REGULAR SEASON
| EAST | WEST | ||||||||
| Laurentian | 12-2 | 22-12 | Ken Shields | Waterloo | 8-4 | 25-9 | Don McCrae | ||
| Ottawa | 11-3 | 19-11 | Bob O’Billovich | Guelph | 8-4 | 12-4 | Doug Dodd | ||
| York | 11-3 | 15-15 | Bob Bain | Wilfrid Laurier | 8-4 | 20-8 | Don Smith | ||
| Carleton | 9-5 | 18-9 | Greg Poole | Windsor | 7-5 | 7-11 | Paul Thomas | ||
| Toronto | 7-7 | 7-8 | John McManus | Brock | 5-7 | 13-13 | Les Korchok | ||
| Queen’s | 2-12 | Barry O’Connor | Western | 5-7 | 11-17 | Doug Hayes | |||
| Ryerson | 2-12 | Ed DeArmon | McMaster | 1-11 | 3-15 | Bill Fowler | |||
| RMC-Kingston | 2-12 | Ken Harvey | |||||||
In regular season play, Laurentian captured the East crown with a (12-2) record.
In the west division, Wilfrid Laurier, Guelph and Waterloo finished tied at (8-4), while Windsor narrowly missed making it a four-way tie by finishing a game behind at (7-5) after being upset by last place McMaster in the final game of the season, the Marauders only OUAA win.
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Brock Badgers: Jim Nelligan, Paul Barrell, Bob Blasko, Bernie Buschman, Bob Dunton, Rick Metcalf, Rick Modzier, Ken Murray, Kevin Smith, Gary Szoke, Herwig Baldauf, Tim Russon, Jim Russon, coach Les Korchok, assistant Walt Szpilewski
McMaster Marauders: Dave Roser, Tony Valitas, Don Bridgeman, Mark Duboise, Victor Dhue, Marty Kicul, Indrek Kongats, Brian MacTaggart, Gord McLarty, Bob Oostveen, Tim Tufford, Al White, Marcello Bellon, Mark Swithenbank, Don Bridgman, coach Bill Fowler
Queen’s Golden Gaels: Andy Bonniwell, Andy Christie, Dave Dempster, Dave Lockhart, Steve McCready, Carl Mitchell, Bruce Nichol, Derek Swinnard, Sandy Taylor, Grant Wilson, Dale Sanderson, Bruce Crawley, Ray Kalvaitis, Corky McCleary, Bob Doherty, Peter Lainey, Dave Caswell, Dave Miller, Carl Mitchell, coach Barry O’Connor
Royal Military College Paladins: Tony Tasker, Roger Haag, Tony Edwards, Mike Maxwell, Larry Savage, Ray Mackley, Bill Sergeant, John Mackley, Nick Garrito, Ralph Meyer, Brian Hale, Bill Lynch, Brian Target, coach Ken Harvey
Ryerson Rams: Dave Fogolin, Bill Barlow, Rick Hagerman, Trav Lylte, Joe Miotto, Pierre Sonier, Roman Berehulka, Gord Benjamin, Jim Bodnachuk, Stan Didzbalis, Alan Dunbar, Carlos Santia, Eric Sorenson, Sam Vani, Henry Zelasko, coach Ed DeArmon
Toronto Varsity Blues: Randy Cook, Doug Fox, Rick Kurczyk, Tim McGhie, Brian Skyvington, Hilbertus Van Cook, Brian Yeo, George Gorzynski, Zito Baccarini, Paul Layefsky, Emil Alexov, John DiBattista, Dave Gordon, Rick Hoyle, Rick Hallowell, Bill Francis, coach John McManus
Western Mustangs: Francis Moccio, Rob Niro, Dan Berry, Al Brown, Brock Carleton, Bob Clark, John Corrente, Dave Dent, Jim Hunter, Mark Olma, Don Sims, Ken Todd, Dave Brown, Phil Lewis, Bill Shaw, Bob Horvath, coach Doug Hayes, assistant John Corrente, manager Randy McCurdy
In the East semis, 2nd-seeded Ottawa defeated 3rd-seeded York 71-68 as John Godden scored 24 and Jeff Smith 13. The Gee-Gees led 41-36 at the half. Ev Spence led York with 12. Ted Galka added 13. The Yeomen (coached by Bob Bain) also included Lonnie Ramati, Jeff Simbrow, Paul Layevsky, Chris McNeilly, Larry Campbell, Irvin Mintz, Romeo Caligaro, Larry Campbell, Warren Cresswell, Paul D’Agostino, Chris Dorland, Frank Girardo, Lino Girardo, Ed Siebert and Mike Betcherman.
In the other semi, top-seeded Laurentian defeated 4th-seeded Carleton 87-76 as Guy Vetrie scored 27, Jeff Bennett 19 and Reni Dolcetti 15, along with 9 boards. Paul Armstrong led Carleton with 23. Jon Love added 20. Ravens coach Greg Poole told the Charlatan that the game was “the worst case of officiating I’ve ever seen. I have never said in my three years as a coach that a referee has cost us a game. But in Sudbury, we were beaten by the officials. They called everything poorly. They were just incompetent and the game got out of control.” The Ravens led 49-45 at the half and 59-51 with 13 minutes to play but soon found themselves in serious foul trouble. Paul Armstrong fouled out with 8 minutes to play and Larry Wilson soon joined him on the sidelines. The Voyageurs promptly rallied to a 75-74 lead with 4 minutes to play. Then Greg Garvey was hit with a technical and tossed from the game (though it was his first). “The whole thing was a joke,” said Poole. “On Wilson’s fourth and fifth foul he didn’t even touch those guys. The referees anticipated his touching them. I had to sit guys down when they were hot because of foul trouble. And everybody was frustrated. It was a terrible way to lose.” The Ravens (coached by Greg Poole) also included Don Reid, Gary Breen, Rob Cole, Pat Henry, Chris Lachman, Gord Betcherman, Jim McSheffrey, Bill Langford and Raymond Foucoult.
In the East final, top-seeded Laurentian edged 2nd-seeded Ottawa 88-82 as Mike Heale scored 17, Jeff Bennett 16, Paul Mousseau 13, Guy Vetrie 12, Reni Dolcetti 12 and Al Tekoniemi 12. Bob Sebara paced the Gee-Gees with 20. Rod McDonald added 14, Todd Plaskacz 13 and John Godden 12. Gee-Gees coach Bob O’Billovich told the Ottawa Journal that “we kept exchanging the lead throughout the first half. Then with about 90 seconds left in the half, they scored three baskets in a row on mistakes that we made. That turned out to be the difference. They took a six-point lead into the dressing room and we just never got it back.” The Gee-Gees were prohibited from playing starting post Jeff Smith in the final because of a CIAU rule which prohibited a player form playing with two different teams in the same season, unlike the OUA rules. Smith had played for Guelph during a pre-season alumni game. The Gee-Gees also included Ray Baldock, Tom Burns, Bruce Davis, Rocky DiPietro, Steve Harmer, Barry Mosley, Frank Papai, Pete Paulsen, Rick Traer, Jeff Smith and Ivan Coulthard.
In the West semis, the 4th-seeded Windsor Lancers stunned the top-seeded Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 108-98 after shooting 46-65 from the floor. Vince Landry led the Lancers with 22. Brady Spetz added 16, Jim Minello 16, Bob Bortolin 12, Bill Lozynski 10, Fred Robson 10, Stewart 8, Charlie Pearsall 6, Tom Hogan 4 and Dan Devin 4. Lancers coach Paul Thomas told the Windsor Star that “with our offence, when it’s going right, we got a lot of high percentage shots. We should be shooting like that. What surprised me the most was the outstanding shooting of our young fellows … Landry, Minello and Bortolin.” Nebraska-product Mark Christensen led the Golden Hawks with 38. Wisconsin-product Chuck Chambliss added 25, Mike Cleary 12, Peter Zwart 7, Joe Macrito 6, Gary Schwartz 6 and Ken Dougherty 4, while Jim Hughes was scoreless. The Golden Hawks (coached by Don Smith, assisted by Chris Coulthard) also included Stu Bollifer, Mike Corcoran, Doug Eldridge, Mark Farnyarz, Bill Hutt, Dave Levac, Greg Shupe, George Lewin, Sandy MacDougall, Gino Soni and Jim Wendland.
In the other West semi, 2nd-seeded Waterloo dumped 3rd-seeded Guelph 89-55 as Jamie Russell scored 23, while nabbing 12 boards. Trevor Briggs added 17, Jeff Scott 12, Visser 8, Don Larman 8, Seymour Hadwen 8, Phil Schlote 6 and Ron Graham 5. Waterloo led 12-0 early and 41-25 at the half. They opened the second half with a 14-2 run. Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we like to be competitive and we were tonight. I’m not taking anything away from Guelph but we drilled them good. … It seemed like Jamie (Russell) pulled down 100 rebounds out there tonight and Mike (Visser) deserves full credit for holding (Bob) Sharpe to a low points night.” Gryphons coach Garney Henley said “the inexperience of our five sophomores showed when they were under pressure. Waterloo made their own breaks and we just couldn’t take advantage of their turnovers we got.” Bob Sharpe paced the Gryphons with 16. Bob MacKinnon added 6, Vito Bommerito 6, Mickey Sharpe 6 and Henry Vandenburg 5. The Gryphons (coached by Garney Henley, assisted by Doug Dodd) also included Stu Bauck, Ambrose Campana, Jim Cotta, Jim Haalboom, Bill Henry, Jeff Smith, John Smith, Ed Tirilis and Greg Alderson.
In the West final, 2nd-seeded Waterloo defeated 4th-seeded Windsor 88-75 after opening the first half with a blistering 19-30 (.633) percentage from the floor to take a 11-4 lead after five minutes, a 26-16 lead at the quarter and a 54-38 lead at the half. Windsor shot a poor 12-40 in the first half (.300) but rallied somewhat in the second to pare the Waterloo lead to nine before going 0-6 as Waterloo put the contest away. Waterloo shot 31-67 from the floor and 26-37 from the line, while Windsor hit 28-88 from the floor and 15-28 from the line. Jamie Russell paced Waterloo with 22. Mike Visser added 21, Trevor Briggs 17, Seymour Hadwen 12, Jeff Scott 6, Pat Brill-Edwards 5, Don Larman 2 (also reported as 12), Phil Schlote 2 and Steve Garrett 1. Rob Stewart led Windsor with 16, while Don Bortolin added 13, Brady Spetz 10 and Charlie Pearsall 8. Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we shook the jitters a couple of times in the second half when they made a run at us. … I thought Pat and Jeff picked each other up when they alternated getting the ball up the floor. Later in the game, Pat was just super in breaking their press with his fine ballhandling.” Lancer coach Paul Thomas said his troops “took an extremely poor selection of shots. … I thought we were ready. They didn’t do anything different. We just seemed tight out there and our overall floor play was poor.”
In the Wilson Cup bronze medal match, the Windsor Lancers dumped the Ottawa Gee-Gees 116-83 as Rob Stewart scored 18, Dave Devin 18, Tom Hogan 16, Jim Minello 16, Vince Landry 11, Charlie Pearsall 11, Fred Robson 11, Bob Bortolin 6, Spetz 6 and Bill Lozynsky 3. Bob Sebara led the Gee-Gees with 22. Plaskacz added 15, John Godden added 11, Mike Mosley 10, Godden 10, Coulthard 8, Rick Traer 6, Davis 5, Harmer 2, MacDonald 2 and Paulsen 2, while Papai was scoreless. The Lancers led 28-17, 61-43 and 87-57 at the quarters. Windsor hit 40-78 from the floor and 36-50 from the line. Lancers coach Paul Thomas told the Windsor Star “it makes me mad, this inconsistency on our part.” Gee-Gees coach Bob O’Billovich told the Ottawa Journal that “they played just a helluva game. We really didn’t play badly at all, although I thought we could have been sharper psychologically. But here’s a game where we scored 83 and get beat by 33. Their shooting was just phenomenal.”
In the Wilson Cup final, Waterloo defeated Laurentian 88-69, as game MVP Jamie Russell scored 29 including seven straight field goals to open the second half. Russell scored 24 in the second half alone. Trevor Briggs added 18, Phil Schlote 17, Mike Visser 9, Pat Brill-Edwards 2, Jeff Scott 8, Steve Garrett 1, Doug Vance 2 and Seymour Hadwen 2. Mike Heale scored 20 to pace Laurentian. Reni Dolcetti added 13, Al Tekoniemi 13, Paul Mousseau 11, Guy Vetrie 6, Jeff Bennett 4, and Pat Signorotti 2. The Warriors led 46-33 at the half. The Voyageurs drew to within 61-59 but Mike Visser notched an and-one and a bucket, and Jeff Scott a pair of buckets to rebuild Waterloo’s lead to 11. Laurentian clawed back within three with 3:05 to play but Waterloo closed out the affair with a 14-0 run. Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we call a timeout when other clubs make a run at us and just regrouped. We decided to take advantage of the 30-second clock. And if we didn’t score after running the clock down, then we’d go back and just do a good job on defence.” Voyageurs coach Ken Shields said “we just couldn’t stop their big man (Russell) and we couldn’t hold our concentration.” Shields told the Lambda that the turning point in the game occurred when Reni Dolcetti fouled out in the second half. “We had no offensive boards left.”
In November, 1975, Guelph announces that Doug Dodd, 28, will succeed Garney Henley as head coach. Henley leaves in June to become head football coach at Queen’s. Dodd, a graduate of the U of Saskatchewan, was been assisting Henley since 1970, while also serving as intramural supervisor and Gryphons volleyball coach. Henley never surfaced at Queen’s, opting instead to join the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats as backfield coach.
After the season, Bill Fowler resigns at McMaster. He was replaced by Wes Hicks, a Steeltown native who was a Marauders assistant from 1959-66.
The bronze medalist Windsor Lancers: Charlie Pearsall; Bob Oostveen; Vince Landry; Bill Day; David Roth; Tom Hogan; Dan Devin; Bill Lozynsky; Jim Minello; Kevin Greenwood; Fred Robson; Rob Stewart; Bob Bortolin; Brady Spetz; coach Paul Thomas; assistant Nick Grabowski; manager Randy Johnston
The runner-up Laurentian Voyageurs: Mike Heale; Guy Vetrie; Paul Mousseau; Jeff Bennett; Reni Dolcetti; Pat Signorotti; Al Tekoniemi; Mark Bennett; Ken Leask; Mike Mulvihill; Jeff Atwood; Clair Campbell; Peter Domengoni; Tino Colussi; coach Ken Shields; manager Tim Miller; trainer Joe Careleo
The champion Waterloo Warriors: Jamie Russell; Trevor Briggs; Mike Visser; Don Larman; Pat Brill-Edwards; Jeff Scott; Steve Garrett; Seymour Hadwen; Phil Schlote; Ron Graham; Kevin Lohr; Doug Vance; coach Don McCrae; assistant Court Heinbuch; manager Rich Brown; trainer Shawn McKercher