1979-80 OUA – men

REGULAR SEASON

	EAST				WEST
	Carleton	11-1	21-10	Pat O’Brien	Windsor	9-3		Paul Thomas
	York	11-1	30-10	Bob Bain	Guelph	8-4		Gib Chapman
	Toronto	7-5	8-6	John McManus	Waterloo	8-4	15-18	Don McCrae
	Queen’s	7-5		Tom Frood	Western	7-5		Doug Hayes
	Ottawa	5-7	8-19	John Restivo	McMaster	7-5		Phil Tollestrup
	Laurentian	3-9		Mike Heale	Wilfrid Laurier	2-10		Don Smith
	Ryerson	0-12		Phil Schlote	Brock	1-11	8-18	Walt Szpilewski

Playoff non-qualifiers:

       Laurentian Voyageurs: Mike Sheridan, Rick Paulowicz, Willie Woitowich, Don MacRoberts, John Kari, Bob Tassone, Eddie Picco, Wyatt Poser, Don Jones, Mark Johnson, Ken Schildroth, Andy Flanagan, Mike Warren, coach Mike Heale, assistant Mike Mulvihill

       Queen’s Golden Gaels: Kelly Campbell, Jeff Folkard, Rick Emerson, Phil Moore, Mike Kirby, Glenn Stewart, Jim Allan, John Kutkevicius, Tom Birch, Paul Liddle, Bill Brown, Mike Rowland, Jeff Garrett, Brian Smith, coach Tom Frood, assistant Geoff Smith

       Ryerson Rams: Tony Bartko, Peter Baxter, John Brown, Tom Imray, Rob Jones, Jamie Mandolesi, Tom Mouharemis, Tony Ramondino, Gord Simpson, Egbert St. Kitts, Jim Szarka, Dave Voth, Rob Kimstow, coach Phil Schlote

In the East semis, 2nd-seeded Carleton defeated 3rd-seeded Toronto 83-68 as Paul Armstrong scored 17, Tom Cholock 16 and Rick Powers 16. Frank Wenzl led the Blues with 24. Hubert Smith added 11 and Bill Pangos 10. The Ravens full-court pressure appeared to befuddle the Blues. The Blues (coached by John McManus) also included Tony Braunstein, Brian Hummel, Dave Calnan, Frank Sicoli, John Lam, Anthony Hadwen, Mike Virro, Peter Hadwen, Bill McIntosh, Joe Tucci, Neil Muldoon, Vytis Gataveckas, Scott McLaughlin and Brian McIntosh?.

In the other East semi, top-seeded York defeated 4th-seeded Ottawa 89-57 as Dave Coulthard hit for 29, Paul Jones 25 and Grant Parobec 14. Rob Ashe paced the Gee-Gees with 16. The Gee-Gees (coached by John Restivo) also included Steve Huck, Steve Jackson, Pete Paulsen, Brian Coburn, Mark Hreljac, Jeff MacPhee, Mike Havey, Rene St. Fort, Charlie Hurdon, Jim Kent, Dennis Masson and Phil Davies.

       In the East final, top-seeded York defeated 2nd-seeded Carleton 79-63 as David Coulthard scored 33, Paul Jones 16 and Ron Kaknevicius 14. Rick Powers led the Ravens with 20. Tom Cholock added 15, Greg Yeldon 11 and Pat Stoqua 8. The Lions led 43-35 at the half. Carleton rallied within 62-58 with four minutes to play but folded down the stretch as York responded with a 5-0 run. “I don’t really believe it,” York coach Bob Bain told the Ottawa Journal. “Here we are going back to the nationals.” Carleton coach Pat O’Brien said “we did just about everything we wanted to do against them. We just missed those key baskets again and again. We wanted to get the ball inside. We did that. Down the stretch, we continually missed the shots. You’ve got to give York credit. We were beat by a better team. They simply outplayed us.” York forward Ron Kaknevicius said the Yeoman’s 1-3-1 zone proved the difference. “We did it. We played tough defence on them. Early in the season, I just wasn’t getting the help I needed in handling Cholock. But tonight, and in the last game, I knew the guys were behind me, backing me up.” O’Brien said “I’ve run out of superlative to describe (David Coulthard). He has to be the most outstanding player in Canadian basketball today and one just has to wonder why he’s not on the national team. When he’s hitting like he was today, there’s just no stopping him.” Lions coach Bob Bain told The Excalibur that “it wasn’t exactly smooth but we going when we had to.” Coulthard said the Lions were worried about Carleton’s superior size but “we showed a lot of pride.” The Ravens were put on one-year probation by the OUAA midway through the season for having used Paul Armstrong (who’d rejoined the team after a two-year hiatus) during two exhibition tournaments in December. He was then classified as a part-time student. He because a full-time student in January. The OUAA also said Carleton was ineligible for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and was forced to play a game dressing only 9 (rather than 10) men, the limit the OUAA then allowed. The CIAU subsequently stripped Carleton of its’ number 5 ranking in the coaches poll and said the Ravens would be ineligible for a wild card spot at nationals.

       In the West quarterfinals, Windsor received a bye as regular season champion.

The 5th-seeded Western nipped 4th-seeded McMaster 64-62 as Ross Hurd scored 22, Dan Berry 16 and Rob Nixon 11. The Marauders were led by western division scoring leader Marc Dubois’ 15, Phil Tamburino 19 and John Kulik 10. The Marauders (coached by Phil Tollestrup) also included Jim Hoyle, Nick Mugosa, Jack McClelland, Casey Kalvaitis, Jeff Newnham, Emil Alexov, Brian Fuller, Ron Antanaitis and Scott Lind.

The 2nd-seeded Waterloo thrashed 7th-seeded Brock 83-38 as Doug Vance scored 18, Brian Ray 16, Rich Kurtz 14 and Tim Harrold 11. Warriors coach Don McCrae told the St. Catharines Standard that “they came at us early but we were able to weather the attack.” The Badgers got 10 apiece from Bob Blasko and Terry Rigg. The Badgers (coached by Walt Szpilewski) also included Grant Campbell, Kelly Baker, Bill Shaw, Colin Lyons, Frank Tamburino, Andy Fraser, Ron DiFelice, Steve Myrie, John Bernie, Steve Black, Mark Redmond, Jerry Melander, James Ladocouer and Bob Houlden.

In the last West quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Guelph Gryphons annihilated the 6th-seeded Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 89-65 as Mike Hyrb hit for 22, Mike Sesto 18, Rick Dundas 15, Tom Heslip 12. The Gryphons led 43-29 at the half. The Hawks attack featured Bob Fitzgerald 17, Leon Arendse 10 (also reported as 11), Paul Flack 9 and Larry Labaj 9. Golden Hawks coach Don Smith told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we had a game plan and it only worked for a while. It called for us to play their guards man-to-man while our other three men played a triangle zone. Guelph had trouble handing it at the start and were struggling. It results in three layup opportunities for us but we missed them. Guelph responded by stealing the ball off us three times and turning them into field goals. It appeared to ease the tension for them.” The Golden Hawks (coached by Don Smith, assisted by Chris Coulthard) also included John Sneyd, Chris Heaver, Tim Brennan, Pat Morris, Orv Clark, Steve Agnew, Jim Dougherty, Bob Boos, Jim Daugherty, Paul Facca, Marty Mathieseon, Pat McKeown, Perry Tucciarone and Mike Stankovits.

       In the West semis, top-seeded Windsor defeated 5th-seeded Western 77-73 after taking a 46-39 halftime lead on the strength of a 16-8 run late in the first half. A close game was tied at 68 but Mark Landy answered with a free throw and Stan Korosec a bucket as the Lancers took command. Korosec led the Lancers with 19. Vince Landry added 17, Phil Hermanutz 12, John Ritchie 11, Jack Baird 6, Brian Hogan 4, Mark Korchok 4, Mark Landry 3 and Jim Molyneux 2, while Henk Dykhuizen was scoreless. Ross Hurd led the Mustangs with 16. Rob Niro added 16, Dan Berry 14, Francis Moccio 11, Paul Hunt 9, John McNeill 3, Wade Walker 2 and Ron Sanderson 2, while Dave Hale, Dave MacKenzie, John Hees and Jim Davidson were scoreless. The Mustangs (coached by Doug Hayes, assistant Bruce Patterson, manager Mary Laursen, manager Jo Verhaege, trainer Fran Adomaitis) also included Paul Weller and Marty Rybiak.

In the other West semi, 2nd-seeded Waterloo scored four points in the final five seconds to nip 3rd-seeded Guelph 62-61. Guelph led by three with five seconds to play. Warrrior Doug Vance hit two free throws. Clayt Ninham intercepted a long inbounds pass by Mike Hyrb and called timeout. Ninham inbounded the ball to Brian Day who fed Seymour Hadwen in the court and he hit the winner at the buzzer. Doug Vance led Waterloo with 21. Brian Ray added 18, Richard Kurtz 10, Clayton Ninham 9 and Seymour Hadwen 4, while Phil Jarrett, Leon Passmore, Tim Harrold, Dave Burns, Steve Garrett and Scott King were scoreless. Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that his team was “awful” in the first half. “Guelph tricked us with their offence and got us into trouble. It took a while to sort out. Meanwhile, we got into foul trouble as they dicated the terms of the game.” Rick Dundas led Guelph with 19. Mike Sesto added 16, Peter Smith 10, Mike Hryb 6, Tom Heslip 4 and Ron Hall 3, while Keith Mantesso was scoreless. Gryphons coach Gib Chapman said “I can’t fault Hyrb (for the inbounds pass). It could happen to anyone. I was pleased with my players. They did what they had to do for 39 minutes and 59 seconds.” The Gryphons (coached by Gib Chapman, assistant Henry Vandenberg, manager Wally Carter) also included Mark Scott, Steve Yednoroz, Rory Gooderham, Lloyd Kennedy, Michael Wacasey and Chris Bain.

       In the West final, top-seeded Windsor reeled off a 15-0 run late in the first half to erase a 34-29 Waterloo lead and take a 44-34 lead into the lockers, while taking control of the game en route to a 75-60 victory. A similar late 17-5 second half run ensured the win after Waterloo had rallied within one. But Windsor coach Paul Thomas called a timeout with five minutes to play and ripped into his players. “Waterloo went to a switching man-to-man. It seemed to take our momentum away. We appeared to be standing around doing very little. I got made at our guys and told them to quit playing Waterloo and to play our own game.” Thomas told the Windsor Star that “I’ve been saying right along that when we get our running game going and start doing our thing on defence, everybody is going to have trouble with us. I’ve very disappointed in my coaching in the second half. They changed defences at half-time and we didn’t react to it soon enough. We almost lost our lead as a result. But I’m very pleased with the way we handled them on their home floor. We wanted to make them run and after a while, it looked to me that they were whacked out.” Stan Korosec said “nobody on our team was too pleased with the tournament setup (being host by Waterloo, though Windsor won the regular season). So we were determined to play good defence and see what happened. It was tempting to go up and try to block shots but I decided to play aggressively but without fouls. I sort of hung loose on defence.” Waterloo coach Don McCrae said “they scrambled our perimeter fellows very well. They hassled us bring the ball up the court and before we knew it the (30-second shot) clock was down to 10 seconds. They made all their free throws in a pressure situation toward the end of the game. That’s where you win it. We also faltered at the end of each half. That was product of absent-mindedness rather than physical play.” McCrae told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “when you get involved in a catch-up situation in basketball, it’s similar to pulling your goalie in hockey. Many times you get scored on. That’s what we were doing in the final five minutes. Rather than losing the game by two or three points, which is what we would have attempted to do in league play to keep the pointspread close, we went for broke and they filled it up at the foul line.” Stan Korosec paced the Lancers with 18. Vince Landry added 15, Phil Hermanutz 15, Jim Molyneux 12, Brian Hogan 8 and John Ritchie 6, while Henk Dykhuizen, Mark Korchok, Mark Landry and Jack Baird were scoreless. Windsor shot 26-56 from the floor and 23-35 from the line while Waterloo shot 27-69 from the floor and 6-15 from the line. Doug Vance paced Waterloo with 22. Brian Ray added 16, Seymour Hadwen 6, Scott King 5, Richard Kurtz 4, Clayton Ninham 4, John Freund 2 and Leon Passmore 1, while Phil Jarrett, Tim Harrold and Steve Garrett were scoreless.

       The Wilson Cup final proved to be the David Coulthard show as the award-winning guard scored 21 points in the first half and keyed a rally which brought York back from a 37-28 deficit late in the first half to tie the game at 39 and ultimately pull out a 90-77 win. The Lions shifted to a three-guard offence as they ripped off an 11-0 run and then took a 43-42 lead at the half. Coulthard finished with 39 points, including 9-9 from the line as York defeated Windsor 90-77. The game was tied at 47 three minutes into the second half but the Lancers shot a dismal 4-19 thereafter as York took control and grabbed a 58-51 lead with 10 minutes to play. York dominated the boards and shot 35-77 from the floor and 20-28 from the line, while the Lancers shot 34-79 from the floor and 9-13 from the line. Pelech added 17 for York, as did Paul Jones. Lester Smith added 11, Grant Parobec 4 and Ron Kaknevicius 3, while Enzo Spagnulo was scoreless. Stan Korosec led Windsor with 25. John Ritchie added 16, Vince Landry 15, Jim Molyneaux 6, Phil Hermanutz 4, Brian Hogan 3, Henk Dykhuizen 2, Mark Korchok 2, Mark Landry 2 and Jack Baird 2. After the final, Windsor coach Paul Thomas told the Windsor Star of Coulthard: “I’ve never seen a better pure shooter all year, not even on our tour of the States before Christmas. … York did one heckuva job keeping us off the boards in the second half. I thought our game plan was good. We controlled the first half and could have had a sizable lead at half-time if it had been for the two or three three-point plays against us late in the half. Coulthard is a tremendous shooter. He’s so poised out there and always get a good shot at the basket. We didn’t shoot well at the start of the second half. Most of them were good shots but they weren’t going in.” Coulthard said “some games the shots go in for you and some days they don’t. … We expected a tough game. Windsor relies on its quickness and scrap on the boards to make up for its lack of size. We knew that they would run us but we also knew that we would be able to get our share of shots.” Lions coach Bob Bain said that in the second half, “we grabbed a few defensive boards and they missed some shots. That gave us a chance to put some offence together. David is the key to our club but Paul Jones and Enzo Spagnulo are good outside shooters too. I think we caught Windsor off guard with our three-guard offence in the second half. They didn’t adjust to it very fast. And then we have a guy named Bo Pelech out there. He delivered some key hoops to us in the second half. We went back to two guards and scored on three backdoor plays in a row. That was the point in the ball game when we started to look the part of a winner. York rookie Harry Nikolaidis told The Excalibur that “I’m really happy.” Paul Jones said “we were playing their game in the first half. They had us running up and down. That’s Windsor’s game, not York’s game. But then we got the matchups straightened out and we put Enzo (Spagnuolo) into the game and we started playing well.” Lions assistant Gerry Barker said “when we controlled the tempo and slowed it down, we played well. Dave Coulthard kept us in the game at the beginning when we weren’t going well. We’re the type of team that likes to pass the ball around a lot. And when we do that, we win. … (And Coulthard) makes your offence so much easier to run. Coulthard, who was the first ever McPherson Award winner as MVP of the title match, said “we played a fairly good game. It was a little scrappy but then Windsor plays scrappy too, so we sort of countereacted that.” York outrebounded Windsor 51-36, with Pelech nabbing 10 boards and Lester Smith 6.

The co-bronze medalist Waterloo Warriors: Doug Vance; Brian Ray; Seymour Hadwen; Scott King; Richard Kurtz; Clayton Ninham; John Freund; Leon Passmore; Phil Jarrett; Tim Harrold; Steve Garrett; Dave Burns; John Hnatiw; Ian McDonald; coach Don McCrae; assistant Court Heinbuch; assistant Mike Visser

The co-bronze medalist Carleton Ravens: Rick Powers; Tom Cholock; Greg Yeldon; Pat Stoqua; Brock Cowan; Glen Lipomanis; Dale Roe; Chris Rodgers; Steve Casselman; Donovan Robinson (for two weeks); Grant Johnson; coach Pat O’Brien; assistant Jon Love

       The runner-up Windsor Lancers: Stan Korosec; Phil Hermanutz; John Ritchie; Vince Landry; Jim Molyneux; Brian Hogan; Jack Baird; Henk Dykhuizen; Mark Korchok; Mark Landry; Martin Ritsma; Tom Hogan; Bakhus Isaac; coach Paul Thomas

       The champion York Lions (then the Yeomen): David Coulthard; Bo Pelech; Ron Kaknevicius; Grant Parobec; Paul Jones; Enzo Spagnuolo; Lester Smith; Jerry Dalla Corte; Vince Frankovich; Mark Hubbard; Harry Nikolaidis; coach Bob Bain; assistant Gerry Barker