2006-07 CanWest – men

REGULAR SEASON

	PLAINS				CENTRAL
	Brandon	20-2	32-5	Barnaby Craddock	Alberta	15-7	19-12	Don Horwood
	Regina	9-13	11-19	James Hillis	Saskatchewan	13-9	21-15	Greg Jockims
	Winnipeg	9-13	15-17	Dave Crook	Calgary	11-11	16-21	Don Vanhooren
	Manitoba	7-15	12-17	Rick Suffield	Lethbridge	6-16	8-19	Mike Connolly
	PACIFIC
	U.B.C.	20-3	33-6	Kevin Hanson
	Victoria	20-3	26-10	Craig Beaucamp
	Simon Fraser	11-12	14-14	Scott Clark
	Trinity Western	9-14	12-16	Stan Peters
	Fraser Valley	6-17	7-18	Tom Antil
	Thompson Rivers	1-22	2-26	Nevin Gleddie

        Playoff non-qualifiers:

        Fraser Valley Cascades: Jamie Vaughan, Joel Haviland, Lee Jackson, Kyle Graves, Anthony Lao, Duane Wilson, Darren Johnson, Josh Sharpe, Brian Lee, Ed Lefurgy, Wes Barker, Jesse Smith, Nick Alderliesten, Kyle Grewal, coach Tom Antil

        Lethbridge Pronghorns: Scott Mackinnon, Matthew Bekkering, Todd McClenaghan, Bruce Carbert, Ryan Anderson, Eric Gallie, Gilbert Madsen, Richard Steed, Tim McMurray, Kevin Monson, Chris Giles, Ryan Mitchell, coach Mike Connolly

        Manitoba Bisons: Isaac Ansah, Darcy Coss, Brian Crowe, Christopher Pereira, Sean Landry, Joel Pankevich, Graeme Mitchell, Myron Dean, Scott McKinney, Randy Simmons, Grant Rayner, Eric Garcia, Kevin Hollman, coach Rick Suffield

        Thompson Rivers Wolfpack: Charlie Spurr, Brian Smith, Braeden Jones, Kamar Burke, Lucien Sauciuc, Connor Agnew, Chris Vanderweide, Jesse Brown, Navanga Burke, Shae Doyle, Matt Perry, Lee Johnson, Tim Unaegbu, redshirt Daniel Sawh, coach Nevin Gleddie, assistant Will Blair, assistant Sean Garvey, assistant Jeff Friesen

In the Central Division semis, Saskatchewan defeated Calgary 91-79; 89-88 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Saskatchewan romped to a 91-79 win after blowing open a nine-point halftime lead with a 35-13 run. The Huskies went on an 11-0 run, bookended by two Rejean Chabot three-pointers, to take a 20-10 lead with 12:34 to play. After a Ross Bekkering dunk to open the second half, the Huskies went on their 35-13 run. The ten-minute period of play featured Huskie runs of 10-0 and 12-0. The latter was started by a Kyle Grant feed to Andrew Spagrud for a dunk, and ended with another Grant assist to Kalem Edlund for a backdoor layup. That put the Huskies up 77-48, their largest lead of the night. The Dinos would go on an 11-0 run over three minutes to cut the lead to 87-75 with 2:16 to play. Calgary star Robbie Sihota suffered an ankle injury only thirty seconds into the game and played but 13 minutes, while Saskatchewan played without starting point guard Jordan Harbidge, who sprained ankle in practice on Wednesday. Calgary was also without guard Jeremy Odland, who suffered a broken jaw a week earlier. After taking a 42-33 lead into the half, the Huskies kept coming at the Dinos all night long, dominating the offensive and defensive boards and physically took it to Calgary. It was quite apparent early on in the game that the Huskies were ready to play as they looked sharp on offense and were quick on defense. Calgary didn’t back down though, continually knocking down shots from the perimeter. Both teams shot the lights out from beyond on the arc early in the first half, but settled down after a couple of misses. It was two of the Huskies leaders that stood out on this night and really took the game away from the Dinos, as Kyle Grant and Andrew Spagrud both had nights to remember. Grant said: “I mean this is playoff basketball; I know that I’m a leader on this team and I have to bring it every night. Last weekend was not as meaningful obviously as the playoffs, but that’s the difference. It’s all on the line in the playoffs.” Spagrud played with cotton balls in his nose for much of the second half, but just wouldn’t be denied. “I looked to be more aggressive tonight because that’s what you have to do against this team. If you let things happen, you’re not going to be successful. It’s been the same all my years here, I get beat up every night but as long as I stay calm and patient, I should be alright.” Saskatchewan coach Greg Jockims said his troops have to remain focused. “We talked after the game in the locker room about the situation we were in here; last year we beat up Alberta pretty good in the first game and the second night was a war. Tomorrow night will be war.” Andrew Spagrud paced the Huskies with 35 points on 10-12 from the floor, 15-19 from the line, 9 boards and 3 assists. Kyle Grant added 28 on 8-15 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 8-10 from the line and 10 boards. Rejean Chabot notched 10 on 4-9 from the floor and 3 steals. Mark Lynch scored 7 on 2-5 from the floor and Clint Unsworth 6 on 3-4 from the floor and 5 boards. Kalem Edlund and Sam Lamontagne each added 2 and Tim Hollman scored 1, while Dan Brudehl, David Neufeld and Matt Anderson were scoreless. Saskatchewan shot 29-53 (.547) from the floor, 6-13 (.462) from the arc and 27-37 (.730) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 17 turnovers, 12 steals and 1 block. Brian Finnis paced Calgary with 21 on 8-10 from the floor, 4-4 from the arc and 1-3 from the line. Ross Bekkering added 19 on 5-10 from the floor, 7-9 from the line, 4 boards and 5 blocks. Cody Darrah notched 12 on 5-12 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc and 2 boards. Sonny Khangura scored 6, Joe Schow 5, Joel Bancroft 5 and Josh Feist 4, while dishing 7 assists. Chris Unsworth scored 4 and Tony Dhaliwal 3, while Robbie Sihota was scoreless. The Dinosaurs shot 28-57 (.491) from the floor, 10-18 (.556) from the arc and 13-20 (.650) from the line, while garnering 26 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 25 fouls, 18 turnovers, 7 steals and 5 blocks. …………………………………………………… In game two, Saskatchewan edged Calgary 89-88 to sweep the series. After a torrid first twenty minutes, the Dinos found themselves up by four over the Huskies 52-48. The Huskies wouldn’t go away however, and battled all the way back to take a second half lead. With the Huskies leading by five late in the game, it looked like the deal was sealed, but after a three-pointer by the Dinos Josh Feist, and a technical foul called on the Huskies head coach Greg Jockims, Calgary found themselves down one point with possession, 11 seconds on the clock. All 749 fans in attendance rose to their feet hoping to help their Huskies get a stop, and the Dogs did just that. Josh Feist shot hit rim with no time left and the Huskies and their fans erupted after a thrilling 89-88 win. Early on in the game the Huskies found themselves chasing the Dinos on defense, not really able to stop Calgary at any point. When it looked like the Dinos were pulling away, the Huskies found a way to claw back into the game. Lead by the solid play of the Dinos Robbie Sihota, Calgary lead as much as nine points, and looked to be in complete control. Perhaps the first half turning point came when the Huskies Rejean Chabot hit a tough jumper as the horn sounded to end the first twenty minutes, closing the gap to six, 52-48. In the second half, the story was once again Huskie Andrew Spagrud. Not only did he have 35 points, he slammed down two dunks that turned the momentum in the Huskies favour. What is even more incredible is that Spagrud picked up his fourth personal foul with over ten minutes left in the half and completed the game. It was back and forth as the teams headed down the stretch, and then in the final minute, the drama happened. The Huskies found themselves up by five points, seemingly in control; but after the Dinos Josh Feist knocked down a three-ball, the score was 88-86 Huskies with 24 seconds left. The Huskies Rejean Chabot then went one for two from the free-throw line making the score 89-86. With the Dinos looking to score quick, Christopher Unsworth missed a lay-up, but on the play a technical foul was called on the Huskies head coach Greg Jockims with nine seconds left. Calgary made both free-throws making it a one-point game and had possession. With the crowd roaring, the Dogs made one final stop and pulled off one of the craziest wins you’ll see in a while 89-88. After the game a rather relieved Huskies head coach had these words. “The thing we always talk about is just playing our game; we knew they were going to play a heck of a lot better tonight and they did. We made the plays when we had to and the guys really just baled me out in the end when I took that technical foul,” said Jockims. “It was just a dumb emotional move and I just overreacted because we didn’t get the ball.” Fifth year senior Sam Lamontagne said “we knew they were going to come out a lot stronger (than Friday night), they were on fire in the first half. We just had to match their intensity, and we got some big boards and some big free throws at the end.” A three by Chabot gave the Huskies their first lead of the game, 24-23, with just under ten minutes to play. But the Dinos responded with a 13-5 run to take a 42-33 lead with 3:46 remaining. Sophomore Robbie Sihota led the Dino charge as they scored on 11 of their final 15 possessions of the half. Sihota, who injured an ankle in Friday night’s game, was showing no ill effects as he had 18 points at the break. A jumper by Chabot at the buzzer made the score 52-48 in favour of the Dinos at the half. Sihota scored four quick points to open the second half before the Huskies went on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 59 on a three-ball by Grant with 14:51 to play. The Dinos briefly took the lead back, but a layup by Clint Unsworth off a pass from Spagrud put the Huskies back on top 62-61. That’s when Spagrud started to take control of the game. After a steal by Grant, Spagrud took a pass from Chabot on the break and threw down a monster slam. The next possession resulted in another Spagrud dunk, this time on a drive from the wing, putting the Huskies up 66-63 with 11:24 to play and bringing the crowd to its feet. The Dogs continued to lead by up to five points until the final two minutes. Spagrud went two-for-two from the free throw line with 1:54 remaining, making the score 83-80. Dino guard Brian Finniss then drilled a three to knot the score at 83 with 1:38 remaining. Spagrud then converted a three-point play to put the Dogs up by three with 1:18 to go, setting up the dramatic last minute. A steal by Lamontagne gave the Huskies a chance to increase their lead, but they were unable to convert. After a missed three by Sihota, Dino forward Ross Bekkering fouled Mark Lynch on the rebound. It was Bekkering’s fifth foul, and Lynch calmly nailed both free throws with 40.4 seconds to go, putting the Dogs up 88-83. Josh Feist quickly pushed the ball up the floor, hitting from beyond the arc with 32.6 seconds left. The Dinos fouled Chabot, who missed his first free throw before hitting the second with 24.0 seconds on the clock. The Dinos then missed a short shot, and as the teams scrambled for the loose rebound Grant grabbed the ball but fell over and was called for traveling with 11.9 seconds to play. Jockims, reacting to the missed opportunity to seal the game, was then assessed a technical foul. Cody Darrah sank both free throws, putting the Dinos down one with the ball on the sideline in the frontcourt. With the noisy crowd of 749 standing on its’ feet, Feist drove down the left side of the lane, was cut off by Lynch and his shot bounced off the rim. Spagrud grabbed the board just before the horn sounded to end the game. “The thing we always talk about is just playing our game; we knew they were going to play a heck of a lot better tonight and they did. We made the plays when we had to and the guys really just bailed me out in the end when I took that technical foul,” said Jockims. “It was just a dumb emotional move and I just overreacted because we didn’t get the ball.” Andrew Spagrud paced the Huskies with 35 points on 13-19 from the floor, 9-10 from the line, 12 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Rejean Chabot added 23 on 8-18 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 5-11 from the line. Kyle Grant scored 10 on 3-5 from the arc, 3 boards and 5 assists. Sam Lamontagne scored 9 on 3-8 from the floor. Mark Lynch notched 8 on 2-5 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 4 boards. Clint Unsworth scored 2 on 2-3 from the floor and 10 boards, while Dan Brudehl and Kalem Edlund were scoreless. Saskatchewan shot 31-60 (.517) from the floor, 6-19 (.316) from the arc and 21-29 (.724) from the line, while garnering 35 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 17 fouls, 14 turnovers, 8 steals and 1 block. Robbie Sihota paced Calgary with 25 points on 10-17 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 9 boards. Brian Finniss added 18 on 7-11 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc and 6 boards. Josh Feist notched 14 on 6-13 from the floor, 6 assists and 4 steals. Chris Unsworth scored 8 on 4-5 from the floor. Ross Bekkering added 7 on 1-5 from the floor, 5-6 from the line and 5 boards. Cody Darrah scored 7 on 2-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Sonny Khangura added 5, Tony Dhaliwal 2 and Joe Schow 2, while Joel Bancroft was scoreless. The Dinosaurs hit 34-61 (.557) from the floor, 8-21 (.381) from the arc and 12-16 (.750) from the line, while garnering 25 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 21 fouls, 12 turnovers, 7 steals and 3 blocks. The Dinos (coached by Dan Vanhooren, assisted by Matthew Skinn) also included Jeremy Odland, Logan Armstrong, Brendan Groat, Dustin Redding and Jared Laird.

In the Plains Division semis, Regina defeated Winnipeg 73-76; 78-67; 71-69 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, Winnipeg edged Regina 76-73. The Wesmen were able to hold the lead for a good part of the first half, but the Cougars went on a key 9-0 run late in the first half to send both teams to the locker room tied at 32-32. In the second half Winnipeg was able to gain an early advantage, before the Cougars went on a big 15-4 run to grab a seven-point lead close to the midway point of the second half. The Wesmen were able to hold their composure and fight back to stay in the game. The Wesmen were able to hold the lead even in a wild last minute of play. After a missed three pointer by Winnipeg, Regina grabbed the rebound and missed a shot as Ivan Saric grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Saric hit one of two free throws with just 11 ticks left on the clock to give Winnipeg a 76-73 lead. The Cougars attempted a game-tying trey with one second left on the clock but Saric came thru with a block to secure the victory. “It was a great team effort and a great win,” said Head Coach Dave Crook. “Winning the first game in the series is huge.” Matt Opalko paced Winnipeg with 21 points on 8-14 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc and 2-3 from the line. Erfan Nasajpour added 14 on 5-15 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 4 boards, 7 assists and 4 steals. Dan Shynkaryk added 14 on 6-13 from the floor. Ivan Saric added 10 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-5 from the line, 11 boards and 4 blocks. Ryan Roper scored 8 on 2-7 from the floor and 3-4 from the line. Peter Lomuro notched 7 on 3-5 from the floor. Mike James notched 2 and Will Bergmann was scoreless. The Wesmen hit 29-63 (.460) from the floor, 6-19 (.316) from the arc and 12-20 (.600) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 23 fouls, 15 turnovers, 9 steals and 5 blocks. Drew Kuzminski paced the Cougars with 17 points on 6-13 from the floor, 5-7 from the line and 7 boards. Paul Schubach added 13 on 4-6 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 7 boards. Jeffrey Lukomski notched 12 on 4-9 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc and 2 steals. Sarain Soonias added 10 on 4-6 from the floor and 4 boards. Adam Huffman notched 8 on 4-5 from the floor. Jamal Williams scored 8 on 1-8 from the floor, 6-6 from the line and 8 boards. Paul Gareau scored 5, while Bradley Fekula, Kris Heshka and Michael Enns were scoreless. Regina shot 25-59 (.424) from the floor, 4-9 (.444) from the arc and 19-23 (.826) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 5 assists, 19 fouls, 22 turnovers and 6 steals. …………………………………………………… In game two, Regina defeated Winnipeg 78-67. The Wesmen trailed for a better part of the first half. Yet, despite their first half struggles, they only trailed 37-29 at the break. The Cougars went on an early 9-0 run in the second half to build their lead to 16 points. The Cougars nailed back-to–back treys to lead by as much as 20 points. The Wesmen came within nine points, but that was as close as they came. Drew Kuzminski paced Regina with 33 on 15-23 from the floor, 3-8 from the line and 12 boards. Paul Schubach added 13 on 4-9 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc and 9 boards. Bradley Fekula scored 12 on 4-9 from the arc and 4 assists. Jamal Williams notched 7 on 3-4 from the floor and 7 boards. Jeffrey Lukomski added 6 on 4-4 from the floor. Kris Heshka scored 3, Adam Huffman 2 and Sarain Soonias 2, while Jordan McFarlen, Paul Gareau and Michael Enns were scoreless. The Cougars hit 27-55 (.491) from the floor, 7-15 (.467) from the arc and 17-29 (.586) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 19 turnovers, 4 steals and 5 blocks. Ivan Saric paced Winnipeg with 12 on 6-9 from the floor. Mike James added 12 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 11 boards. Erfan Nasajpour notched 11 on 5-17 from the floor, 4 boards, 3 assists and 4 steals. Dan Shynkaryk added 8 on 4-10 from the floor. Nick Lother added 8 on 2-6 from the floor and 3-4 from the line. Peter Lomuro scored 6 on 2-6 from the floor. Matt Opalko notched 6 on 3-7 from the floor and 5 boards. James Horaska and Will Bergmann each scored 2, while Ryan Roper, Josh Sjoberg and Jeff Shynkaryk were scoreless. The Wesmen hit 29-77 (.377) from the floor, 4-12 from the arc and 5-8 (.625) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 21 fouls, 11 turnovers, 13 steals and 4 blocks. …………………………………………………… Regina edged Winnipeg 71-69 in the deciding contest. The Wesmen struggled with their shooting in the first half connecting on only 32% of their shots from the field. Despite the shooting woes Regina went into halftime with a slim 29-26 lead. In a close second half, neither team led by more than six points at any given time. The teams continued to trade the lead into the final minutes of play. The Wesmen had two chances to tie the game in the final 20 seconds but missed a pair of three pointers. Ryan Roper drained a three pointer to give Winnipeg some hope trailing by only two, but Regina sank two free throws to extend their lead to four points with three seconds left. Dan Shynkaryk was fouled on a three-point shot. Shynkaryk made the first two free throws but his intentional miss on the third was pulled down by Regina to seal the deal. Jamal Williams led the Cougars with 22 points on 6-8 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 8-8 from the line and 11 boards. Paul Schubach added 18 on 6-12 from the floor, 6-6 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Sarain Soonias notched 9 on 3-9 from the floor and 3-3 from the line. Bradley Fekula scored 8 on 2-6 from the floor, 6 boards and 5 assists. Drew Kuzminski scored 6 on 3-11 from the floor and 8 boards. Jeffrey Lukomski scored 6 on 4-4 from the floor and 5 boards. Paul Gareau added 2, while Kris Heshka, Adam Huffman and Michael Enns were scoreless. Regina shot 22-51 (.431) from the floor, 4-12 from the arc and 23-23 from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 16 fouls, 20 turnovers and 6 steals. Dan Shynkaryk led Winnipeg with 14 points on 5-11 from the floor, 4-7 from the line and 8 boards. Erfan Nasajpour added 13 on 5-18 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 8 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Ivan Saric notched 11 on 4-7 from the floor, 3-5 from the line and 9 boards. Ryan Roper scored 10 on 4-8 from the floor. Matt Opalko hit 8 on 2-7 from the floor and 7 assists. Peter Lomuro scored 6 on 2-5 from the floor. Nick Lother added 5 and Mike James 2, while Will Bergmann was scoreless. The Wesmen shot 25-65 (.385) from the floor, 4-14 (.286) from the arc and 15-21 (.714) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 19 fouls, 13 turnovers, 11 steals and 2 blocks. The Wesmen (coached by Dave Crook) also included James Horaska, Josh Sjoberg, Owen Toews, Jeff Shynkaryk and Diego Contador Salaz.

In the Pacific Division semis, Victoria defeated Simon Fraser 80-71; 64-56 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Victoria prevailed 80-71. Victoria had a good start and held a double-digit lead of ten a couple of times through first but strong three-point shooting by SFU kept the game close, as the half ended with UVic up just three, 38-35. The second was a good half for the Clan, who used the inside presence of Aaron Christensen and outside shooting of Sean Burke to take over the lead in the opening minutes, 41-40. UVic put themselves in a hole five minutes in when Tyler Hass picked up his third foul on a difficult defensive call and subsequently argued the play and was assessed a technical. With four fouls, he spent much of the rest of the half on the bench. Simon Fraser continued to keep it close and Burke put the Clan up three, 49-46, on his second three of the game but they lost strong shooting Greg Wallis with nine minutes left in the game after Wallis picked up his fifth and disqualifying foul. The game changed in a span of about twenty seconds in the second. With the Vikes down 49-48, Josh Whyte hit from outside for UVic’s first three of the game. On the way back up the floor, SFU crossed centre court and Whyte swatted the ball out of the hands of the Clan guard and raced down floor for the uncontested lay-in. On their next trip up, Jacob Doerksen picked the Clan guard’s pocket and transitioned for a dunk. The seven-point swing put U Vic in front 55-49. The lead would stay in the Vikes hands with the margin flipping back-and-forth between eight and ten and the largest difference was 12. The Clan was able to cut that to eight, 74-66, but ended up coming up short. Jacob Doerksen paced the Vikings with 23 on 10-15 from the floor, 3-6 from the line and 3 steals. Joshua Whyte scored 15 on 5-6 from the floor, 4-7 from the line, 7 assists and 5 steals. Graeme Bollinger added 13 on 3-6 from the floor, 7-7 from the line and 4 boards. Tyler Hass scored 11 on 2-7 from the floor, 7-8 from the line and 4 boards. Brandon Ellis notched 9 on 3-10 from the floor and 2-4 from the arc. Cyril Indome scored 6 on 2-3 from the floor. Mitch Gudgeon added 3, while Isiah Pasquale and Rob Kinnear were scoreless. The Vikings shot 26-53 (.491) from the floor, 3-15 (.200) from the arc and 25-37 (.676) from the line, while garnering 19 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 23 fouls, 11 turnovers, 14 steals and 3 blocks. Aaron Christenson paced Simon Fraser with 18 on 6-15 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 6-11 from the line, 10 boards and 2 blocks. Sean Burke added 17 on 4-12 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 7-8 from the line and 5 assists. Nolan Holmes notched 12 on 4-6 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 6 boards. Alex MacIver added 8 on 3-4 from the floor. Greg Wallis scored 6 on 2-3 from the floor and 4 boards. Kevin Shaw added 4, Jeff Dolan 2, Vladimir Ruzic 2, Jordan Nostedt 2 and Lenny Piprah 0. The Spartans hit 21-48 (.438) from the floor, 5-16 (.313) from the arc and 24-31 (.774) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 33 fouls, 25 turnovers, 4 steals and 2 blocks. …………………………………………………… In game two, Victoria completed the sweep with a 64-56 win despite trailing 26-25 at the half. Simon Fraser looked like a team with their backs to the wall in the early going. Solid shooting and three’s from Aaron Christensen and Sean Burke sent them on a 15-2 run over the first five and half minutes. Victoria came to life around the six-minute mark and they worked the score back to within one, 21-20 and held the Clan to only 11 more points in the half after their opening run of 15. SFU held the one-point lead at the break 26-25. It took the Vikes until the opening minute of the second get their first lead in the game but once they had it they didn’t relinquish it. Strong defensive rebounding by Jacob Doerksen, Tyler Hass and Mitch Gudgeon stymied the Clan\’s opportunity for second chance points and ball possession was critical though the second. With the ball in their hands, UVic was able to keep the lead around seven for much of the second but a Burke jumper with four minutes remaining had the Clan down by only two, 53-51. Victoria would finish strong and the Clan were forced to foul over the final minute but, on the line, the Vikes were able to make their shots. Jacob Doerksen paced Victoria with 18 points on 7-13 from the floor, 4-8 from the line, 7 boards and 2 steals. Joshua Whyte added 14 on 5-9 from the floor, 9 assists and 2 steals. Brandon Ellis scored 13 on 4-11 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Graeme Bollinger notched 10 on 3-3 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 4 boards. Tyler Hass scored 6 on 3-8 from the floor, 6 boards and 8 assists. Mitch Gudgeon added 2, Rob Kinnear 1 and Cyrile Indome 0. The Vikings shot 23-52 (.442) from the floor, 5-13 (.385) from the arc and 13-22 (.591) from the line, while garnering 27 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 18 fouls, 7 turnovers, 7 steals and 2 blocks. Aaron Christensen paced Simon Fraser with 23 on 8-15 from the floor, 6-9 from the arc and 7 boards. Greg Wallis added 12 on 6-10 from the floor and 6 boards. Sean Burke scored 11 on 4-9 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 7 assists. Nolan Holmes scored 6 on 2-5 from the floor and 7 boards. Alex MacIver added 2 and Vladimir Ruzic 2, while Jeff Dolan, Jordan Nostedt and Kevin Shaw were scoreless. The Clan shot 21-54 (.389) from the floor, 3-16 (.188) from the arc and 11-17 (.647) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 20 fouls, 16 turnovers, 2 steals and 1 block. The Clan (coached by Scott Clark) also included Lenny Piprah, Grant Fedorak, John-Edward Bengtson, Brandon Dunn and Ben Gutowski.

In the other Pacific Division semi, U.B.C. defeated Trinity Western 89-62; 84-78 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… U.B.C. won the opener 89-62 after leading 43-24 at the half. UBC expanded their advantage to 38 points with six minutes remaining before the visitors chipped away in the dying minutes. The T-Birds looked comfortable playing at the Spartans’ frenetic pace. “I thought we had some stints tonight where we played some really solid defence,” said coach Kevin Hanson. “We didn’t allow them to penetrate, we took away their passing lanes and they didn’t shoot the ball well, which enabled us to go on some big runs.” Trinity Western hung around early, trailing just 18-14 with 12 minutes remaining in the opening half, but UBC broke the game open with a 13-2 run over the next three minutes to move ahead 31-16. “We didn’t shoot the ball well early and perhaps we had a little playoff nervousness,” said Hanson. “But once we settled down I thought our starters really set the tempo and then everyone who came into the game did a great job.” Casey Archibald paced U.B.C. with 27 on 10-20 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 5 assists and 2 steals. Jason Birring added 15 on 6-10 from the floor and 4 assists. Bryson Kool notched 14 on 4-6 from the floor, 6-7 from the line and 4 boards. Matt Rachar scored 8 on 3-5 from the floor and 9 boards. Brent Malish scored 8 on 3-4 from the floor and 4 boards. Chris Dyck scored 6 on 2-7 from the floor, 5 boards and 3 steals. Alex Murphy added 4, Sean Stewart 4, Adam Friesen 2 and Cody Berg 1, while Brett Leversage and Jeremy Alexander were scoreless. The Thunderbirds shot 31-61 (.508) from the floor, 3-13 (.231) from the arc and 24-30 (.800) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 27 fouls, 23 turnovers, 19 steals and 4 blocks. Luke Robinson paced Trinity Western with 18 on 5-12 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 6-6 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Jason Keegstra added 8 on 3-4 from the floor and 5 boards. Trevor Nerdahl notched 7 on 2-4 from the floor. Daniel Demian scored 7 on 5-9 from the line. Lance Verhoeff added 7 on 3-4 from the line and 8 boards. Brian Banman scored 5 on 1-11 from the floor. David Bron added 3, James Powell 3, Michael Brouwer 2 and Ryan Froese 2, while Drew Slaght and Joe Vroom were scoreless. The Spartans shot 17-57 (.298) from the floor, 6-22 (.273) from the arc and 22-34 (.647) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 7 assists, 23 fouls, 18 turnovers, 15 steals and 3 blocks. …………………………………………………… In game two, U.B.C. completed the sweep by clipping Trinity Western 84-78 despite trailing 41-36 at the half. Trailing 41-36 through 20 minutes of play, the Point Grey squad came out of the locker room and quickly erased the Spartans advantage before replacing it with a 10-point edge of their own. Bryson Kool sparked the decisive spurt with a layup 10 seconds in before Chris Dyck picked TWU guard Daniel Demian and raced in for the fastbreak bucket less than 20 seconds later. After Denman hit a jumper, Casey Archibald and Matt Rachar drained back-to-back three-pointers while Jason Birring capped the run with three hits from the charity stripe with 14:13 remaining. The T-Birds extended their lead to as many as 14 points, 67-53, with 7:57 to play but the never-say-die Spartans refused to surrender. TWU steadily closed the gap as the half worn on, finally trimming the deficit to four, 80-76, with just over a minute to go on a Luke Robinson three-pointer. But the visitors were forced to foul and Archibald made no mistake from the line, hitting four consecutive free throws to secure the victory. “We played a lot of different guys and I think our depth really showed this weekend,” said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. “Getting that many players involved in a significant way in the scoring is an important development for us. At the beginning of the year it was one or two guys getting it done and now we’re starting to see contributions from a whole range of people.” Hanson added that “we had a lot of turnovers in the first half. You can’t cough up the ball that much against a team that likes to take that many shots. We gave them a lot of three-ball attempts and that was a real problem for us.” Casey Archibald paced the Thunderbirds with 22 points on 6-11 from the floor, 9-12 from the line, 7 boards and 2 blocks. Matt Rachar added 16 on 6-13 from the floor and 12 boards. Bryson Kool scored 15 on 5-7 from the floor and 5-6 from the line. Chris Dyck notched 13 on 4-10 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 10 boards and 3 steals. Jason Birring notched 11 on 2-6 from the floor and 6-7 from the line. Brent Malish added 3, Alex Murphy 2, Cody Berg 1 and Adam Friesen 1, while Brett Leversage was scoreless. U.B.C. shot 24-51 (.471) from the floor, 4-15 (.267) from the arc and 32-41 (.780) from the line, while garnering 45 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 22 fouls, 22 turnovers, 6 steals and 3 blocks. Luke Robinson paced the Spartans with 21 on 6-15 from the floor, 6-10 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 3 boards. Trevor Nerdahl added 10 on 4-12 from the floor. James Powell notched 9 on 2-6 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. Lance Verhoeff scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 7 boards and 4 assists. Jason Keegstra scored 7 on 2-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Daniel Demian added 6, Drew Slaght 5 and Brian Banman 5 on 0-9 from the floor and 5-6 from the line. Michael Brouwer notched 5, David Bron 2 and Ryan Froese 0. Trinity Western shot 23-68 (.338) from the floor, 11-37 (.297) from the arc and 21-25 (.840) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 14 turnovers, 10 steals and 4 blocks. The Spartans (coached by Stan Peters, assisted by Gene Wolverton and Matt Weeda) also included Jon Schmidt, Michael Erickson, Joe Vroom and Taylor Armstrong.

In the Pacific Division final, U.B.C. d’d Victoria 80-63; 88-82 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, U.B.C. clocked Victoria 80-63. The fifth-ranked Thunderbirds elevated their defence to a new level, holding the third-rank Vikings to just 23 points in the first half. UBC played a downright dominant brand of basketball at both ends of the floor en route to a lopsided 46-23 halftime advantage. The T-Birds’ blistering first-half shooting display – hitting 58-percent (19-of-33) from the field and 63-percent (5-of-8) from three-point land – was only matched by their lockdown defensive effort. UBC held their opponents to 27-percent shooting, allowing only eight field goals and a single hit from beyond the arc, while forcing the Victoria shooters to stretch their comfort zone and settle for difficult shots. “I thought defensively we did some really good things and Bryson Kool was dynamite for us,” said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. “He had a great all-round game. He played great defence and he rebounded really well. He can be a load if he gets going and plays aggressive and I thought without a doubt tonight was his best game as a Thunderbird. We didn’t want to give them the chance to get in transition and run. I thought that when they did make a bit of a run on us they got the ball off a defensive rebound and were able to transition down the floor. So we have to contain them in the full court and really rely on our half-court defence to get all the stops.” The Vikes tried to make a game of it in the second half, shooting a much-improved 55 per cent from the field, and cut the deficit to 72-59 with 5:01 remaining. But they would come no closer, as UBC controlled the clock and turned the ball over a season-low eight times. “It’s always tough playing a best-of-three series because anything can happen,” noted Hanson. “Sometimes it isn’t good to win by a large margin in the first game because you don’t come out with the same intensity in the second. Tonight, we came out with great intensity and set the tone in the first half, but tomorrow we have to be even more aggressive because defence is going to win this series.” Vikes coach Craig Beaucamp noted that “we played very poorly in the first half. They were the aggressors and we were very passive. We didn’t respond like we had to and we had too many average performances. We have a blue-collar team here that isn’t very pretty to watch. For us to be successful, we have to be solid on defence and fight for every inch out there. When we forget what we are we get a wakeup call like tonight. We need a better overall effort in Game 2 and we have to be tougher mentally and physically.” Twenty first half points by the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds Bryson Kool set the tone, as the Thunderbirds took game one in the best of three Pacific Division men’s basketball series, winning 80-63 over the visiting University of Victoria Vikes, 80-63. “That was Bryson’s best game, by far, in a UBC jersey,” Hanson said after Kool played 36 of the 40 minutes and committed only one foul despite his aggression in the paint. “We wanted to come out aggressively tonight and Bryson typified that aggression. He did so many things so well.” It was a close game early, but UBC blew it open midway through the first half with a 14-0 run. Shooting guard Jason Birring came off the bench to key the run with eight points, including back-to-back three-point shots, as the T-Birds connected on a sizzling 57.6 per cent from the field in the half and lead 46-23 at the break. “We deferred to UBC in every aspect of the game in the first half,” said Beaucamp. “We looked like we were just passing and going through the motions. We simply got outhustled and outworked. Our energy level has to be better, or it’s going to be a short series.” Kool said “we feel right now that the only way to beat UBC is to beat ourselves. We talked all week about coming out hard and being the aggressor in this game. We did. Now we have to keep it to win the series.” Bryson Kool paced U.B.C. with 22 on 8-14 from the floor, 6-10 from the line and 12 boards. Casey Archibald added 16 on 7-17 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 4 boards and 7 assists. Chris Dyck scored 13 on 6-13 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 3 assists. Matt Rachar scored 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 5 boards. Jason Birring scored 8 on 2-2 from the arc. Adam Friesen added 5, Brent Malish 5, Cody Berg 2 and Alex Murphy 1, while Brett Leversage, Brent Lewis and Sean Stewart were scoreless. The Thunderbirds shot 30-61 (.492) from the floor, 7-16 (.438) from the arc and 13-18 (.722) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 20 fouls, 8 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks. Tyler Hass led Victoria with 22 points on 8-15 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 5 boards and 4 assists. Jacob Doerksen added 15 on 5-11 from the floor, 5-10 from the arc, 7 boards and 3 steals. Joshua Whyte notched 13 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Mitch Gudgeon scored 7 on 2-6 from the arc, 3-7 from the line and 6 boards. Brandon Ellis and Steve Moore each added 3, while Isiah Pasquale, Graeme Bollinger, Jeff Cullen, Rob Kinnear and Cyril Indome were scoreless. The Vikings shot 21-54 (.389) from the floor, 6-15 (.400) from the arc and 15-26 (.577) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 13 fouls, 11 turnovers, 6 steals and 4 blocks. …………………………………………………… In game two, U.B.C. completed the sweep by clipping Victoria 88-82. The T-Birds captured their fourth Pacific division title in five years, while advance to the final four. Casey Archibald drove into traffic and drew a blocking foul on Tyler Hass with 23 seconds remaining to seal the win tonight. Archibald’s free throws made it 86-82 and gave the T-Birds some late breathing room in a tightly-played second half. Victoria had climbed back from as many as 12 points down in the first half and came within one when Hass’s inside hoop cut the margin to 81-80 with 2:05 remaining. Two Archibald free throws on the next possession gave UBC a three-point cushion, and the T-Birds were able to make a key defensive stand, forcing UVic to call timeout with four seconds remaining on the shot clock. The Vikes turned it over the subsequent inbounds play. “If we’re playing that quality of basketball, I like our chances against anyone in the country,” said Archibald. “We knew they were going to come out with more energy tonight. We figured if we took care of the ball and played hard – matched their intensity – that we’d be okay. This is best basketball we’ve played all year, and that’s why we beat Victoria in two games. It’s tough to beat Victoria, period, let alone two straight. Who knows, maybe we’re peaking at the right time this year.” The slick senior combined with fellow fifth-year guard Jason Birring as the go-to guys for UBC in the second half, scoring 30 of the team’s 40 points in the frame. Archibald hit a highlight reel driving layup and completing the three-point play to put the home side ahead 75-70 at the 4:30 mark. He scored 16 of his points in the final frame, dished out four assists to give him a game-high eight on the night, and played turnover free basketball. Birring, meanwhile, was a perfect 7-for-7 from the line in the second half. The first half was all Chris Dyck. Much like he did against Trinity Western a few weeks ago, the third-year UBC guard caught fire early, pouring in 19 points on 7-8 shooting in the opening 20 minutes, including a 4-4 effort from beyond the arc. He also finished off a pretty alley-oop lob from Archibald with a powerful slam dunk before sitting most of the second half with foul trouble. “He hit tough shots for us,” UBC coach Kevin Hanson said of Dyck. “His athleticism really enabled him to hit those shots and I thought he was really tremendous, especially in the first half.” UBC took the lead and were up by as much as six until the Vikes drew back even at 21 with under ten minutes to play in the first. The Thunderbirds led by as much as 12, 42-30 but UVic was back within six with just over a minute remaining. UBC hit two more three’s over the final 60 seconds, giving them eight in the half and they held a 48-39 lead at the break. The T-Birds scored the first two baskets of the second but the Vikes came alive from there, going on a 16-5 run over the first six and a half minutes, to draw within two, 57-55. Victoria were effective working the! Ball inside to Jacob Doerksen, Tyler Hass, and Graeme Bollinger but it was the strong shooting by fifth-year guard Steve Moore that had the Vikes within one, 81-80, with two minutes to play. With the score 84-82 and 21 seconds remaining, Casey Archibald drove through the lane and ran directly into UVic’s Tyler Hass. What looked like a charge was called a block and Hass fouled out of the game with his fifth. Archibald hit both free throws and put the game away. The T-Birds would get two more from the line before closing out with the 88-82 victory. Casey Archibald paced U.B.C. with 24 on 5-13 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 12-13 from the line, 8 assists and 2 steals. Chris Dyck added 19 on 7-9 from the floor, 4-5 from the arc and 2 steals. Jason Birring added 19 on 5-10 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 7-7 from the line and 6 boards. Adam Friesen notched 8 on 2-2 from the arc. Bryson Kool scored 7 on 2-4 from the floor and 8 boards. Brent Malish added 4, Cody Berg 3, Matt Rachar 2 and Alex Murphy 2, while Sean Stewart was scoreless. U.B.C. shot 24-51 (.471) from the floor, 11-19 (.579) from the arc and 29-38 (.763) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 24 fouls, 17 turnovers, 9 steals and 3 blocks. Steve Moore paced Victoria with 20 on 5-14 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 8-9 from the line and 4 boards. Jacob Doerksen added 15 on 5-9 from the floor, 5-7 from the line and 6 boards. Joshua Whyte scored 23 on 5-14 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 4 assists. Tyler Hass scored 12 on 4-10 from the floor and 3-3 from the line. Graeme Bollinger notched 10 on 5-7 from the floor, 11 boards and 3 steals. Mitch Gudgeon added 8 on 2-4 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. Cyril Indome scored 3 and Brandon Ellis 2, while Rob Kinnear was scoreless. The Vikings (coached by Craig Beaucamp) shot 27-61 (.443) from the floor, 6-14 (.429) from the arc and 22-26 (.846) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 30 fouls, 14 turnovers, 10 steals and 2 blocks.

In the Great Plains final, Brandon defeated Regina 91-83; 93-79 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Brandon defeated Regina 91-83. Sparked by the hot shooting of Chad Jacobson and Taylor Cherris-Wilding, the Bobcats opened up a 20-point first half lead and rode the momentum to their 14th consecutive victory. “I thought they (Regina) played really well tonight,” said Brandon coach Barnaby Craddock, whose team fell behind 9-2 before rallying to take the lead for good. “We managed to get on a run in the first half where we were making some shots and we got up on them… but you have to credit that team for fighting for a full 40 minutes.” With his team leading by 12 and the game seemingly out of reach, Craddock turned to his bench with just over 3:30 left. Ninety seconds later, the Cougars were right back in the contest, as Jamal Williams capped a spectacular run with back-to-back three pointers to make it a 79-75 contest with 2:10 remaining. From there, Craddock reinserted his starters, who promptly went on a 7-0 run of their own to put the game away. “I’m confident in my bench,” stated Craddock afterwards. “We’ve got a lot of talented guys on this team… and unfortunately, our guys caught in a shift where things weren’t going their way. They didn’t get the job done this time around.” With Brandon up 13 and under 4 minutes to play, the Cougars went on a 9-0 with 3 consecutive 3’s, two by emerging 6’5” forward Jamal Williams, bringing the game back to 79-75 with 2:20 remaining with the ball. But the young Cougars rushed a shot, allowing the Bobcats yet another easy score on a run out, forcing Regina to foul and the Cougars could not recover. “Our team execution was the difference tonight,” noted Jacobson, who delivered a team-high 22 points on 8-10 shooting from the field. “Right now, everyone is playing well with each other, we’re driving and kicking and making shots. We’re just out-executing teams, and that’s what happened tonight.” Chad Jacobson led Brandon with 22 points on 8-10 from the floor, 5-6 from the arc and 1-1 from the line. Yuri Whyms notched 16 on 8-10 from the floor, 5-6 from the arc and 2 assists. Yul Michel added 15 on 6-7 from the floor, 3-3 from the line and 6 assists. Taylor Cherris-Wilding hit 12 on 4-5 from the arc and 4 boards. Dany Charlery added 10 on 4-12 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 5 assists and 7 steals. Adam Hartman scored 8 on 4-10 from the floor and 3 boards. Chris Schmidt-Watt notched 4, Nathan Grant 2 and Stevens Marcelin 1, while Erik Holm, Jon Thomson and Liam Ricci were scoreless. The Bobcats shot 33-56 (.589) from the floor, 9-15 (.600) from the arc and 16-24 (.667) from the line, while garnering 27 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 21 fouls, 20 turnovers, 17 steals and 5 blocks. Jamal Williams paced Regina with 23 on 7-15 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 6-7 from the line, 11 boards and 2 steals. Drew Kuzminski scored 16 on 8-11 from the floor, 6 boards and 3 assists. Paul Schubach notched 23 on 4-13 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 4 assists. Jeffrey Lukomski scored 10 on 2-7 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 3 boards. Michael Enns scored 6 on 3-3 from the floor. Sarain Soonias added 5, Adam Huffman 4, Bradley Fekula 4, Kris Heshka 2, Paul Gareau 1 and Jordan McFarlen 0. The Cougars shot 31-69 (.449) from the floor, 7-20 (.350) from the arc and 14-24 (.583) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 24 turnovers, 10 steals and 1 block. …………………………………………………… In game two, Brandon defeated Regina 93-79 to sweep the series. “I’m just really proud of the way our guys played this weekend, the way they carried themselves as a team,” said second year Brandon coach Barnaby Craddock, whose team has won 15 straight games. “We played like a #1 team is supposed to play.” Craddock added that ‘we’ve got to keep getting better. “We’re playing our best ball of the season, but we can’t stop now. There’s going to be some tremendous teams coming here, and we need to be ready.” Yul Michel added that “we’ve got great intensity right now. We’re playing together… we have a great group of guys on this team and we’re supporting each other in all we do.” Adam Hartman

led Brandon with 19 points on 7-14 from the floor, 5-6 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Stevens Marcelin added 13 on 5-6 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 13 boards. Yul Michel scored 12 on 5-8 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 2 steals. Yuri Whyms notched 12 on 5-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 8 boards. Chad Jacobson scored 11 on 4-8 from the floor and 5 assists. Nathan Grant notched 9 on 2-2 from the floor and 5-9 from the line. Dany Charlery notched 7 on 3-9 from the floor, 4 boards and 2 steals. Taylor Cherris-Wilding notched 6 on 6-6 from the floor. Erik Holm scored 4, while Jon Thomson, Chris Schmidt-Watt and Liam Ricci were scoreless. The Bobcats hit 32-57 (.561) from the floor, 2-6 (.333) from the arc and 27-40 (.675) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 28 fouls, 16 turnovers, 11 steals and 2 blocks. Drew Kuzminski paced Regina with 33 points on 12-20 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 7-12 from the line, 11 boards and 2 steals. Jamal Williams added 16 on 5-12 from the floor, 5-9 from the line and 7 boards. Jeffrey Lukomski added 12 on 4-11 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 4 assists. Paul Schubach notched 8 on 6-7 from the line, 4 assists and 3 steals. Adam Huffman scored 6 on 2-3 from the floor and 2-8 from the line. Sarain Soonias notched 6, while Bradley Fekula, Kris Heshka, Jordan McFarlen, Paul Gareau and Michael Enns were scoreless. The Cougars shot 25-60 (.417) from the floor, 5-16 (.313) from the arc and 24-40 (.600) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 28 fouls, 17 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks. The Cougars (coached by James Hillis) also included Shea Murphy.

In the Central Division final, Saskatchewan defeated Alberta 64-51; 54-76; 88-85 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, Saskatchewan defeated Alberta 64-51. In a first half that could only be termed as ugly, the Huskies proved to be the lesser of the two uglies taking a 10-point lead, 26-16, into the second half. A pair of Andrew Parker dunks provided the first half’s only moments of excitement, while Conference leading scorer Andrew Spagrud of Saskatchewan put away one of his own. It was Parker who first shed gravity and put some spark in the game, leaving his feet for a two-hander in the early going. He would later add an alley-oop dunk before the half ended. Early in the first half, Alberta’s Scott Gordon stuffed a tight lay-up by Rejean Chabot and made sure Chabot knew about it. Five minutes later, Chabot got his revenge as he described to Gordon, his rainbow pass that ended in an alley-oop dunk by Spagrud as the Huskies backed their talk up with the half-time lead. The Bears’ offence woke up in the second half, but it was too little too late as Saskatchewan continued to flirt with upwards of an 18-point lead before eventually closing it out at 64-51. Both teams played their bench players in the second half, but for different reasons. Alberta coach Don Horwood wasn’t getting the game he needed out his starters, so he reached into his bench strength and they provided 35 second half points. The Huskies elected to take the safe route, sitting star players for rest and injury prevention, while giving valuable minutes to younger players. “We got our butts kicked,” said Horwood. “They outworked us shut us down. We couldn’t score inside, so our outside guys didn’t get enough room to score, either. Some of the shots we missed were unbelievable. If we don’t play better this afternoon, we’re done for the season. It’s probably a good thing that we get back at it right away. Did you see what I saw? Did you see some of the shots our guys took? Obviously, they’re really uptight. They were scared to death out there.” For the Huskies, Rejean Chabot shot the ball extremely well and also showed his rough-and-tumble side. “I live for the big games. If people get in my face, I love to go at them. The guys found me in the right spots and I was just hitting.” Playoff pressure “is no big deal to Rejean,” said Saskatchewan coach Greg Jockims. “He’s a tough kid. He’s strong and smart and tough. You can get stronger, but you can’t get smarter and tougher. And when you’re smart and tough, you can pick your spots. He’s not afraid to go against anybody. That’s what you try to find, is the smart, tough guys, because they’ll always get the job done. It doesn’t matter how big they are.” Rejean Chabot paced Saskatchewan with 29 points on 9-14 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 9-12 from the line, 4 boards and 3 steals. Andrew Spagrud added 10 on 4-8 from the floor, 11 boards and 7 steals. Mark Lynch scored 10 on 4-9 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 4 boards. Kyle Grant notched 9 on 4-6 from the floor. Sam Lamontagne scored 5 on 1-6 from the floor and 4 assists. David Neufeld scored 1, while Dan Brudehl, Kalem Edlund, Jordan Harbidge, Tim Hollman and Clint Unsworth were scoreless. The Huskies shot 22-44 from the floor, 4-11 (.364) from the arc and 16-22 (.727) from the line, while garnering 26 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 15 fouls, 22 turnovers, 15 steals and 1 block. Alex Steele paced Alberta with 10 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 3 steals. Scott Gordon added 9 on 3-12 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 8 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Andrew Parker scored 8 on 2-7 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 5 boards. Justin Vanloo scored 8 on 3-4 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 3 steals. C.G. Morrison added 5, Jeff Stork 4, Neb Aleksic 2, Harvey Bradford 2, Jeff Lander 2 and Richard Bates 1, while Tyson Jones and Scott Leigh were scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 17-52 (.327) from the floor, 0-11 from the arc and 17-19 (.895) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 3 assists, 21 fouls, 25 turnovers, 12 steals and 2 blocks. …………………………………………………… In game two, Alberta evened the series with a 76-54 win. “It is unbelievable,” said forward Scott Gordon. “The defence was there (yesterday) just like it was (Friday) night, but the offence really kicked into second gear. The guys came to play and started hitting some shots.” Bears coach Don Horwood said his troops simply worked harder. “More energy, more excitement. We are not good enough or talented enough to beat people by going at half speed and that is what we were last night.” A blistering 21-11 start yesterday also helped the Bears calm their nerves. “(Alberta’s) main adjustment was just being more aggressive – they were really up on our ball handlers, which caused a lot of turnovers in the first half,” said Saskatchewan coach Greg Jockims. “It gave them some easy scores and then they got their confidence.” Horwood told his troops before the game that “look, we are the No. 1 shooting team in the country percentage wise. We are the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the country percentage wise. We have got no reason to doubt ourselves.” Alberta also responded on the defensive glass, keeping Saskatchewan star Andrew Spagrud – the nation’s leading scorer – to 23 points. “Obviously, our posts did a (heck) of a lot better job than they did last night.” The Bears led by as many as 18, taking a 67-49 lead in the second half. “Obviously our energy level was a lot higher today, we played with greater urgency, but I don’t know why we don’t do that more often,” said Horwood, whose Bears led 36-21 at the half. “Last night a lot of guys were uptight, and some of the guys hadn’t been in this situation at this level before. Obviously today we handled that pressure much better.” Alex Steele “brought his “A” game today. Last night we didn’t get him the ball enough, and he is a key to our team.” Alberta also did a stellar defensive job led by 6’4” Tyson Jones. The Huskies stormed out of the gate in the second half, bringing the game back to within 5 with 13 minutes remaining led by 6’8” Andrew Spagrud. But C.G. Morrison, the leading three-point shooter in the CIS during the regular season, drilled a 3 and then Steele followed with another 3 to build Alberta’s lead back up to double digits and Saskatchewan rarely threatened thereafter. Scott Gordon called the win “unbelievable. The defence was there, just like it was Friday night but the offence really kicked into second gear yesterday. The guys came to play and started hitting some shots.” Horwood called the win a product of energy. “It is just working harder – more energy, more excitement. We are not good enough or talented enough to beat people by going at half speed and that is what we were Friday night.” Saskatchewan coach Greg Jockims said Alberta’s aggression was the difference. “They were really up on our ball handlers, which caused a lot of turnovers in the first half. It gave them some easy scores and they go their confidence. Alex Steele paced Alberta with 22 points on 7-15 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 3 boards. Scott Gordon scored 12 on 6-10 from the floor, 9 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks. C.G. Morrison scored 11 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 4-6 from the line. Justin Vanloo scored 10 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 11 boards and 2 steals. Richard Bates added 4, Harvey Bradford 5, Jeff Stork 4, Andrew Parker 5, Tyson Jones 3 and Neb Aleksic 2, while Jeff Lander and Scott Leigh were scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 29-58 from the floor, 6-13 (.462) from the arc and 12-16 (.750) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 20 fouls, 15 turnovers, 11 steals and 6 blocks. Andrew Spagrud paced Saskatchewan with 23 on 8-13 from the floor, 7-10 from the line, and 10 boards. Rejean Chabot added 10 on 3-15 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Clint Unsworth scored 9 on 4-7 from the floor and 9 boards. Sam Lamontagne scored 6 on 2-6 from the arc and 2 steals. Kyle Grant scored 5 on 1-2 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Mark Lynch scored 1, while Dan Brudehl, Kalem Edlund, Tim Hollman, David Neufeld and Matt Anderson were scoreless. The Huskies shot 18-54 (.333) from the floor, 4-14 (.286) from the arc and 14-21 from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 15 fouls, 22 turnovers, 7 steals and 1 block. …………………………………………………… In game three, Saskatchewan took the decisive contest with an 88-85 win. Alberta point guard C.G. Morrison got the ball with 5.9 seconds to play, drove the floor and heaved a 26-footer with three seconds remaining in hopes of forcing overtime. It fell short. “There was enough time. I just missed the shot. There’s so many things you can look back on that you wish you couldn’t done but it’s over.” Bear gunners Alex Steele and Parker had fouled out earlier. Saskatchewan had 18 more trips to the foul line as Alberta struggled with fouls all game. Steele had hit six treys in the first half as Alberta built a 10-point lead but Saskatchewan countered with a 23-6 run to take a 50-43 lead at the half. “All our top guards were in foul trouble and we couldn’t afford to play them,” said Bears coach Don Horwood. “The guys who don’t normally play a lot of minutes came in there and it allowed Saskatchewan to get back in it. … Up until we got in foul trouble, we were in really good shape.” The Bears clawed back by hitting 6 of 8 treys in the second half. Morrison hit a layup to make in 87-85 with 10 seconds to play but the rally fell short. Rejean Chabot paced Saskatchewan with 23 on 7-13 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 8-8 from the line, 3 boards and 4 assists. Andrew Spagrud added 22 on 10-14 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 6 boards and 2 steals. Mark Lynch scored 21 on 8-10 from the floor, 4-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Kyle Grant notched 16 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 6-9 from the line and 6 assists. Sam Lamontagne scored 6, while Dan Brudehl, Kalem Edlund, Jordan Harbidge and Clint Unsworth were scoreless. The Huskies shot 30-49 (.612) from the floor, 8-19 (.421) from the arc and 20-27 (.741) from the line, while garnering 16 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 13 fouls, 12 turnovers, 6 steals and 1 block. C.G. Morrison paced Alberta with 8-16 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 3 assists. Scott Gordon added 16 on 7-8 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 4 boards. Alex Steele scored 14 on 5-6 from the floor, 4-4 from the arc and 6 assists. Justin Vanloo scored 10 on 4-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Tyson Jones scored 8 on 3-5 from the floor, 5 boards and 6 assists. Jeff Stork and Richard Bates each scored 2, while Neb Aleksic, Harvey Bradford, Jeff Lander and Scott Leigh were scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 32-48 (.667) from the floor, 12-18 from the arc and 9-9 from the line, while garnering 18 boards, including 3 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 25 fouls, 20 turnovers, 5 steals and 4 blocks. The Golden Bears (coached by Don Horwood) also included Andrew Parker, Jamal Bara and Matthew Hudson.

        Canada West announces that Victoria Vikings will receive the Final Four wildcard.

In the Final Four semis, the host Brandon Bobcats pummeled the Victoria Vikings 91-79. Brandon led by 24 at the half and held off a late U of Vic attack to win their 16th straight game in front of a packed crowd at the BU gymnasium. “It was phenomenal to get up that much on a team as strong as U of Vic,” said coach Barnaby Craddock. “They’ve had a great season and I think we had to really bring a solid game to do that. You have to credit them, they’ve had a good year and we’re lucky to get this game in our home gym in front of our fans. We just knew we had to come out and play well in order to beat a quality team like U of Vic and I think we’ve done that.” Dany Charlery led the way, Craddock added. “I’ve told people all year long that any time Dany Charlery brings his A-game, we’re on a different level. He’s one of those guys that can create his own shot and he can create defensive turnovers, which we can get out and run and score on. He just willed us to Halifax in the first half, and didn’t wilt under any of the pressure.” Charlery said “I started off good tonight, and my teammates were after me to keep it going. It felt good, so I just kept releasing the ball. All the guys were excited about tonight, it was a do-or-die night and everyone wants to go to Halifax.” A strong first 20 minutes by Dany Charlery, who hit for 18 in the half, set up the Bobcats for a big lead, with the score 51-27 at the break. After being down by 24-points, the Vikes defense came to life. With just over eight minutes to play, Tyler Haas picked up is five and disqualifying foul and that seemed to spark UVic. Over the next couple of minutes of play, Victoria held the Bobcats off the scoresheet and cut the lead to 16. But their comeback faced another setback when Canada West 2nd team All-star Jacob Doerksen also picked up his fifth foul and was sent to the bench with almost six minutes to play. The Vikes continued to surge and were within seven with minutes remaining but the clock worked against UVic. They were forced into fouling over the final sixty seconds and Brandon held on for the win. The ‘Cats extended their 24 point halftime lead and after Brandon’s Stevens Marcelin slammed home a feed from point guard Yul Michel the ‘Cats had a 68-42 lead with 9 1-2 minutes left in the game. Victoria made a frantic attempt at a comeback, actually bringing the game back to within 8 with 41 seconds remaining but the Bobcats scored the game’s last 6 points including a breakaway slam by Charlery as the fans erupted. Brandon jumped out to a 16-6 lead off the start of the game and after Vic closed to within 2 at 20-18, 6’2” Chad Jacobsen made consecutive shots including a 3, igniting a 14-2 Brandon run that gave the ‘Cats a 34-20 lead. Steve Moore broke the run with a 3 but the Bobcats had a steal on the next possession to regain the momentum. Brandon, which scored the last 9 points of the half, pushed the pace at every opportunity against the slower Vikes. Midway through the second half, the Vikes rode a 9-0 run to trail by 15 at 73-58 but the Cats got the game back into an up-and-down affair and jumped the lead back up to 23 at 82-59. Victoria then mounted a too-little, too-late comeback in the waning moments on a series of steals and after 6’2” Josh Whyte hit a 3 with 1:34 left the lead was only 10. But Brandon made their free throws and locked up Vic when it mattered to take the victory. Dany Charlery paced Brandon with 27 on 11-19 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 9 boards, 3 assists and 7 steals. Yul Michel added 18 on 4-8 from the floor, 10-12 from the line and 3 boards. Chad Jacobson scored 14 on 5-11 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 assists. Adam Hartman scored 13 on 5-10 from the floor, 3-3 from the line, 7 boards and 5 assists. Yuri Whyms notched 9 on 3-5 from the floor, 3-7 from the line and 10 boards. Taylor Cherris-Wilding added 7 on 2-3 from the floor and 2-2 from the line, Stevens Marcelin added 4 and Nathan Grant 1, while Erik Holm and Jon Thomson were scoreless. The Bobcats hit 32-59 (.542) from the floor, 4-14 (.286) from the arc and 25-33 (.758) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 21 fouls, 22 turnovers, 15 steals and 2 blocks. Jacob Doerksen paced Victoria with 18 points on 7-13 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 4 boards and 4 steals. Brandon Ellis added 16 on 8-13 from the floor and 3 boards. Joshua Whyte added 14 on 4-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 5-11 from the line, 3 boards and 4 assists. Steve Moore notched 9 on 3-11 from the floor and 3-3 from the line. Graeme Bollinger added 7, Cyril Indome 5, Tyler Hass 4, Mitch Gudgeon 3 and Jeff Cullen 2. The Vikings hit 31-66 (.470) from the floor, 4-19 (.211) from the arc and 13-26 from the line, while garnering 21 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 27 fouls, 17 turnovers and 15 steals.

        In the other semi, U.B.C. clipped Saskatchewan 76-68. The T-Birds went on a game-deciding 12-0 run during a late-game 4-minute stretch highlighted by a clutch 3 by Canada West Player-of-the-Year Casey Archibald that broke a 59-59 tie with about 5 minutes remaining. After UBC’s 6’3” guard Chris Dyck and Saskatchewan point guard Jordan Harbidge traded long 3’s, Archibald made no mistake from downtown and the T-Birds completely locked down Saskatchewan defensively, holding them scoreless during the four-minute stretch. Archibald later added another hoop and went 6-6 from the line. 6’8” Andrew Spagrud was again a work horse inside, scoring 17 of his game high 30 points in the second half to keep Saskatchewan close as no team had a lead larger than 3 in the second half before UBC’s game-deciding run. Both teams shot out of the gate, knocking shots down and the score was tied at 11 with about 6 minutes gone. Freshman Brent Malish knocked down a 3 to break an 18 all tie with 6 minutes left and then Chris Dyck gave UBC their largest lead at 4 with another 3 – Cody Berg then gave UBC a six-point lead on the next possession. Malish hit another 3 and UBC, with a 12-4 run, had their largest lead at 30-22 and all the momentum. On the next Saskatchewan possession, Spagrud, double and triple teamed all evening, missed a shot inside but Clint Unsworth snatched the offensive rebound, kicked it back out to hobbled point guard Harbidge who knocked in a 3 in what was probably the biggest play of the half. The play seemed to ignite the Huskies, culminating a solid final possession of the half when Saskatchewan allowed the game clock to whittle down before Harbidge found Kyle Grant for an open 3, culminating a 10-4 run to end the half. “Casey really showed his toughness down the stretch,” said coach Kevin Hanson. “He hit some big shots for us and his leadership was just tremendous. Spagrud had a good game for them, but Casey had a heck of a game, too. Spagrud got all our post guys in foul trouble so we were basically in zone defence for the last six or seven minutes. We really wanted to focus on keeping him off the glass and we did a good job of that. I think we played a little tentatively on the offensive end but the guys stuck to the game plan and our defence paid off again for us today. It held us in there.”

Casey Archibald paced U.B.C. with 29 on 9-15 from the floor, 5-8 from the arc, 6-7 from the line, 3 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals. Bryson Kool added 13 on 4-7 from the floor, 5-6 from the line, 6 boards and 3 steals. Chris Dyck notched 10 on 4-13 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 7 boards. Cody Berg added 9 on 3-4 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 7 boards. Brent Malish scored 6 on 2-6 from the floor and 5 boards. Jason Birring hit 4 on 1-9 from the floor and 4 boards. Matt Rachar added 2 on 1-4 from the floor and 8 boards. Brent Lewis scored 2 and Alex Murphy 1, while Adam Friesen and Jeremy Alexander were scoreless. The Thunderbirds shot 25-59 (.424) from the floor, 9-20 (.450) from the arc and 17-26 (.654) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 22 fouls, 17 turnovers and 12 steals. Andrew Spagrud paced Saskatchewan with 30 on 10-15 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 8-15 from the line, 6 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Kyle Grant added 12 on 5-13 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 5 boards, 8 assists and 4 steals. Rejean Chabot notched 9 on 4-14 from the floor and 2 steals. Jordan Harbidge scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 2 assists. Mark Lynch scored 6 on 3-6 from the floor. Sam Lamontagne added 3, while Tim Hollman, David Neufeld and Clint Unsworth were scoreless. The Huskies shot 26-59 (.441) from the floor, 8-24 from the arc and 8-19 (.421) from the line, while garnering 22 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 16 turnovers, 13 steals and 1 block.

In the bronze medal match, Saskatchewan edged Victoria 82-77. Victoria gave up the first two baskets of the game but quickly found their range as the half progressed, taking a 17-10 lead. The Huskies began to close the gap from the mid-point and were back in front 27-26. A Victoria turnover led Saskatchewan to a lead of seven. After picking up the ball, the Huskies went two-on-one on the Vikes with Andrew Spagrud finishing off the play with a dunk, putting them up seven, 35-28. The largest margin of the first half was ten and that came for the Huskies in the final minute, as they went to the break with the 42-32 lead. Brandon Ellis kept the Vikes in the game in the second, hitting two-threes early. The UVic bench also helped out as Jeff Cullen hit for two and then nailed a three, to bring the Vikes within eight, 58-50. Victoria cut the lead to just two, 62-60, with nine minutes remaining as Saskatchewan began to find themselves in foul trouble and over the next minute the Vikes used good defense to get the game back even. Spagrud picked it at that point and led his Huskies on a quick 9-0 run to put Saskatchewan up 71-62, with less than seven minutes to play. The Vikes managed to cut the margin to three, 73-70, with two and a half minutes to go but a three from the Huskies with ninety seconds left was the back breaker. Josh Whyte gave Victoria a glimmer of hope with a three, making the score 82-77 with a minute to play but Saskatchewan finished it out. The Huskies dominated the play in the paint. The Huskies outscored the Vikes 50-28 inside, and had an 18-5 advantage on second chance points. Victoria was up by as much as eight points early in the game, before the Huskies came back. A three-point play by Unsworth cut the lead to 19-17 with 10:26 to go. Saskatchewan took their first lead of the game with 6:10 remaining, as Spagrud scored off an offensive rebound to go up 27-26. Spagrud was then on the receiving up of an alley-oop toss from Rejean Chabot, and slammed it home over two Vikes’ players on the fast break to give the Huskies a five-point lead with just under five minutes to play in the period. The Huskies would take a 42-32 lead into the locker room at the break. The Vikes made a couple of charges in the second half. A 9-0 Vikes run had cut the lead to two before Chabot’s offensive rebound score put the Dogs up 60-56 with 10:14 to play. A layup by Steve Moore put the Vikes down 71-68 with just over four minutes to play. But the Huskies responded, and Kyle Grant’s three-pointer from the corner gave them a 78-70 lead with 1:35 to go. Grant would hit two free throws with 1:21 on the clock, putting the Dogs up eight, as the Vikes were called for a technical foul for calling a timeout when they had none remaining. Andrew Spagrud paced Saskatchewan with 30 on 11-17 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 6-8 from the line, 10 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Rejean Chabot added 18 on 8-17 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 7 assists and 2 steals. Clint Unsworth scored 18 on 8-9 from the floor, 2-3 from the line, 12 boards and 2 blocks. Kyle Grant scored 7 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 6 assists. Mark Lynch added 4, Dan Brudehl 3 and Matt Anderson 2, while Kalem Edlund and Sam Lamontagne were scoreless. The Huskies shot 33-56 (.589) from the floor, 4-11 (.364) from the arc and 12-17 (.706) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 16 fouls, 15 turnovers, 8 steals and 3 blocks. The Huskies also included Jordan Harbidge, David Neufeld, Chris Bodnar, Tim Hollman, Zee Cilimdzic, Matt Rapparlie and Rob Fry. Jacob Doerksen led the Vikings with 18 on 8-14 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Brandon Ellis added 13 on 4-14 from the floor, 2-9 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 3 assists. Tyler Hass scored 7 on 2-2 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Graeme Bollinger notched 7 on 2-5 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 4 boards. Jeff Cullen scored 7 on 3-4 from the floor. Steve Moore scored 6 on 3-10 from the floor, 5 boards and 3 steals. Mitch Gudgeon scored 6 on 2-4 from the floor and 2-2 from the line. Joshua Whyte notched 5 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 6 assists. Rob Kinnear added 4, Cyril Indome 2 and Mike Berg 2. Victoria shot 29-64 (.453) from the floor, 5-19 (.263) from the arc and 14-15 (.933) from the line, while garnering 27 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 23 assists, 12 fouls, 14 turnovers and 12 steals. The Vikings (coached by Craig Beaucamp) also included Isiah Pasquale.

        In the final, U.B.C. shot down Brandon 76-73. Adam Friesen hit a three-pointer with less than two minutes remaining to put UBC up four and the T-Birds held on down the stretch to claim their first conference banner since 2002-03. UBC held a brief eight-point lead early but the teams were tied at 36 heading into the locker rooms and the second half was back and forth right down to the wire. Brandon had a chance to tie, trailing by three with 17 seconds remaining and an inbounds play on the UBC baseline but failed to convert. “It was just an unbelievable game,” said UBC coach Kevin Hanson. “It really was one of those memorable games, playing in front of a standing-room-only crowd with every possession a key one. It’s a great emotional win for us against the No. 1 team in Canada. Adam picked the game of the year to have his best game of the year. He was clutch down the stretch for us and his leadership was big tonight. Defensively, he was great and, offensively, he found the right guys and hit the big shot.” Hanson also praised his bigs and noted the team’s composure from the free-throw line down the stretch as well as just 14 team turnovers on the night. The score bounced back and forth in the final minutes of the game. Following a clutch couple of foul-shots from UBC sharp-shooter Chris Dyck, the Bobcats found themselves down by three with under 10 seconds remaining on the clock. Brandon looked to 4th year forward Adam Hartman for the game winning shot but he came up short. “I thought that our guys played with a lot of poise down the stretch,” said Hanson. “We got up big and they came back. I thought our defense was solid down the stretch and that was the difference.” Bobcats coach Barnaby Craddock noted that “down the stretch there was multiple offensive rebounds that we gave up that turned into open looks. When they have shooters of that caliber they’re only going to miss so many and I thought they hit a couple of big daggers on us. Our guys showed heart to make plays down the stretch and come back to make it a real tight game but at the same time that’s why we didn’t play our best cause we gave up those extra shots.” Chris Dyck paced U.B.C. with 17 on 6-15 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 4 assists. Bryson Kool also notched 17 on 6-12 from the floor, 5-7 from the line, 8 boards and 3 steals. Casey Archibald added 14 on 5-14 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 2-5 from the line, 5 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Matt Rachar scored 12 on 5-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Adam Friesen scored 11 on 5-9 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 8 assists. Brent Malish added 3 and Alex Murphy 2, while Jason Birring and Cody Berg were scoreless. The Thunderbirds hit 28-65 (.431) from the floor, 8-23 (.348) from the arc and 12-19 (.632) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 16 fouls, 14 turnovers, 11 steals and 3 blocks. Adam Hartman paced Brandon with 19 on 7-14 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 3 boards. Yul Michel added 15 on 7-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 5 boards, 9 assists and 4 steals. Chad Jacobson scored 11 on 5-15 from the floor, 1-9 from the arc and 3 boards. Dany Charlery notched 10 on 4-19 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 8 boards and 4 assists. Yuri Whyms scored 6 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 3 boards. Chris Schmidt-Watt added 5 and Stevens Marcelin 4, along with 11 boards and 4 steals. Taylor Cherris-Wilding notched 3, while Nathan Grant and Jon Thomson were scoreless. The Bobcats hit 30-72 (.417) from the floor, 6-24 from the arc and 7-11 (.636) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 15 fouls, 18 turnovers, 7 steals and 6 blocks.

        After the season, Fraser Valley stunned the basketball community by announcing that coach Tom Antil and assistant Pat Lee would be released after the Cascades inaugural campaign in Canada West. The Cascades had finished (6-17) on the season but vice-president (administration) Tom Segger was unconvinced by the squad’s league debut. “We really need coaches who can be active on and off the court, on campus, and in our local communities. We’re now actively seeking a head coach who can engage completely and really take the team to the next level.” Between 1995 and 2006, Pat Lee and Tom Antil built UCFV into a collegiate powerhouse, amassing a record of 191-68 and winning national titles in 2000, 2002 and 2004. “I’m in shock. I don’t think the people at UCFV know how this is going to affect all the student-athletes and our careers,” senior forward Jamie Vaughan said. “I can’t understand where they’re coming from, and I really don’t want to understand where they’re coming from.” In a letter to UCFV administration, veteran Kyle Graves called the firings “untimely” and “very unprofessional.” Seeger told the players they would be involved in the search for a new coach. “I’m going to make sure that the process of selecting a coach is one that will involve the players and will be open and transparent. That’s as much a commitment to the new coach as it is to the players. There’s little point in me picking somebody who then raises as many questions as they provide answers.” Antil said his tenure at the helm had provided a lot of highlights. “In one way or another, every year has been a highlight because we’ve had great guys to work with.” Antil had the first crack at the Cascades’ top job between 1987 and 1994, and made a trip to nationals in his first season at the helm, but the program really took off in 1995 when Lee took over the reins with Antil riding shotgun. “Certain chemistry just works, like Don Cherry and Ron MacLean on the airwaves,” Antil explained. “Pat and I have the same philosophy about basketball, but different ways of approaching it. Because we’re really quite different personality-wise, it works quite well. It really is chemistry, and it’s not something you can write a formula for on paper.” Graves said the pair “were such a good team. Pat was the drill sergeant, and Tom was the guy to pat you on the back and pick you up. They worked so well together and they changed so many guys’ lives. For me, I was a big guy who came here and didn’t have any goals in life, really. Now, I’m almost done my degree, I’ve gotten into really good shape and I’ve set some goals personally for myself. Pat and Tom have been the reason why.”

        In another jaw-dropping move, reigning CIS coach of the year Barnaby Craddock announced that he was leaving Brandon to assume the helm at Fraser Valley. The Vancouver native had led the Bobcats to the national final months earlier before losing 52-49 to Carleton. “I’m thrilled with the chance to move to Abbotsford, and with the opportunity to work with UCFV athletics,” said Craddock. “The men’s basketball program at UCFV has had some great years, and some great coaches. I’m looking forward to coming in and helping the Cascades future continue to be as bright as it’s past.” Acting athletic director said “we really sought out a coach that was capable of turning the program into a winner at the CIS level, and what Barnaby managed to accomplish at Brandon speaks for itself. Barnaby is one of the top young coaches in the Canada, and we’re confident he will help us realize our goal of competing and winning a national championship.” As a Vancouver native, Craddock played for Vancouver Community College before becoming a CIS All-Canadian and two-time Canada West All Star at the University of Lethbridge. Additionally, Craddock is just four seasons removed from a seven-year professional playing career in Europe. He has earned post-season MVP honours in both Norway and Ireland leagues. After Craddock’s professional playing career expired, he took coaching jobs in the Iceland and Norway professional leagues. Craddock would make his return to Canada in 2003, taking an assistant coach position at Lethbridge. He also served as an assistant at University of Winnipeg in the 2004-05 season. “What struck me about Barnaby is he brings forward a lot of energy and it’s clear he wants to win. He’s been there before with Brandon, and you can tell he’s hungry to bring this group there too,” said Cascades senior forward Kyle Graves, who sat on the hiring committee with teammates Jamie Vaughan and Dylan Gatner. Vice-president (administration) Tim Segger said that “with Barnaby, we have a full-time coach who has full responsibility for all aspect of the men’s basketball program. We’re excited to have a coach who will be active on and off the court, on campus, in our local communities, and representing UCFV regionally and nationally in the Canada West and CIS.”

        Brandon, in turn, announced that assistant coach Mike Raimbault would take the Bobcats helm in place of Barnaby Craddock. Raimbault has served the Bobcats as Assistant Coach since fall 2005 and comes from a broad coaching background, having worked with grassroots, developmental, high school and university athletes in both team and individual sports for almost 10 years. He also taught physical education at Sioux Valley School. “It’s a great honour to be selected as the head coach of my hometown team and I’m really excited about the opportunity to coach such a great group of young men this season. Over the past two years, Coach Craddock and I have really created a family-type atmosphere, and I’m looking forward to continuing our success in the classroom, community and on the court. Last season the community really rallied around this team and was a huge part of our success. We look forward to having the crowd as our constant sixth man this season.” Outgoing athletic director Rick Nickelchok said “Mike steps into this highly sought after position with a unanimous endorsement of the veteran laden Bobcat team and the strong support of outgoing 2006 – 2007 CIS Coach of the Year Barnaby Craddock. As a Brandonite and a member of the Silver Medal team, Mike will be able to step in and ensure a smooth transition with minimal disruption to the program. His personal skill sets and intimate understanding of the team, the University and the community is conducive to another successful run at the national championships.” University president Dr. Louis Visentin said the institution “is pleased to promote Mike Raimbault to Head Coach. Mike’s experiences as a former player and a multi-sport coach and athlete will be invaluable to the program. Brandon University can proudly say that we have hired ‘one of our own’.”

        The bronze medalist Saskatchewan Huskies: Andrew Spagrud; Rejean Chabot; Clint Unsworth; Kyle Grant; Mark Lynch; Dan Brudehl; Matt Anderson; Kalem Edlund; Sam Lamontagne; Jordan Harbidge; David Neufeld; Chris Bodnar; Tim Hollman; Zee Cilimdzic; Matt Rapparlie; Rob Fry; coach Greg Jockims

        The runner-up 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 Nickelchok; SID Jeremy Sawatzky

        The champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds: Casey Archibald; Adam Friesen; Chris Dyck; Jason Birring; Matt Rachar; Bryson Kool; Brett Leversage; Brent Malish; Brent Lewis; Alex Murphy; Sean Stewart; Cody Berg; Jeremy Alexander; Balraj Bains; coach Kevin Hanson; assistant Randy Nohr; assistant Vern Knopp; assistant Les Brown; trainer Bryan Tanaka; trainer Brianna Scarr; manager Bram Newman; athletic director Bob Philp; SID Marc Weber