(1) Carleton 81            
(8) Acadia 64 Carleton 76        
(4) Alberta 62 Ryerson 84 Ryerson 77    
(5) Ryerson 88            
              —–CALGARY  
(2) Calgary 78            
(7) Brock 76 Calgary 65 Calgary 79    
(3) McGill 88 McGill 43        
(6) New Brunswick 57            

SEEDING

1. Carleton Ravens (OUA champions: 23-0 regular season / 3-0 playoffs / 32-0 v CIS)

2. Calgary Dinos (Canada West champs: 16-4 regular season / 5-0 playoffs / 26-5 v CIS)

3. McGill Redmen (RSEQ champions: 14-2 regular season / 2-0 playoffs / 21-4 v CIS)

4. Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West runner-up: 19-1 regular season / 4-1 playoffs / 27-2 v CIS)

5. Ryerson Rams (OUA runner-up: 17-6 regular season / 3-1 playoffs / 21-9 v CIS)

6. New Brunswick Varsity Reds (AUS champs: 16-4 regular season / 3-0 playoffs / 26-6 v CIS)

7. Brock Badgers (OUA semifinalist – wild card / 21-3 regular season / 1-1 playoffs / 25-4 v CIS)

8. Acadia Axemen (Host – AUS quarterfinalist: 15-5 regular season / 0-1 playoffs / 19-11 v CIS)

In the quarterfinals, the 3rd-seeded McGill Redmen pounded the 6th-seeded New Brunswick Varsity Red 88-57 as their full-court forced 22 turnovers, while five players notched double-figures in a balanced attack. “It doesn’t matter who scores, as long as we score,” said Redmen coach David DeAveiro. “It’s much harder to guard a team that’s got more than one or two weapons when you’ve got five to 10. That’s something we’ve been preaching all year.” The press limited the touches of the Usports all-time leading scorer, Javon Masters, and forced him into three first-quarter turnovers. “All season long we pressured teams and we thought that might not be a good idea with Masters because he’s so good with the ball,” said DeAveiro. “But we decided to stick with our identity on defence and try to wear him down. Then in the half court, we wanted him to see as many McGill bodies as possible every time he touched the ball.” McGill opened with a 6-0 run. The Reds responded with a 7-0 run but Sam Jenkins and Dele Ogundokun responded with back-to-back treys to give McGill a 13-9 lead. UNB ended the quarter on a 7-3 on five points by Jesse Kendall to knot the score at 16. “We started out flat, but we got into a little bit of a flow,” said Masters. “Their (McGill) pressure really got into us. We made that an emphasis in our game plan to try and neutralize their pressure and we didn’t do a really good job of it.” The Redmen used an 11-1 run to open the second quarter and Varsity Reds coach Brent Baker was soon hit with a technical for complaining about the officiating. The Redmen led 45-30 at the half, 66-42 after three quarters, and by as many as 30. “We’ve been here many times. We have a veteran group and each year we’ve gotten better at nationals due to our experience,” Ogundokun said. “This year with all of the experience, I think we’re over the hump now and it’s time to break new barriers.” Ogundokun was named player of the game for the Redmen, while Javon Masters earned the laurels for the Varsity Reds. Dele Ogundokun paced the Redmen with 17 on 6-11 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Sebastian Beckett added 13 on 3-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 6-8 from the line and 3 boards. Jenning Leung added 12 on 3-8 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 2 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Alex Paquin scored 12 on 4-9 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 3 assists. Noah Daoust added 11 on 3-5 from the floor, 5-5 from the line and 5 boards. Daniel Pieper scored 8 on 2-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-8 from the line and 7 boards. Sam Jenkins notched 7 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 assists. Avery Cadogan scored 4 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Levi Londole added 2 on 1-1 from the floor. Francois Bourque scored 1 on 0-1 from the floor, 01 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Isaiah Cummins added 1 on 0-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 1-2 from the line, while Greg Trahan was scoreless. The Redmen hit 26-58 (.448) from the floor, 11-24 (.458) from the arc and 25-38 (.658) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 9 steals, 3 blocks, 13 turnovers and 22 fouls. Javon Masters led the Varsity Reds with 19 on 7-16 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 2 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Tyrell Leotaud added 10 on 5-11 form the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 4 boards. Jesse Kendall scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor and 2-5 from the arc. Ogot Ogot added 7 on 2-9 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 4 boards. Daniel Pitcher scored 4 on 1-6 from the floor 0-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line the 3 boards. Chris Spurrell scored 3 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 5 boards and 2 assists. Hess Mayele added 3 on 1-1 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Ibrahima Doumbouya added 2 on 0-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 6 boards. Cooper Wilks scored 1 on 1-2 from the line and 4 boards, while Ravaughn Gale, Will Legere and Dylan Baker were scoreless. The Varsity Reds hit 20-64 (.313) from the floor, 4-23 (.174) from the arc and 13-20 (.650) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 22 turnovers and 33 fouls.

        The 2nd-seeded Calgary Dinos edged the 7th-seeded Brock Badgers 78-76 on a driving layup by Mambi Diawara with 45 seconds to play. Transfer guard Lucas Mannes came off the bench to hit five treys over a 19-minute stretch as the Dinos held off the Badgers. Brock took its first lead of the game at 62-60 with 6:27 to play when in the fourth when Godsman Kwakwah nailed a trey. Mannes responded with a trio from beyond the arc. Brock re-took the lead at 70-66 as Mannes knocked down another trey. Then, with two minutes to play, he broke a 72-72 tie with yet another triple. “You need unsung heroes,” said Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren. “Everybody scouts so well, they know who your guys are, and you need other guys to step up. Different players have done that for us all year, and today it was Lucas. Mannes said “I want to be able to make small plays that make a huge difference. You can’t overthink it – I play the best when I just go out there and play – not thinking about the stage or the crowd, I just shoot the ball. I know I’m a good shooter, I know I can do certain things, but honestly you just have to read the defence and shoot it. I’ve put in the reps, I’m ready, and I’m just happy they went in.” Vanhooren noted that “each team had 64 shots, we had two more free throws, we were plus one on offensive rebounding, and plus two on turnovers – the game was an equal game and could have gone either way. We started off well and followed our scout well, and we kind of lost ourselves a little later in the game when things got a little tighter. We’ll need to work on our composure a little.” Lars Schlueter also nailed a critical trey for the Dinos in the final frame, while Dinos player of the game David Kapinga scored 7 straight in the third quarter. Johneil Simpson said “any time you can play on the national stage it’s a good opportunity, but that wasn’t the result we wanted.” Brock coach Charles Kissi said “I’m proud of the energy and the effort they put in all season, not just today. One game does not define our season. Whether people give us credit for it or not, we’ve had one of the best seasons of any team in the country and with a young team. … You’re talking about a team five years ago that was 4-18 and one of the worst in the country and now we’re in a national tournament competing for the title. I think that’s pretty special. I think we’re in a good place and we’ll continue to build and get better.” Calgary led 22-12, 38-29 and 59-52 at the quarters. Brock rallied from a 14-point deficit to take a four-point lead with just over 3.5 minutes to play, largely on a pair of treys and a driving layup by Tyler Brown. Brock had two chances to tie in the final minute, including a desperation trey by Johneil Simpson. Mambi Diawara paced Calgary with 19 on 5-11 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 9-13 from the line, 7 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. David Kapinga scored 18 on 7-15 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 5 boards, 6 assists and 4 steals. Lucas Mannes scored 16 on 5-10 from the floor, 5-9 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 5 boards. Connor Foreman notched 7 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Lars Schlueter scored 7 on 3-11 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 0-2 from the line, 7 boards and 3 assists. Jhony Verrone added 6 on 3-9 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 8 boards. Andrew Milner scored 5 on 2-3 from the floor and 1-2 from the arc, while Jake Nielson, Angelo Mbituyiamana, Max Eisele, Sasha Pojuzina and Mason Foreman were scoreless. The Dinos hit 28-64 (.438) from the floor, 8-24 from the arc and 14-25 (.560) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 7 steals, 5 blocks, 17 turnovers and 21 fouls. Johneil Simpson paced the Badgers with 24 on 9-17 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 12 boards and 3 assists. Dani Elgadi added 20 on 7-16 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 7 boards and 3 steals. Tyler Brown notched 12 on 3-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 4 assists and 3 steals. Cassidy Ryan added 9 on 2-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 2 boards. Daniel Cayer scored 4 on 1-2 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 6 boards. Godsman Kwakwah added 3 on 1-4 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 4 boards. Ibrahim Ngom added 2 on 1-1 from the floor. Trevor Thompson scored 2 on 1-3 from the floor, 0-1 form the line and 2 boards, while Noah Lapierre, Patrick Pilato, Mitch Saunders and Donald Mims were scoreless. The Badgers hit 25-64 (.391) from the floor, 8-21 (.381) from the arc and 18-23 (.783) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 7 steals, 2 blocks, 19 turnovers and 18 fouls.

        The 5th-seeded Ryerson Rams stomped the 4th-seeded Alberta Golden Bears 88-62 after hitting 20 treys, including 9 of their first 11. “We’ve had some good nights where we shot it well and nights where we haven’t,” said Ryerson head coach Roy Rana. “But when a team shoots it like this in this type of building, it says a lot about our confidence.” Golden Bears coach Barnaby Craddock said “it’s a tough way to go out with two disappointing losses to end the year. I thought it was a real special year and I thought we had great chemistry. There’s no hiding behind it, we’re disappointed with our own performance and that’s what we have to deal with and move on from.” The Rams broke to a quick 17-14 lead and extended the margin to 31-21 after one quarter with J.V. Mukama hitting a trio from beyond the arc, while Ammanuel Diressa and Myles Charvis each nailed a pair. “They were red hot and they played well,” Craddock said. “They did a good job on us defensively and that’s where we lost momentum and it snowballed on us.” Rana said “when those (shots) aren’t going down, it’s going to come down to our defence and I thought our defence was incredible tonight.” Alberta rallied within 40-32 but the Rams rebuilt the margin to 40-32 at the half. Diressa took command in the third quarter, after which the Rams led 72-49. Diressa was chosen player of the game for the Rams, while Brody Clarke earned the laurels for the Golden Bears. Rana told reporters “it’s great for J.V.. What a great story of resilience. He had some academic issues, took a year off, and stayed with it. A lot of kids would have left, a lot of kids would have decided that they didn’t want to be at this level. He stayed with it. He stuck with it.” As for Diressa, Rana said “you can see his talent is unique in our league. You don’t get a lot of guards that can do what he can do… He can do so many special things, at times you want him to kind of round out and settle a little bit, but he can win a game by himself. We haven’t had a lot of players like that.” Rana also noted that it’s a “fun game when you shoot the ball like we did tonight. I think the difference was really our defensive intensity. I thought we were tremendous. The guys really kind of dialed in, our focus was at a real high level, and our confidence was at a real high level. So it was a really good win for our program to get to now our fourth straight Final Four here. It says a lot about these kids and about their commitment.” Ammanuel Diressa paced the Rams with 25 on 9-21 from the floor, 6-16 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards and 7 assists. Jean-Victor Mukama added 21 on 8-13 from the floor, 5-10 from the arc, 9 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Myles Charvis scored 14 on 4-8 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 3 assists. Filip Vujadinovic added 12 on 4-8 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 6 boards, 3 assists and 4 steals. Adam Voll scored 6 on 3-4 from the floor and 4 boards. Theodrose Demeke added 3 on 1-2 from the floor and 1-2 from the arc, Zubair Seyed scored 3 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 2 boards. Tanor Ngom added 2 on 1-2 from the floor and 6 boards. Liam O’Leary Orange scored 2 on 1-3 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2 boards, while Warsame Mohamed, Roshane Roberts and Nathan Culbreath were scoreless. Roberts nabbed 2 boards and dished 2 assists. The Rams hit 32-68 (.471) from the floor, 20-44 (.455) from the arc and 4-6 from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 10 steals, 2 blocks, 14 turnovers and 15 fouls. Mamadou Gueye paced the Golden Bears with 12 on 4-11 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Brody Clarke added 10 on 5-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Cole Knudsen scored 10 on 4-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 3 boards. Lyndon Annetts scored 9 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 2 boards and 2 steals. Austin Waddoups added 8 on 4-9 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 4 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Dwan Williams notched 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 boards. Andre Kelly scored 3 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 5 boards. Nolan Woodward added 2 on 1-3 from the floor and 0-1 from the arc, while Jonah Weyessa, Sam Newman, Ivan Ikomey and Geoff Pippus were scoreless. Weyessa, Newman, Ikomey and Pippus each nabbed 2 boards. Ikomey dished 2 assists. The Golden Bears hit 25-62 (.403) from the floor, 6-22 (.273) from the arc and 6-9 from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 9 steals, 17 turnovers and 10 fouls.

        In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded Carleton Ravens clipped the 8th-seeded Acadia Axemen 81-64. The Ravens broke open a tight 59-56 affair with seven minutes to play by exploding for a 12-0 run. Axemen coach Kevin Duffie noted “we beat them on the glass, full marks to our guys for that, and we had a chance to win the game. We had to try to keep them off balance. They’re so good.” Duffie added that Ekiyor was the difference. “He’s big, athletic, and skilled. He’s so physical, he can beat you in so many ways. He’s a good player, straight-up. We stuck to our game plan for all but the final seven minutes. After that, it kind of ballooned on us.” Ravens coach Dave Smart said “we played them in October, with a very similar result, winning by 16, but it was a six-point game late. And Acadia was missing two of their rotation guys. We knew what we wanted to do against their zone defence. It was a bit of an adjustment early on, but not a really big adjustment. We just didn’t start making shots until the last seven minutes.” Marcus Anderson said “the first couple of quarters, I was passing up shots. Then I started feeling more confident, and the shots started falling.” Smart told Ravens On-line that “Acadia played hard and we didn’t make shots until the end. They did a great job keeping our guards off balance and we turned it over a bit. For three quarters they went big and killed us on the boards, but in the fourth quarter we continued to get in the paint and we started making shots – Acadia’s dominance on the boards goes away if the ball is going in.” Acadia broke to a 5-4 lead on a layup and a trey from Erik Nissen. Carleton answered with a 12-0 run as Yasiin Joseph, Cam Smythe and Ekiyor orchestrated an effective inside-outside attack. Acadia answered with a spurt capped by a Ben Miller layup that drew the Axemen within 22-26 after one quarter. Nick De Palma nailed a trey to cut the score to 27-25. A short baseline jumper by Nissen gave the Axemen the lead but Smythe went on a solo five-point run, scoring with a soft hook shot in the post and a trey to give Carleton a 37-33 lead. De Palma responded with a trey but Joseph drove for a layup to give Carleton a 39-36 lead at the half. Stanley Mayambo hit back-to-back treys to give Carleton a 47-44 lead midway through the third quarter. Trevor Grant answered with a trey to knot the score but Joseph responded with a trey and Ekiyor hit a pair of free throws that gave Carleton a 54-52 lead after three quarters. Carleton opened the final frame with a 17-5 run as they appeared to finally resolve Acadia’s 2-3 zone. Nissen hit a trey to rally Acadia within 71-60 but Anderson found Ekiyor inside to bury the Axemen’s erstwhile hoops of an upset. Eddie Ekiyor was chosen player of the game for the Ravens, while Erik Nissen earned the laurels for the Axemen. Eddie Ekiyor paced Carleton with 25 on 10-16 from the floor, 5-8 from the line, 7 boards and 3 Steals. Cam Smythe added 18 on 8-19 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 8 boards, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Yasiin Joseph scored 16 on 5-20 from the floor, 2-13 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 8 boards, 7 assists and 3 steals. Marcus Anderson notched 12 on 4-8 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 4 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Stanley Mayambo scored 6 on 2-7 from the floor and 2-6 from the arc. Munis Tutu added 4 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals, while Emmanuel Owootoah, T.J. Lall, Mitch Jackson, William Kohler and Troy Reid-Knight and Mitch Wood were scoreless. Wood nabbed 3 boards. The Ravens hit 30-80 (.375) from the floor, 10-37 (.270) from the arc and 11-14 (.876) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 24 assists, 10 steals, 3 blocks, 8 turnovers and 15 fouls. Erik Nissen paced the Axemen with 18 on 7-20 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 17 boards and 2 assists. Trevon Grant scored 16 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Ben Miller added 15 on 7-19 from the floor, 1-4 form the arc, 10 boards and 2 assists. Nick De Palma added 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 3 steals. Rhys Larry notched 4 on 2-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Jerome Mugambi added 3 on 0-1 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 2 boards, while Junior Moaku-Matia, Mitchell Tempro, Eli Kraushar, Forest Mahoney, Thomas Johnston and Mason Middaugh were scoreless. Moaku-Matia nabbed 4 boards and dished 2 assists. Johnston nabbed 2 boards. Acadia hit 24-60 (.400) from the floor, 7-17 (.412) from the arc and 9-14 (.643) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, 21 turnovers and 17 fouls.

In the semi-finals, the 5th-seeded Ryerson Rams stunned top-seeded Carleton 84-76, a scant week after losing x-x to the Ravens in the OUA finals. “I’m super proud of these guys and to beat a historic program – not only in Canada but throughout the world – is pretty special,” said Ryerson coach Roy Rana. “I think it says a lot about the quality of the game here in Canada and at the USports level.” Carleton coach Dave Smart said “I’m incredibly proud of my team, we’re real young. We started a ton of young guys. We were tight Thursday night and we were tight tonight, but we played hard both nights. Manny was just too good to allow us to win on effort.” The two teams traded baskets early before Ryerson’s Diressa and Filip Vujadinovic drained back-to-back treys to give the Rams a 14-6 lead.  Yasiin Joseph drove for a layup and Stanley Mayambo hit a trey to draw Carleton within 18-11 after one quarter.  The Ravens erased the seven-point deficit with a 15-2 run to take a 26-20 lead. But Ryerson countered with a 16-10 run of their own, capped off by a Roshane Roberts buzzer-beating trey to knot the score at 36 at the half. “We know going in, every game’s going to be a battle,” Myles Charvis said. “It’s going to be a hard-fought game, there’s going to be punches thrown on both sides, and you’ve just got to continue to withstand those punches and make your own run, because basketball is a game of runs. You just withstand that, play as hard as you can, focus on the game plan, and hope the results are in your favour.” Philip Vujadinovic nailed consecutive treys as Ryerson took a 48-42 lead and then maintained the margin at 63-56 after three quarters, despite a pair of late treys by Mitch Wood. Joseph hit a trey and Eddie Ekiyor layup as Carleton drew within two early in the final frame. But that was as close as Carleton would get. Although Ammanuel Diressa was briefly forced to the bench with a shoulder injury, his teammates maintained the margin until his return. Carleton again rallied within two but Jean-Victor Mukama hit a critical trey and the Rams pulled away for an 84-76 win, icing it at the free throw line. “I think it says a lot about the resilience of this group that he stepped off the floor with an injury and our mental focus didn’t change,” said Rana. Diressa was chosen player of the game for the Rams, while Yasiin Joseph earned the laurels for the Ravens. Rana told Rams Online that “I think everybody can see that Manny Diressa is a pretty special player at this level. He’s been banged up all year, just like Adam, fought through injuries in this game, fought through injuries this whole season. I think it says a lot about his toughness, but I think it says a lot about the resilience of this group that he steps off of the floor with an injury – our mental focus, our resilience doesn’t change.” Manny Diressa paced the Rams with 28 on 8-13 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 11-11 form the line, 2 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Myles Charvis added 15 on 5-12 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 5-7 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists and 5 steals. Jean-Victor Mukama added 10 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Adam Voll scored 10 on 4-9 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards and 2 blocks. Filip Vujadinovic notched 9 on 3-6 from the floor, 3-5 form the arc, 4 boards and 4 assists. Roshane Roberts scored 6 on 2-7 from the floor and 2-6 from the arc. Tanor Ngom added 4 on 2-2 from the floor. Nathan Culbreath scored 2 on 1-5 from the floor and 0-1 from the arc. The Rams hit 28-61 (.459) from the floor, 8-27 (.296) from the arc and 20-23 (.870) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 9 steals, 4 blocks, 14 turnovers and 14 fouls. Yasiin Joseph paced Carleton with 20 on 7-21 from the floor, 3-11 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 7 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Mitch Wood added 16 on 5-10 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 4 boards. Eddie Ekiyor scored 13 on 5-10 from the floor, 3-3 from the line, 7 boards and 2 blocks. Cameron Smythe added 9 on 4-9 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 3 blocks. Stanley Mayambo added 9 on 3-5 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc and 2 assists. T.J. Lall notched 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 4 boards. Mitch Jackson added 2 on 1-1 from the floor. Munis Tutu scored 2 on 1-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2 boards and 4 assists, while Marcus Anderson and Emmanuel Owootoah were scoreless. The Ravens hit 28-69 (.406) from the floor, 10-28 (.357) from the arc and 10-11 (.909) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 4 steals, 7 blocks, 14 turnovers and 21 fouls.

        In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Calgary Dinos stomped the 3rd-seeded McGill Redmen 65-43. The Dinos led 16-15, 32-22 and 52-37 at the quarters, and by as many as 25 in the final frame. “Our defence held us in the game, all game long,” said Calgary head coach Dan Vanhooren. “Offensively, we turned the ball over too much. We had seven turnovers in the first quarter alone, and 12 at the half. We rebounded really well,” he added. “It was probably our best defensive performance of the year. McGill is a very good team. They missed some shots they would normally make. If they make those shots, it’s a totally different game.” McGill coach David DeAveiro said “I congratulate Calgary for having a solid game plan coming in and executing it well. Their defence was outstanding. We’re normally a good three-point shooting team. Their rotations were good and they knew exactly where they had to be on defence. You hold a team to 65 points, and you should have a chance to win. We had some good looks in the first half, but we didn’t make our shots, and the more we missed, the better their defence got. …They’re led by a group of seniors who are very good players. Whoever gets them in the final will be in for a game.” Vanhooren said his troops were motivated. “There’s not a player on our team who hasn’t talked all season about making it to the national final.” David Kapinga said “the first year we were here, it was a different culture. We made it here, but with no expectations. Last year, we had expectations, but we drew Carleton in the first round and lost. The last two years were huge for us. We learned how to win.” Mambi Diawara was chosen player of the game for the Dinos, while Alex Paquin earned the laurels for the Redmen. The Dino’s defence held the Redmen to a pair of lengthy scoring droughts, one in each half. Noah Daoust’s three-ball with 6:27 to play in the second quarter would be the final McGill points of the first half, with Calgary ending the period on a 14-0 run. In the final frame, McGill did not score for 7:33. “We rebounded really well,” Vanhooren said. “It was probably our best defensive performance of the year. McGill is a very good team. They missed some shots they would normally make. If they make those shots, it’s a totally different game.” DeAveiro said “for us to be successful and soften up that defence, we needed to make some shots. And the more shots we missed, their defence got tighter and collapsed a little bit more and more, and we couldn’t get to the rim. In the first half we had some really good looks to make shots; unfortunately, we didn’t make any in the second half.” David Kapinga paced the Dinos with 19 on 7-19 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 5-7 from the line, 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Connor Foreman added 15 on 6-9 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 10 boards and 2 blocks. Mambi Diawara notched 15 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 5 boards and 4 assists. Jhony Verrone scored 5 on 2-8 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 0-2 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Lucas Mannes added 4 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 4 boards. Lars Schlueter added 3 on 1-4 from the floor and 1-3 from the arc. Sasha Pojuzina added 2 on 1-1 from the floor. Mason Foreman scored 2 on 1-2 form the floor, while Andrew Milner, Jake Nielson, Max Eisele were scoreless. Milner dished 3 assists and pilfered 3 balls. Calgary hit 24-61 (.393) from the floor, 4-19 (.211) from the arc and 13-20 (.650) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 9 steals, 2 blocks, 16 turnovers and 16 fouls. Alex Paquin paced the Redmen with 10 on 5-12 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 2 boards. Noah Daoust added 8 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 8 boards. Francois Bourque scored 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 3-4 form the line and 4 boards. Dele Ogundokun scored 6 on 2-12 from the floor, 1-9 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. Jenning Leung added 6 on 3-11 from the floor, 0-6 from the arc, 6 boards and 3 steals. Sam Jenkins added 3 on 1-4 from the arc and 2 steals. Sebastian Beckett notched 2 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 4 boards, while Daniel Pieper and Avery Cadogan were scoreless. McGill hit 16-55 (.291) from the floor, 4-32 (.125) from the arc and 7-12 (.583) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 5 assists, 10 steals, 4 blocks, 23 turnovers and 14 fouls.

        In the bronze medal match, the top-seeded Carleton Ravens dispatched the 3rd-seeded McGill Redmen 76-71. The Redmen led for most of the affair but the Ravens outscored McGill 28-19 in the final quarter to pull out the win. “We’re young, we have talent and generally we play hard. But because of our youth, we get in our comfort zone a lot. Sometimes you don’t play as hard as you have to play,” said Carleton coach Dave Smart. Marcus Anderson said of the fourth-quarter rally that “TJ (Lall) started it off…and I was open in the corner and I just made shots,” said Anderson. “Coming into the game we focused on playing hard the entire time. It didn’t start out that way, especially for me. But in the second half, we came out with a lot more energy.” Carleton opened with a 9-0 run and it took McGill almost five minutes to hit the scoresheet, on a Dele Ogundokun trey. Carleton led 12-9 after one quarter. After a couple lead changes, McGill went on a late surge on consecutive treys by Jenning Leung, Alex Paquin and Noah Daoust to pull ahead 30-21. The Redmen led 34-24 at the half. Smart said “the biggest impact for us was one of our assistants (Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie). During a timeout, he was extremely emotional. He was saying the right things, nothing technical. We kept ourselves in it by playing with a lot more emotion.” McGill extended its lead to 44-34 in the third quarter with a measure of full-court pressure but Eddie Ekiyor scored 8 of Carleton’s last 12 points in the frame to draw the Ravens within 52-48 after three quarters. Lall took command in the fourth, scoring all of his 14 points in the frame. After Lall rallied the Ravens within one, Anderson hit a trey to give Carleton a 66-64 lead and the Ravens held on for the win. Eddie Ekiyor was chosen player of the game for the Ravens, while Alex Paquin earned the laurels for the Redmen. “I’m extremely proud,” Ravens coach Dave Smart told the Ottawa Sun. “Obviously we wanted to win (gold), but we didn’t have the experience to win and that showed. But we had the talent, we just didn’t have the experience to win (the tournament) and that Hurts. To go 32-0 heading into this tournament and have the way it went, it’s very productive for us moving forward.” Smart said the Ravens were also helped by guard Mitch Wood’s comments to the team at the half. “The things Mitch Wood said at halftime helped. They were character things and once we could get past the tightness and the questioning, we still made a ton of mistakes, especially in the third quarter, but we kept ourselves in it playing with a whole lot more emotion.” McGill had an opportunity to tie the game with 20 seconds left, but instead of bleeding down the clock for one final shot, Sebastian Beckett took the game-tying shot earlier and it came up short. “If it was there early, we were going to take it. We may not get a better look than that,” said Redmen coach David DeAveiro. “We had one of our better three-point shooters who was an all-star in the tournament last year. He had a good look and unfortunately, it didn’t go in. I thought you saw a hell of a game today for the bronze medal. You saw how our team was capable of playing. That was our team tonight. Today was about our team and the way we can play, so that everyone knows we belong here with the rest of this group, and I can’t tell you how proud I am of our guys. … When we play too fast against a team like Carleton, we tend to make more mistakes. We were trying to get our kids to slow down and do the things we wanted them to do, and every time we did that we were successful today. And you’re playing the defending national champion. You know you’re going to get their best shot and you know they’re going come back at us, so we talked about that. When we had some good looks to make shots we just didn’t make them, and that’s part of the game. For us it’s important to know that we had those looks to make shots. We had those looks and we just didn’t make them, and that’s basketball.” Eddie Ekiyor paced Carleton with 21 on 8-15 from the floor, 5-6 from the line, 8 boards and 3 assists. Yasiin Joseph scored 16 on 7-10 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 6 boards and 2 assists. T.J. Lall notched 14 on 5-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 4 boards. Marcus Anderson scored 10 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Cameron Smythe scored 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 2 boards. Stanley Mayambo added 5 on 1-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Mitch Jackson scored 3 on 0-1 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 2 boards. Mitch Wood added 2 on 0-3 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards, while Munis Tutu and Emmanuel Owootoah were scoreless. Tutu nabbed 4 boards and dished 6 assists. The Ravens hit 26-56 (.464) from the floor, 8-17 (.471) from the arc and 16-19 (.842) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks, 22 turnovers and 20 fouls. Alex Paquin paced the Redmen with 17 on 7-17 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2-5 from the line, 2 boards, 5 assists and 6 steals. Dele Ogundokun added 15 on 5-13 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 6 boards and 3 steals. Jenning Leung scored 12 on 5-16 from the floor, 3-11 from the arc, 5 boards and 2 steals. Francois Bourque notched 11 on 5-6 from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 4 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Sebastian Beckett added 8 on 1-3 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 6-8 from the line and 2 boards. Noah Daoust added 3 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Isaiah Cummins added 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 0-2 from the line. Sam Jenkins added 2 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 2 assists. Levi Londole scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor, while Daniel Pieper and Avery Cadogan were scoreless. Cadogan nabbed 2 boards. McGill hit 27-70 (.386) from the floor, 5-32 (.156) from the arc and 12-21 (.571) from the line, while garnering 35 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 17 steals, 1 block, 12 turnovers and 20 fouls.

        In the final, the Calgary Dinos captured their first national crown by edging the Ryerson Rams 79-77. With the score knotted at 77 and 9 seconds on the clock, Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren drew up a play for all-star Mambi Diawara. “I told the guys we’re not going to overtime,” said Diawara. “Coach drew a play and then I told him to give me the ball, I’ll make the play.” The fourth-year guard from Montréal drove left to the basket and laid it in for the winner. “It still feels unreal. I can’t believe we won it,” Diawara said. “We worked hard all year. No one saw us winning, but we pulled out the Canada West (title) and now we just made history.” German-born post Lars Schlueter, got Calgary off to a strong start with 10 consecutive points to give them a 10-4 lead midway through the first. Jean-Victor Mukama rallied Ryerson to within 21-18 after one quarter. Vanhooren said before the game that “one of the key things that needs to happen for us to have success is that Lars needs to hit some shots. And if he does, we’re pretty tough. The floor opens up and we can play at another level.” Both squads played tenacious defence in the second frame, after which Calgary led 39-30 largely on the efforts of point guard David Kapinga. “Mambi was carrying us the whole season, then playoffs came and coach told me to turn it up,” Kapinga said. “I just wanted to make a point that I’m here too and Mambi told me ‘to be aggressive, I need you to be aggressive’.” Ram guard Manny Diressa began lighting it up in the third as he drew Ryerson within 46-42 but Kapinga hit a fadeaway jumper to give the Dinos a 57-51 lead after three quarters. Diressa scored five unanswered, including an and-one, to give Ryerson a 59-57 with 7:13 with seven minutes to play. The teams kept trading the lead and with the scored tied at 68 with 3:16 remaining, Schlueter drilled a trey and then a dunk to give Calgary a 73-70 lead. Guard Lucas Mannes drained a trey to extend the margin to 76-70 with 59 seconds to go. After Kapinga split a pair of free throws, Diressa drilled a trey to knot the score at 77, leading to Diawara’s last second heroics. David Kapinga was chosen player of the game for the Dinos, while Ammanuel Diressa earned the laurels for the Rams. David Kapinga paced the Dinos with 25 on 10-20 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 8 boards and 6 assists. Lars Schlueter added 18 on 7-15 from the floor and 4-10 from the arc. Mambi Diawara scored 14 on 5-13 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 10 boards and 6 assists. Lucas Mannes added 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-3 form the arc and 2-2 from the line. Jhony Verrone scored 7 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 3 steals. Connor Foreman added 4 on 2-2 from the floor and 2 steals. Andrew Milner added 3 on 1-2 from the floor, 1-1 from the line and 3 boards, while Jake Nielson, Angelo Mbituyiamana, Max Eisele, Sasha Pojuzina and Mason Foreman were scoreless. Calgary hit 30-62 (.484) from the floor, 8-21 (.381) from the arc and 11-13 (.846) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 8 steals, 1 block, 11 turnovers and 17 fouls. Manny Diressa paced the Rams with 28 on 8-14 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc, 8-9 from the line, 3 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Jean-Victor Mukama added 19 on 7-11 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 6 boards. Filip Vujadinovic scored 9 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Adam Voll added 7 on 3-8 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 blocks. Myles Charvis added 6 on 2-7 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 9 assists. Roshane Roberts scored 6 on 1-8 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Tanor Ngom added 2 on 0-1 from the floor and 2-2 from the line, while Warsame Mohamed, Nathan Culbreath, Theodrose Demeke, Zubair Seyed and Liam O’Leary-Orange were scoreless. Culbreath nabbed 2 boards. The Rams hit 24-54 (.444) from the floor, 9-31 (.290) from the arc and 20-23 (.870) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, 15 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, 11 turnovers and 15 fouls.

The bronze medalist Carleton Ravens: Eddie Ekiyor; Marcus Anderson; Emmanuel Owootoah; Yasiin Joseph; Tajinder Lall; Mitch Jackson; Cameron Smythe; Mitchell Wood; Stanley Mayambo; William Kohler; Dontae Mitchell; Munis Tutu; Will Spaulding; Troy Reid-Knight; Alain ‘Jean’ Louis; Owen Boisvert; Biniam Ghebrekidan; Narcisse Kalamba; coach Dave Smart; assistant Robert Smart Jr.; assistant Dean Petridis; assistant Osvaldo Jeanty; assistant Willy Manigat; assistant Aaron Blakely; assistant Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie; assistant Richard Anderson; assistant Jafeth Maseruka; therapist Gabrielle Nickoluk

The silver medalist Ryerson Rams: Ammanuel Diressa; Adam Voll; Myles Charvis; Warsame Mohamed; Roshane Roberts; Filip Vujadinovic; Theodrose Demeke; Keevon Small; Chase Vassell; Nathan Culbreath; Jean-Victor Mukama; Tanor Ngom; Zubair Seyed; Liam O’Leary-Orange; William Homayon; Stefan Kojovic; coach Roy Rana; assistant Borko Popic; assistant Wayne Bridge; assistant Juwon Grannum; assistant Jermaine Holness; assistant Adeel Sahibzada; director of operations Mohammed Haroon; student therapist Lucas Rooney; video coordinator Nooh Abdi

        The champion Calgary Dinos: David Kapinga; Mambi Diawara; Jake Nielson; Maximilian Eisele; Jhony Verrone; Lars Schlueter; Sasha Pojuzina; Connor Foreman; Andrew Milner; Lucas Mannes; Mason Foreman; Angelo Mbituyiamana; coach Dan Vanhooren; assistant Matt Skinn; assistant Sean Foote; assistant Dan Pearson; assistant Phil Barndt; scout Blaine Miciak; strength & conditioning Rich Hesketh; manager Dean McCord; athletic director Jason Kerswill; SID Ben Matchett