REGULAR SEASON
| Concordia | 8-4 | 18-9 | John Dore | ||
| Bishop’s | 7-5 | 12-11 | Eddie Pomykala | ||
| McGill | 5-7 | 10-19 | Ken Schildroth | ||
| Laval | 4-8 | 5-14 | Jacques LeBel | ||
In the regular season, Concordia finished atop the standings with an (8-4) record.
Playoff non-qualifier Laval Rouge et Or: Eric-Frantz Elysee, Marc-Antoine Dube, Patrice Edouard, Francois-Oliver Laplante, Brahim Akli, David Dumas, Martin Vaillancourt, coach Mike McAdam
In the semis, Bishop’s defeated McGill 71-58. “We knew we were a better team than McGill,” Bishop’s coach Eddie Pomykala told the Montreal Gazette. “The question was whether this young team could step up. McGill had more experience than we did. We went out early in the playoffs last year and we had to prove we could do it.” Point guard Ryan Thorne scored 16 for Bishop’s. The Gaiters took a 32-24 lead after a sloppy first half and then stretched their lead to as many as 16 midway through the second half. McGill never got closer than seven. “We did a good job of playing defence,” said Pomykala. “I was undecided about who my fifth starter was going to be and I went with Jamie Forsythe. He did an outstanding job on Rick Varisco” who was held to 10 points although he was McGill’s leading scorer on the season. Although Chris Emergui hit a pair from beyond the arc, the perimeter oriented Redmen only hit 3-13 from the three-point line. “We didn’t try do anything special,” said Thorne. “We just tried to be aware of the shot and get a hand up.” Pomykala added that “we forced them to shoot from beyond their range.” The Redmen also missed a half-dozen layups, including a pair by Chad Wozney, the game’s leading scorer with 17 points. Stewart Clark added 15 for Bishop’s while Patrice Lemieux had 13 and Kris Ruiter 10. Ryan Schoenhals tossed in 13 for McGill. Pomykala also praised Lemieux’ defence. “There was one play when he hustled down the court to break up a fast break. It was a great play. I’ve been trying for 25 games to get him to play defence and it’s finally happening.”
In the final, Concordia defeated Bishop’s 78-60 and 79-65 (2g-0).
In game one, Concordia prevailed 78-60 as their team defence and superior depth undid the Gaiters. Maxime Bouchard paced the Stingers with 17 points and 12 boards. Concordia led 53-31 at the half. Ezra Franklin added 10 points and 6 boards. Jay Prosper scored 10 and grabbed 6 boards. Dan Furlong notched 10, including 2 treys and 7 boards, while Gaetan Prosper scored 10. Concordia led 61-36 midway through the second half before the Gaiters rallied late to make it respectable. “Our defence set the tone for the game,” Stingers coach John Dore told the Montreal Gazette. Patrick Lemieux led Bishop’s with 16. Rob Burns added 15 and Joel Sherbino 10. Bishop’s shot 16-55 from the floor. Gaiters coach Eddie Pomykala said “in the first half, they lived on the offensive glass. We weren’t meeting people. They would shoot the ball and we wouldn’t jump with them. We wouldn’t contest. I think stunned would be an appropriate word. We played stunned instead of making something happen and when you do that, when you take a passive role, you’re going to get your butt kicked.” Concordia out-rebounded the Gaiters 48-26.
In game two, Concordia completed the sweep with a 79-65 win in a match that featured 10 lead changes and momentum-shifting technical with 9:30 to play. Bishop’s guard Ryan Thorne was defending Stinger guard Justin Padvaiskas on a fastbreak and was hit for a technical when he protested loudly. Padvasikas hit both free throws and then Maxime Bouchard added two for the technical as Concordia took a 55-46 lead. “I can’t fault Ryan for that play because he thought he got all ball when he blocked the shot,” Bishop’s coach Eddie Pomykala told the Montreal Gazette. “There are times when he’s so quick that he makes plays that you don’t expect.” Concordia coach John Dore called it a “huge” moment. “We didn’t play all that well in the first half.” The Stingers had trailed 31-30 at the half. The Gaiters were ultimately undone by poor free throw shooting, hitting 11-30 from the line, including 7-19 in the second half. “We just weren’t ready to win this year,” said Pomykala. “We beat McGill in the semi-final and we were in the championship game. Next year should be our year.” Maxime Bouchard paced Concordia with 29 points, including 19 in the second half. “He’s the best player in the conference and he proved it when it counted,” said Dore. “It wasn’t only his scoring. He also pulled down some key rebounds and moved the ball.” Bouchard noted that “I didn’t have a good first half. I was getting hit a lot and they were double-teaming me. In the second half, we opened up a bit and ran the court better.” Bouchard hit a trio from beyond the arc early in the second half to open up the game. Padvaiskas scored 5 for Bishop’s, while dishing 7 assists. Dore said he was a threat. “He never turns the ball over. He controlled the game out there.”
The season was also marked by an enormous dust-up between Concordia and Bishop’s in a regular season match. After sinking a free throw, Bishop’s guard Ryan Thorne sauntered over and elbowed Padvaiskas in the head. The referee quickly separated the players but the exchange continued and before you knew it, they leapt on one another and were joined in a big pile on the floor by the rest of the players. Both benches emptied including coach Eddie Pomykala of Bishop’s and John Dore of Concordia. After calm was restored both Thorne and Padvaiskas were ejected and Concordia prevailed 79-77 on a buzzer at the bucket. After the game, Pomykala claimed that Dore had been taking swings at some of his players in the melee. Dore flatly denied it. A game film showed Dore standing passively for most of the dustup although at one point he put his hands on Thorne’s waist in an attempt to extract him from the pile. Pomykala said “the rules are pretty clear when there’s a fight, nobody should be allowed on the court except the coaches. And what the coaches should do is go their own players and to restrain their players and act as peacekeepers. What John did, he went over to my player and he grabbed him by the shorts. There may have been some swings. Some people have told me that he may have been swinging. I don’t think he hit anybody and that’s basically what happened.” Dore countered that “I definitely did not swing at any of his players at any time. Why he would say something like that, I don’t know.”
The bronze medalist McGill Redmen: Rick Varisco; Chad Wozney; Ryan Schoenhals; Matt Watson; Chris Emergui; Peter Fraser; Hugh Rowan-Legg; Sam Mendolia; Jay McHarg; Connor Glynn; Joel Baetz; Joel Pearlman; Mike Johnston; Hubert Davis; coach Ken Schildroth, assistant Nevio Marzinotto; assistant Bernie Rosanelli
The runner-up Bishop’s Gaiters: Patrice Lemieux; Rob Burns; Joel Sherbino; Ryan Thorne; Jamie Forsythe; Stewart Clark; Padvaiskis; Greg Southward; Kris Ruiter; Russ Johnson; Jamie Woods; Sam Rogers; Omar Jennings; Matt Carr; coach Eddie Pomykala; assistant Jeff Harris; manager Roger Thomas
The champion Concordia Stingers: Robert Dawson; Jean-Pierre Reimer; Maxime Bouchard; Ezra Franklyn; Constantine Gymnopoulos; Johnny Yotis; Cory Peddle; Fred Arsenault; Mehdi Zaouali; Jay Prosper; Justin Padvaiskas; Daniel Furlong; Gaetan Prosper; Eric Bouris; coach John Dore; assistant Harvey Liverman; manager Mark Bayne; therapist Rob Joseph