul to be a good program.” McCleery said “I don’t think we were trying to make a statement, we just wanted to defend every possession and play as good as we can. You don’t want to come out and take anyone lightly, and we didn’t. I don’t think they had their best night, and we played pretty well.” Kevin McCleery paced Carleton with 15 points on 7-9 from the floor, 1-1 from the line and 9 boards. Aaron Doornekamp added 14 on 5-9 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 6 boards and 5 assists. Osvaldo Jeanty notched 13 on 3-11 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 3 assists and 2 steals. Mike Kenny added 9 on 3-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-5 from the line and 3 assists. Jean-Emmanuelle Jean-Marie scored 8 on 4-8 from the floor. Stuart Turnbull notched 7 on 2-10 from the floor and 3-3 from the line. Ryan Bell scored 7 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3 assists and 3 steals. Sheldon Stewart, Shawn McCleery and Luke Chapman each scored 3, while Daron Leonard and Rob Saunders each notched 7. Saunders nabbed 7 boards. The Ravens shot 31-67 (.463) from the floor, 7-22 (.318) from the arc and 17-20 (.850) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 22 assists, 10 turnovers, 2 blocks and 13 steals. Paolo Santana paced Acadia with 12 points on 5-12 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 9 boards. Achuil Lual added 6 on 1-2 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. Patrick McIver notched 6 on 2-2 from the arc. Shawn Berry scored 5 on 1-4 from the floor and 3-5 from the line. Andrew Kraus scored 4 on 1-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Jordan Sheriko added 2, Adam Philpott 2 and Luckern Dieu 1, while Peter Leighton, Chris Ogbuah, Mike Folker and Alex Traikov were scoreless. The Axemen hit 10-40 from the floor, 2-9 (.222) from the arc and 16-23 (.696) from the line, while garnering 28 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 3 assists, 22 turnovers, 2 blocks and 5 steals.
The semis are a time of years when coaches trot out all the clichés, the ‘one game at a time’ and ‘stay within yourself’ stuff. Yet there’s good reason for the coachspeak, as the 4th-seeded Brandon Bobcats proved while executing their game plan with a measure of precision to register a 79-74 win over the 8th-seeded Saint Mary’s Huskies. The Bobcats dominated the boards as they built an 18-point lead and then withstood a furious Huskies rally in the highly physical affair, which featured 41 second whistles. Leading scorer Adam Hartman said the Bobcats were able to get the Huskies to play Brandon’s preferred running game, particularly in the first half. “We also held them to 27 points in that first half. That’s good defence for us.” But the boardwork proved the difference, Hartman added. “It definitely worked out for us. They didn’t get as many shots as us.” Brandon rode the mid-range jump shooting of Hartman to a 17-13 lead midway through the first half. The Huskies attempted to slow the tempo and be more patient with their shots but couldn’t hit the open jumpers, allowing Brandon to extend its lead to 10 as American-born post Yuri Whyms powered to a series of putback offensive rebounds. A late 8-2 run, including a buzzer beating 8-foot runner by Cordell Wright, rallied the Huskies to within 31-27 at the half. Chad Jacobsen nailed a trey and Dany Charlery hit a pair of runners as Brandon opened the second frame with an 7-0 run. With the Bobcats continuing to dominate the defensive boards, their physical defence keeping Saint Mary’s from finding any kind of comfort zone within their offence, and Jacobson nailing a pair from beyond the arc, his fourth and fifth three-pointers of the match, Brandon extended its lead to 61-43 midway through the second half. Mark McLaughlin began attacking with the penetration dribble as the Huskies scrapped back to within 77-74 on an Eric Glavik offensive tip with 13 seconds to play before Charlery finally embedded the dagger on Saint Mary hopes with a pair of free throws with 12.1 seconds on the clock to ice the win. “They pushed us to the limit,” said Bobcats coach Barnaby Craddock. “Different people stepped up. Hartman was almost unstoppable at the beginning of the game in the low post. Jacobson hit some big treys when we needed them early in the second half. That forced them out of the zone.” Huskies post Clint Bateman said Brandon’s physical defence was formidable. “We expected to be physical. But what can you do? And the refs call it tight some nights, and sometimes not.” Mclaughlin said “we didn’t move well on offence and defensively, we just didn’t work hard enough to win that game. They were able to do whatever they wanted to do.” Quackenbush said a switch to a zone at the start of the second half was a mistake: “That was like throwing gas on the fire, apparently. … My guys, I’ve got to take my hat off to them. Clearly, they’ve exceeded everybody else’s expectations. I don’t think they’ve exceeded their own expectations, quite frankly, nor mind. There was certainly no quit out there. They worked like dogs.” Craddock noted that “I want to strangle our team. We should have made more free throws and we gave the opportunity to get back in the game.” Chad Jacobson said that “when we go to a run, we’re a pretty tough team to beat. But I give them a lot of credit. They played with a lot of heart right to the end.” McLaughlin said of St. Mary’s rally that “we decided to start working hard and finally attacking the basket and playing hard defence. … We didn’t move well on offence and defensively we just didn’t work hard enough to win that game. They were able to do whatever they wanted to do.” Yul Michel noted that the crowd was intimidating. “Everybody was cheering for Saint Mary’s and we got a little bit rattled. But we stuck it out.” Quackenbush was elated with his troop’s effort. “I’ll take my hat off to all my guys. They’ve exceeded everyone else’s expectations. There was certainly no quit out there. Another break or two wouldn’t have hurt, though.” Chad Jacobson noted that “when we go on a run, we’re a pretty tough team to beat. But I give them a lot of credit, they played with a lot of heart right to the end.” Adam Hartman paced Brandon with 20 points on 7-13 from the floor, 6-8 from the line and 7 boards. Dany Charlery added 18 on 4-16 from the floor, 10-14 from the line, 7 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Chad Jacobson notched 17 on 6-7 from the floor, 5-6 from the line and 4 boards. Yuri Whyms scored 9 on 4-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the line, 12 boards and 2 steals. David Yul Michel notched 7 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-5 from the line, 5 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Stevens Marcelin scored 4 on 2-3 from the floor and 5 boards. Jon Thompson added 2 and Nathan Grant 2, while Taylor Cherris-Wilding and Chris Schmidt-Watt were scoreless. The Bobcats shot 27-56 (.482) from the floor, 5-11 (.455) from the arc and 20-41 (.488) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 23 fouls, 15 assists, 11 turnovers, 3 blocks and 10 steals. Mark McLaughlin paced Saint Mary’s with 20 points on 5-11 from the floor and 10-13 from the line. Cordell Wright added 13 on 5-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Clint Bateman notched 12 on 3-13 from the floor, 2-9 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 7 boards. Erik Glavic scored 9 on 4-5 from the floor and 8 boards. Mark Ross scored 9 on 3-8 from the floor, 3-6 from the line and 7 assists. Mike Poole notched 6 on 3-4 from the floor and 3 boards. Ikeobi Uchegbu scored 4 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the line, 8 boards and 3 assists. Basil Habib and Sean Boulay were scoreless. The Huskies shot 25-56 (.446) from the floor, 3-16 (.188) from the arc and 21-33 (.636) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 29 fouls, 14 assists, 11 turnovers, 2 blocks and 4 steals.
There’s no question the Carleton Ravens are now viewed as national villains. There’s so many fans and coaches that want to see them lose that you’d think Darth Vader had been re-incarnated as a big black bird. That opinion, of course, has long been held by the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, who for years, have toiled in agony and obscurity while the boys from the other end of the Rideau Canal racked-up four consecutive CIS crowns. The rabid emotions and tempers were even more inflamed as the latest installment of embittered rivalry, known euphemistically in Ottawa as The Canal War, was played out a national stage – the CIS semi-finals. The Ravens, though, again had all the answers as they spanked the Gee-Gees 80-58. “We wanted to prove a point. They caused us fits the whole year,” said guard Osvaldo Jeanty. “Sometimes the crowd helped them a lot, the frenzy. But this time there was kind of a neutral court. We’re used to playing them and the guys knew that if we defended them, we could beat them because we could get whatever we wanted on offence.” Post Aaron Doornekamp added that “the guys were pretty fired up for this one. We defended pretty hard and we rebounded hard and that’s what we have to do. But we gotta go game by game and now we gotta come out tomorrow and play just as hard.” The 7th-seeded Gee-Gees matched the Ravens defensive intensity and both squads limited each other’s second-chance opportunities as Ottawa built an early 8-4 lead on aggressive baseline play from Sean Peter. But Kevin McCleery came off the bench to get the Carleton offence on track, ripping down a tough offensive board and dishing the ball to Stuart Turnbull for a jumper, posting up for a bucket and then drilling a 15-foot baseline jumper as the Ravens gained a 16-10 edge. After twice forcing the Ravens into shot-clock violations, the Gee-Gees knotted the score at 16-16 on a Willy Manigat runner in the lane. Turnbull countered with three free throws and Jeanty with a trey as Carleton exploded for an 8-0 mini-run before Curtis Shakespeare stemmed the bleeding with a turnaround jumper. Manigat drove the paint an old-fashioned three-point play and then nailed a trey to trim the margin to 27-24 as the Ravens struggled with Ottawa’s quick traps. With both squads more than willing to level one another before relinquishing anything like an open look and the officials determined to shutdown the fierce, physical play in the blocks, buckets were all but bought with blood until Jeanty drilled a trey and four late free throws to give Carleton a 37-29 lead heading into the lockers. The Ravens defence shifted into total lock-down mode in the second half. The off-the-ball defence by Bell and Rob Saunders all but made Gee-Gees star Josh Gibson-Bascombe invisible and essentially prevented Ottawa from initiating their offence. Doornekamp nailed a trey, Jeanty drove for a left-hand layup and Carleton twice found McCleery in the blocks of high-low entry passes to extend the Ravens margin to 46-33. Bell and Saunders added to the three-ball barrage and the Ravens ball movement reverted to its characteristically crisp and error-free national form as Carleton extended its lead to as many as 31 down the stretch and coasted to the surprisingly easy win. Coach Dave Smart said his troops were focused. “When we defend, we’re tough. We defended and rebounded and we made the open shots that we haven’t made at other times. Through the year, we got to know what they like to do and what they don’t like to do and we did a pretty good job of making them do some of the things they don’t like doing.” Smart added that the Ravens familiarity with the Gee-Gees quick traps on screens was a plus. “After a while you get used to the trapping and the gambling and you get more comfortable with handling it and getting good shots at the end of it. … We shot the ball a lot better than we’ve shot it in the past against them. They’re a tough defensive team but we were just more comfortable. I think playing here in Halifax, it takes a little bit of the emotion out of it and they’re a very emotional team. When we play them in Ottawa, it’s a zoo.” Gee-Gees coach David DeAveiro said his troops simply had an off-night with their marksmanship. “Their defence is what it is. It’s very good. It’s probably one of the best in the country but we just didn’t make shots. We got some good looks but we just didn’t make them. They made everything today.” Osvaldo Jeanty paced the Ravens with 21 points on 5-10 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 8-10 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists. Aaron Doornekamp added 15 on 6-12 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 10 boards and 3 assists. Ryan Bell notched 10 on 3-8 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists. Jean-Emmanuelle Jean-Marie scored 9 on 4-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 2 boards. Kevin McCleery notched 9 on 4-4 from the floor and 3 boards. Stuart Turnbull scored 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 6 boards and 7 assists. Rob Saunders scored 6 on 2-3 from the arc. Mike Kenny added 2, while Shawn McCleery, Luke Chapman, Daron Leonard and Sheldon Stewart were scoreless. The Ravens shot 26-47 (.553) from the floor, 11-23 (.478) from the arc and 17-22 (.773) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 24 fouls, 21 assists, 15 turnovers, 4 blocks and 2 steals. Sean Peter paced Ottawa with 12 on 4-8 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 2 boards. Josh Gibson-Bascombe added 12 on 3-11 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 5-8 from the line and 3 steals. Willy Manigat notched 11 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Curtis Shakespeare notched 7 on 2-8 from the floor, 3-5 from the line and 5 boards. Alex McLeod scored 6 on 2-10 from the field. Dax Dessureault scored 4 on 4-6 from the line and 5 boards. Donnie Gibson added 3, Jermaine Campbell 2 and Nemanja Baletic 2, while David Labentowicz, Terry Hawryluk and Shawn Allen were scoreless. The Gee-Gees shot 17-56 (.304) from the floor, 4-17 (.235) from the arc and 20-31 (.645) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 7 assists, 5 turnovers, 2 blocks and 5 steals.
People often talk about heart as the determining factor in a game, as if all the beating and pumping of the ventricles and aorta were the hinge on which outcomes turn. Maybe that’s true. Or maybe it’s just will, or brainpower, or mental toughness or even simple stubbornness. Whatever it is, the Carleton Ravens have it in spades, in crazy, ludicrous quantities, as they demonstrated by capturing their fifth consecutive Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s basketball crown by extinguishing the prairie storm otherwise known as the Brandon Bobcats 52-49. Carleton delivered a defensive gem in the lowest scoring championship final in CIS history, while hitting a mere 18-of-67 from the floor, for 26.9 per cent, the lowest known field goal percentage for a CIS winner. The Ravens said there simply wasn’t an effort they wouldn’t have made or a length they wouldn’t have gone to just to help star guard Osvaldo Jeanty fulfil his dream of capturing five consecutive CIS crowns. “It was Oz’s last game and we didn’t want to let him down and we got it done. That’s all that matters,” said Rob Saunders. Tournament MVP Aaron Doornekamp added he felt compelled to step up and hit several big buckets down the stretch given the Bobcats defensive focus on Jeanty. “They took away Oz’s shots and somebody had to hit them,” Doornekamp. “In the end, Oz made it easy for us. To say he wasn’t the best player on the floor was ridiculous because he had five guys coming at him all the time. I just had to hit a few open shots.” Jeanty was characteristically humble. “It was tough. Today, I didn’t shoot the ball particularly well but I had to keep on shooting because my team trusts me. Fortunately, all the guys made some big plays. I just feel great right now. I can’t thank my teammates enough.” Both teams were tight early as the Ravens missed a half-dozen open looks and the Bobcats shot selection was somewhat suspect. But Doornekmap exploded for seven unanswered points, capped by a corner trey, to get Carleton on track and Saunders added a pair of three-pointers as the Ravens clawed to a 15-10 lead midway through the half. Both squads quickly established they’d put a body on anybody who flashed to the post and double-down on any post entry passes, making it a slugfest in the paint. Carleton, though, maintained a slim lead by controlling the defensive glass to limit the Bobcats to one-and-done opportunities, while ripping down board after board on the other end of the floor. Dany Charlery soared for a slam dunk off an in-bounds feed from Yul Michel and Stevens Marcelin swatted away a Jeanty runner to inflame Bobcat passions and rally Brandon within 21-19. But after six consecutive misses from the arc, Jeanty hit a trey in response. He added a 12-foot pull-up jumper and then a 24-foot bomb in the final minute to give Carleton a 32-26 edge heading into the lockers. Adam Hartman hit a free throw to break a 2.5-minute scoring drought to open the second half but Stuart Turnbull responded by attacking the bucket for a penetration layup. The Ravens, though, continued to struggle from the field, which allowed Brandon to claw back within 36-34 with 12 minutes to play. Although Carleton kept controlling the offensive glass, the lid remained on the basket and Ravens went over four minutes without a point until Jeanty buried a trey. Michel drove the baseline for a bucket and Marcelin notched a putback rebound to knot the score at 39 with 9:15 to play. But Carleton broke Brandon’s full-court press for a layup by Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie and trapped Charlery into a turnover. Jean-Marie ripped down two enormous rebounds which, in turn, led to a Doornekamp free throw and a 42-39 Ravens lead with 5:33 to play. An ensuing two-minute scoring drought ended when Marcelin hit a pair of free throws to trim the margin to one. Hartman added a pair to give the Bobcats a 43-42 lead with 3:19 on the clock. Doornekamp answered with a trey. Chad Jacobson countered with one for Brandon and then Doornekamp drilled another three with 1:54 to play. Jeanty hit an off-balance runner with 1:13 to play and then ripped down an enormous defensive rebound as Carleton took a 50-46 lead into the final minute of play. A Bobcat ballhandling miscue gave the Ravens the ball. Doornekamp hit a free throw but Jacobson drained a trey with 17 seconds on the clock to cut the lead to 51-49. Turnbull notched a free throw with 9.3 seconds on the clock to give Carleton a 52-49 lead, setting the stage for a desperate trey to force overtime but Hartman bounced it off the back of the rim at the buzzer. Doornekamp said the Ravens were able to dictate the style of play. “This is the brand of basketball we wanted to play with them. We didn’t want to get up-and-down and run with them. You can look at their line-up and see they’re way more athletic than we are. We wanted it to be a defensive battle and we made it a defensive battle.” Turnbull called it the “ugliest final in CIS history. We did it with rebounding and defence. It paid off again.” Jean-Marie anticipated a raft of bruises on his body today. “They’re a big team and physical. We knew we had to take care of the bigs on defence and just let the guards rebound. Tomorrow, we’ll all be feeling pretty bruised but it’s worth it.” Ravens coach Dave Smart called it a classic. “It was just one of those games, two teams playing championship basketball. That’s why they were in the final, because they defend and rebound. They did as good or better job defending us as we did on them. We didn’t get any good looks the entire game. Even Aaron’s two threes at the end were a product of them being afraid of his penetration. But they were tough shots. And Oz’s shot in the lane was just as tough.” Tournament MVP Aaron Doornekamp said the award “means a lot to me.” He’s watched the 2007 tournament from the bench after injuring his ankle late in the season. “You don’t know how much you miss it until you actually do miss it.” Jeanty said “Brandon’s so talented. Their athleticism gave us trouble today on defence. They’re a real tough team.” Coach Dave Smart said “Brandon did an unbelievable job defensively.” Smart added that Doornekamp is “the toughest matchup in the country. You don’t want him to get it in the paint, then all of a sudden he’s got two decent looks from three and that’s the game.” Dany Charlery said Carleton has “been here five years in a row, they know how to play here. They’ve got a little bit more experience than us. But we gave it our best and did the best we could. We got to this game because we worked hard. They’ve been here five times, so they know how to make decisions a little better than us. But not by much.” Brandon coach Barnaby Craddock noted that “I hope at some point I’ll feel better about it, but right now I feel like we’re a championship team, and it’s heartbreaking. Basketball’s cruel, when one possession can decide a champion or not. I’d like to see us holding that trophy. I’d like to see the guys in that room holding that trophy. It’s really difficult right now. … If we play ‘em again, we beat ‘em.” Brandon had eight seconds to hit a game-tying three but couldn’t deliver. “We were trying to set a screen with Chad Jacobson and then trail him off to the weak side,” said Craddock, the CIS coach of the year. “But the play broke down a little bit and we ended up with a desperation trey from Hartman and it went off the back rim. That’s how close the game was.” Jeanty joined Victoria players Eli Pasquale, David Sheehan and Ryan Burles as the only players to pick up five gold medals. “Jay Triano (former national team coach) always said ‘It’s better to aim high and fail than aim low and succeed,’” said Jeanty. “Even if we didn’t win five, I would still have been very proud of my career here. … My drive for five is over. I never thought in my life I’d be able to do it. I wanted to set my goals as high as possible. Even if we didn’t win five, I would be proud of my career here.” In the annals of Canadian Interuniversity Sport hoops history and in the minds of those who have witnessed the now-infamous drive for five, there will never be another of the ilk of Osvaldo Jeanty. There may well be another player who accomplishes the task, what with Carleton Ravens closing in on the University of Victoria Vikes record seven consecutive crowns, and hosting the next three in Ottawa as five-peat champs, having clipped the Brandon Bobcats 51-49 las2 night at the Metro Centre. Yet, as Jeanty hoisted the W.P. McGee Trophy emblematic of CIS supremacy for the fifth consecutive campaign and closed the book on his storied university career, the 5,064 fans in attendance knew they were privileged to see the final performance of a player who imposed his will on the tournament like none before. It wasn’t just that he’d again been selected to the all-tournament team, or the 13, 21 and 15 points he potted in Carleton’s three-game run to the 2007 title, or even the absolutely phenomenal capacity he’d demonstrated, again and again, to handle the pressure of the moment and hit the big bucket when his Ravens most needed it. Rather, it was the fierce competitiveness and quiet humility that he’d invariably displayed on the hardcourt, the respect for foes, the uncommon grace and civility he showed towards all and sundry in every post-game celebration. It was the also improbability of his stardom, the kid with the rickety knees and strange gait in an odd-shaped body that was strong as an ox. And it was the way he improved with each passing year, using envy and hatred to motivate him to work hard, and then harder, to get better, and then even better. Whether leading by 40 or trailing by 10, he dove for loose balls, clawed for boards, hurled his body into the path of foes, and accepted nothing less than same effort from his teammates. Few were more deserving of the game ball that Jeanty ran down as a souvenir keepsake in the immediate aftermath of the win, raising his fist high in triumph to the delight of Carleton’s rabid fans. It’s been an incredible run, Jeanty said. “But it’s my time to go. And I did what I came here to do. Five for five. It’s absolutely the greatest feeling ever. … I knew coming into university that I had to work really hard to achieve what I wanted to achieve. I wanted the challenge and I wanted to set my goals as high as possible. And even if we didn’t make it this year, I still would have proud. I would’ve had tried to be perfect but we weren’t perfect, I knew that we were still pretty darn good.” Ravens coach Dave Smart said Jeanty has been a one-of-a-kind player and a dream to coach. “Oz is Oz. Win or lose today, Oz was still going to be the type of person, that every person who was in contact with him, can learn a whole lot of about life from. If he was 6-6 and 230, he’d be making a lot of money winning different types of championships.” Aaron Doornekamp paced Carleton with 20 points on 6-16 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Osvaldo Jeanty added 15 on 5-19 from the floor, 3-13 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Rob Saunders added 6 on 2-3 from the arc and 4 boards. Stuart Turnbull scored 5 on 2-9 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Jean-Emmanuelle Jean-Marie notched 4 on 2-7 from the floor and 6 boards. Kevin McCleery scored 2. Ryan Bell was scoreless while nabbing 9 boards. Mike Kenny and Daron Leonard were also scoreless. The Ravens hit 18-67 (.269) from the floor, 9-31 (.290) from the arc and 7-12 (.583) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 10 assists, 8 turnovers and 3 steals. Dany Charlery paced the Bobcats with 13 on 4-12 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 8 boards and 4 assists. Stevens Marcelin notched 13 on 4-8 from the floor, 5-8 from the line and 9 boards. Adam Hartman scored 7 on 1-8 from the floor, 5-6 from the line and 5 boards. Chad Jacobson scored 6 on 2-4 from the arc. Taylor Cherris-Wilding scored 6 on 3-3 from the floor. David Yul Michel notched 4 on 2-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Yuri Whyms, Nathan Grant and Chris Schmidt-Watt were scoreless. The Bobcats hit 16-44 (.364) from the floor, 4-11 (.364) from the arc and 13-18 (.722) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 8 assists, 10 turnovers, 1 block and 2 steals.
The all-tournament team featured MVP Aaron Doornekamp (Carleton); Osvaldo Jeanty (Carleton); Dany Charlery (Brandon); David Yul Michel (Brandon); Josh Gibson-Bascombe (Ottawa); and Mark McLaughlin (St. Mary’s)
The co-bronze medalist uOttawa Gee-Gees: Josh Gibson-Bascombe; Jermaine Campbell; Alex McLeod; Dax Dessureault; Willy Manigat; Curtis Shakespeare; Donnie Gibson; David Labentowicz; Sean Peter; Shawn Allen; Terry Hawryluk; Nemanja Baletic; Jamie Robinson; Alex Wright; Alexandre Duford; Alex Ethier; coach David DeAveiro
The co-bronze medalist St. Mary’s Huskies: Mark McLaughlin; Cordell Wright; Clint Bateman; Erik Glavic; Mark Ross; Ikeobi Uchegbu; Mike Poole; Aaron Duncan; Sean Boulay; coach Ross Quackenbush
The silver medalist Brandon Bobcats: Yul Michel; Chad Jacobson; Dany Charlery; Adam Hartman; Yuri Whyms; Taylor Cherris-Wilding; Nathan Grant; Erik Holm; Chris Schmidt-Watt; Liam Ricci; Jon Thomson; Stevens Marcelin; John Whitt; R.J. Rai; coach Barnaby Craddock; assistant Mike Raimbault; therapist Steve Dzubinski; athletic director Rick Nickelhok; SID Jeremy Sawatzky
The champion Carleton Ravens: Osvaldo Jeanty; Aaron Doornekamp; Ryan Bell; Stuart Turnbull; Rob Saunders; Jean-Emmanuelle Jean-Marie; Kevin McCleery; Shawn McCleery; Mike Kenny; Daron Leonard; Sheldon Stewart; Luke Chapman; Derek McConnery; Abdul Kosar; Jordan Pleet; Graeme Scott; coach Dave Smart; assistant Taffe Charles; assistant Rob Smart Jr.; assistant Bill Arden; assistant Dean Petridis; assistant Andy Stewart; therapist Bruce Marshall; therapist Adam Davies; manager Paul Blackman; SID David Kent; athletic director Drew Love