REGULAR SEASON

Alberta  7-3 21-10 Don Horwood        
  U.B.C.  7-3 25-10 Bruce Enns        
  Saskatchewan  7-3 15-15 Guy Vetrie        
  Victoria  5-5 16-17 Ken Shields        
  Calgary  2-8   Gary Howard        
  Lethbridge  2-8   Ken Olynyk        
                 

       

        The league reverts back to postseason playoff series, rather a single knockout tourney, to determine its champion.

        After Alberta, Saskatchewan and U.B.C. finished tied for first at 7-3 in the regular season, Alberta was awarded first place for the postseason playoffs on the basis of point differential in games between the three teams.

        Playoff non-qualifiers:

        Calgary Dinosaurs: Kurt Kelly; John Vigna, Donovan Lawrence, Rick Pease, Harlon McMaster, Mark Naylor, Dave Clutchey, Guy Taylor, Ian Spence, Todd Thomas, Howie McCollister, Rob Driscoll, Greg Maillet, coach Gary Howard, assistant Phil Allen, assistant Mark Durieux

        Lethbridge Pronghorns: Ryan Heggie, Jamie McLellan, Harbir Bains, Curtis French, Steve Raben, Rob Layton, Shawn Gilborn, Darren Boras, Paul Blaskovits, Lorne MacKenzie, Cheyno Finnie, Dave Racz, Kirk Friemuth, coach Ken Olynyk, assistant Jerome Ell, assistant Bill Magierowski, assistant Dave Wells

        In the semis, Victoria defeated Alberta 87-82; 55-68; 81-79 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… Fourth place Victoria opened with an 87-82 victory over Alberta as Allan Phillips scored 16, Spencer McKay 14, Vito Pasquale 13, Lloyd Scrubb 10, Rob Kreke 9, Wade Loukes 8, Jerry Divocky 8, Geoff Mckay 5 and Shawn Kalinovich 4, while Tom Johnson, Steve Mitton and Brian Kruger were scoreless. Mike Suderman led the Golden Bears with 19. Mike Kornak added 17, Sean Chursinoff 15, Dean Peters 14, Chris Toutant 9, Scott McIntyre 4, Sam Safadi 2 and Dave Youngs 2, while Mark Baker, Cliff Rowein, Ed Joseph, Kevin Ottewell and Ray Bergstra were scoreless. …………………………………………………… Alberta won game two 68-55 as Mike Suderman scored 16, Mike Kornak 13, Dean Peters 8, Dave Youngs 8, Scott McIntyre 7, Sean Chursinoff 7, Chris Toutant 6 and Cliff Rowein 3, while Mark Baker, Sam Safadi, Kevin Ottewell and Roy Bergstra were scoreless. Bears coach Don Horwood said Victoria’s string of seven straight national titles was irrelevant. “I don’t think that the (Bears) players care about history. They just want to win two games, for themselves.” Vito Pasquale led the Vikings with 12. Lloyd Scrubb added 10, Spencer Mckay 8, Wade Loukes 6, Jerry Divocky 6, Shawn Kalinovich 6, Alan Phillips 5 and Tom Johnson 2, while Geoff McKay, Rob Kreke, Steve Mitton and Brian Kruger were scoreless. …………………………………………………… Victoria took the deciding contest 81-79 in overtime. The Vikes stood to become the first Victoria team not to win a national title in seven years but their experience held them in good stead as they pulled out the win. “We don’t talk about it at all but it’s there,” said Victoria coach Ken Shields. “They are expected to do well.” Guard Vito Pasquale said “the history is there in that you never want to be the team that breaks the streak.” Victoria post Spencer McKay tallied two free throws with 38 seconds to play to give the Vikes an 81-77 lead in overtime. “We refused to crumble,” said guard Lloyd Scrubb. “They kept coming at us but we always came right back and took it to them.” Alberta guard Dean Peters said “the game was back and forth almost all the way through, and we had our chances but we couldn’t finish them off.” Victoria broke to a 16-2 lead but Alberta rallied to 54-52 edge midway through the second half. The Vikes size proved the difference down the stretch. “It’s hard to believe that five years’ work came down to this,” said Alberta post Mike Suderman. “But the program has come a long way. Don Horwood and Steve Roth have worked very hard and deserve lots of credit.” Horwood said “these guys put basketball back on the map in Edmonton. I’m very proud of them. I’ll be up all-night second-guessing but for now, I suppose it’s fate.” Spencer Mckay led the Vikings with 19. Vito Pasquale added 13, Wade Louikes 12, Lloyd Scrubb 8, Geoff McKay 8, Shawn Kalinovich 8, Jerry Divocky 7 and Alan Phillips 6, while Tom Johnson, Rob Kreke, Steve Mitton and Brian Kruger were scoreless. Mike Suderman led the Golden Bears with 21. Sean Chursinoff added 18, Chris Toutant 13, Dean Peters 8, Scott McIntyre 4, Cliff Rowein 2 and Dave Youngs 2, while Mark Baker, Sam Safadi, kevin Ottewell and Ray Bergstra were scoreless.

In the other semi, U.B.C defeated Saskatchewan 92-79; 95-75 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, U.B.C. prevailed 92-79 as Aaron Point scored 23, J.D. Jackson 19 and Kevin Hanson 15. The Huskies were led by Byron Tokarchuk 26 and Sheldon Ryma 15. Huskies shooting guard Greg Jockims played but apparently felt ill. “We went in there ready to play but when your starting guard gets ill just before the game that has to affect you mentally and it did,” Huskies coach Guy Vetrie told The Sheaf. Huskies guard John Cleland suffered an ankle injury in the second half. “When John went down I think mentally the players were thinking what else was going to happen,” Vetrie added. “Our defence was hampered because of the injuries. Byron wasn’t healthy. He had trouble moving laterally. …………………………………………………… In game two, U.B.C. thrashed Saskatchewan 95-75 as J.D. Jackson scored 20, Kevin Hanson 14 and Aaron Point 10. Saskatchewan was led by Byron Tokarchuk 16, Greg Jockims 14 and Kirk Jones 13.

        In the finals, U.B.C. defeated Victoria 74-68; 94-91 (2g-0).

The Thunderbirds won the first game 74-68 as Aaron Point, playing with a splint on his broken left hand, scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Mike Clarke scored 20 coming off the bench. Kevin Hanson added 12, Paul Johansson 8, Alan Lalonde 6, J.D. Jackson 4, Eric Kristianson 3 and John Carlson 2, while Maurice Basso, Gord Matson, Ken Scott and Jamie Boulding were scoreless. U.B.C. was ahead 43-31 at the half but Victoria cut the lead to 53-50 and then to 65-64 with five minutes to go. At 71-68, with U.B.C. leading, J.D. Jackson scored a layup to seal the victory with 1:25 to go. “We got our butts whipped. We got beat to the boards and we got outhustled,” Vikes coach Ken Shields told the Vancouver Sun. Clarke said “it was my best game of the year. Coach Enns told us when we decided to come here that if we worked hard, we’d do well but we certainly didn’t promise we’d be playing UVic for the championship in our own gym. … I have to admit I didn’t think we’d get this far.” Enns said “we feel very good. It was the most consistent team defence we’ve played for 40 minutes. I thought Aaron Point was amazing.” Spencer McKay led the Vikings with 14. Alan Phillips added 13, Jerry Divocky 10, Wade Loukes 8, Vito Pasquale 7, Shawn Kalinovich 7, Brian Kruger 3, Lloyd Scrubb 2, Geoff Mckay 2 and Rob Kreke 2, while Tom Johnson and Steve Mitton were scoreless.

In game two, U.B.C. swept the series with a 94-91 victory in overtime to win its first title since 1975. Senior guard Kevin Hanson said new coach Bruce Enns “taught us how to believe in ourselves.” Victoria had been ahead 36-25 in the first half but U.B.C. rallied to take a 58-50 lead five minutes into the second half. Victoria countered with its rally and assumed an 80-75 lead with three minutes to go. But J.D. Jackson hit two three-pointers with roughly two minutes to go to give U.B.C. an 81-80 lead. U.B.C. was ahead 85-82 when Victoria reserve Tom Johnson hit a three-pointer with two seconds remaining to force overtime. U.B.C. dominated the overtime, with Jackson finishing the contest with 30 points, including six three pointers. All-star Paul Johansson scored 28, while nabbing 11 rebounds, Mike Clarke 11, Aaron Point 8, Kevin Hanson 7, Alan Lalonde 6 and Eric Kristiansen 4, while Maurice Basso, John Carlson, Gord Mattson, Ken Scott and Jamie Boulding were scoreless. Shawn Kalinovich led the Vikings with 20. aGeoff McKay added 19, Spencer McKay 17, Jerry Divocky 10, Lloyd Scrubb 8, Alan Phillips 7, Vito Pasquale 4, Tom Johnson 3 and Wade Loukes 3, while Steve Mitton and Brian Kruger were scoreless. Shields noted that “a lack of rebounding down the stretch hurt us. U.B.C. deserves it. They played well.”

The co-bronze medalist Saskatchewan Huskies: Byron Tokarchuk; Greg Jockims; Kirk Jones; John Cleland; Tim Conlin; Blair Garneau; Dwayne Heidt; David Karwacki; Ken Ostertag; James Phillips; Doug Prokop; Graham Hackl; Dwayne Heidt; Sheldon Ryma; coach Guy Vetrie; assistant Bob Weenk; assistant Kent Holoboff; assistant Gerrard Merkosky

The co-bronze medalist Alberta Golden Bears: Dean Peters; Mike Suderman; Mike Kornak; Chris Toutant; Sean Chursinoff; Scott McIntyre; Dave Youngs; Cliff Rowein; Sam Safadi; Mark Baker; Ed Joseph; Kevin Ottewell; Lorne Blatt; Raymond Bergstra; coach Don Horwood; assistant Steve Roth; assistant Gerry Couzens

        The runner-up Victoria Vikings: Spencer McKay; Lloyd Scrubb; Allan Phillips; Geoff McKay; Rob Kreke; Wade Loukes; Tom Johnson; Vito Pasquale; Shawn Kalinovich; Brian Kruger; Jerry Divocky; Steve Mitton; Cord Clemens, coach Ken Shields; assistant Mark Simpson; assistant Rob Poole; athletic director Ken Shields; SID Norm Lebus

        The champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds: Paul Johansson; Aaron Point; J.D. Jackson; Kevin Hanson; Mike Clarke; Alan Lalonde; Ken Scott; Eric Kristiansen; John Carlson; Jamie Boulding; Maurice Basso; Ken Scott; Gord Matson; coach Bruce Enns; Brent Henderson; assistant Kent Chappell; assistant John Ritchie; athletic director Dr. R.G. Hindmarch; SID Steve Campbell