REGULAR SEASON
| Bishop’s | 14-6 | 24-11 | Eddie Pomykala | ||
| Concordia | 7-13 | 12-20 | John Dore | ||
| Laval | 4-16 | 4-22 | |||
| McGill | 4-16 | 6-24 | Ken Schildroth | ||
In the regular season, Bishop’s finished atop the standings with a (14-6) record.
Playoff non-qualifier Laval Rouge et Or: Marc-Olivier Bessette, David Dumas, Eric-Frantz Elysee,
In the sudden death semi, Concordia defeated McGill 75-72. Concordia led 41-37 at the half but McGill rallied to take a 63-62 lead with eight minutes to play before the Stingers tore off an 8-0 run to regain the lead and hold on for the victory. Dan Furlong led Concordia with 17 points. Johnny Yotis scored 16 including a field goal with one minute left, one of two free throws with 37 seconds to go and time out with nine seconds to play that saved a Stingers possession as well as free throw with seven seconds to play. “I wasn’t trying to be in the spotlight but in a game like this when it’s close and things are happening so fast, whoever ends up with the ball in his hands has to be able to do something with it. I’m glad I was able to,” Yotis told the Montreal Gazette. J.P. Reimer added 10 and 13 boards. Matt Watson led McGill with 18 and Rick Varisco added 14. “McGill battled. They have more talent than I think they know they have,” said Concordia coach John Dore, adding that York “gets every bit he can out of the talent he has. When he plays the way he’s supposed to within our system, he can be very effective. And for sure, he’s the one guy in this league that nobody likes to play against because of his intensity. He was very good tonight.”
In the finals, Bishop’s d’d Concordia 84-54; 85-66 (2g-0).
In game one, Bishop’s throttled Concordia 84-54 after leading 46-22 at the half as Kris Ruiter and Glen Faucher picked up the slack when starters Stewart Clark and Rob Burns were forced to the bench with two fouls apiece. Reserve guard Joel Sherbino nailed a series of threes against the Concordia zone and backup point guard Remi Audoin hit a 40-footer at the buzzer. It was more of the same as Bishop’s extended their lead to 70-35 in the second half. Patrice Lemieux led Bishop’s with 12 points. Greg Southward and Rob Burns each added 10. Alexi Nemtchinov led Concordia with 12. Bishop’s out-rebounded Concordia 42-25 and forced 24 Stinger turnovers. “Bishop’s obviously didn’t have much trouble putting the ball in the basket but I still think we can shut them down,” Concordia’s J.P. Reimer told the Montreal Gazette. “We’ve show that we can by beating the once in league play. There’s no doubt we can beat them, it’s going to take a lot of work though, and each one of us has to be prepared to deliver.” The Gaiters forced a rash of Stinger turnovers in the first half. “The best thing that happened to us was Rob (Burns) and Stewart (Clark) ending up on the bench in foul trouble because the guys who went into the game as role players injected so much confidence for us,” said Bishop’s coach Eddy Pomykala. Concordia coach John Dore said “rebounding, especially on offence, reflected the complete lack of effort on our part. Bishop’s did play well but a lot of the problems we experienced were of our own creation. And if they didn’t realize before, they certainly do now, that that they didn’t compete to the best of our ability.” Reimer took personal blame. “I feel responsible for a lack of leadership. A couple of times in Sunday’s game I tried to get the guys together but maybe I didn’t step up my game enough. I plan on doing that tonight. What’s important for us is to make sure we put in the effort. Win or lose, we have to put in the effort.” Dore said “Bishop’s outplayed us in every facet of the game. You name it and they did it much better than we did.”
In game two, Bishop’s defeated Concordia 85-66 to complete the sweep. Bishop’s was down 41-36 at the half but turned up the defensive intensity in the second half. Concordia took a quick 18-10 lead after five minutes by penetrating the lane and dishing out for open jumpers. Bishop’s was ice cold, hitting a mere 6-16 from the line. The Stinger’s Johnny Yotis scored 17 in the first half including a pair of threes and 7-8 from the line as Concordia took a 41-36 lead at the half. But Bishop’s smothering man-to-man defence shut down Concordia in the second half. Greg Southward hit a three to tie it at 43 and then Joel Sherbino hit a pair of threes to break open a 47-47 tie and Bishop’s never looked back. They nailed their free throws down the stretch, including 8-8 by Stewart Clark and 9-11 by Southward. Bishop’s dominated the second half to the tune of 49-25 and held Concordia to five points over the first 10 minutes of the half. Stewart Clark paced Bishop’s with 24 points. Rob Burns added 19 on 7-9 from the floor and 5-12 from the line. Yotis was held scoreless in the second half. J.P. Reimer scored 14 points and 10 rebounds in his final game as a Stinger. With the win, Bishop’s ended Concordia’s string of four successive titles. “We beat a great program tonight, a great tradition for winning and for having outstanding players,” Bishop’s coach Eddie Pomykala said. “It’s an unbelievable feeling.” Concordia coach John Dore countered “we came to play tonight and we played as hard as we could. But we got beaten by a better team in Bishop’s. They put on a tremendous performance in this series.” Bishop’s centre Rob Burns said “we knew comin in here Concordia wouldn’t be the same team it was in our place Sunday. We had problems doing the things we planned to do and got a bit frustrated in the first half, but Eddie calmed us down at halftime and we came out with a tougher defence in the second. That got us rolling.” Pomykala said “I told our guys at halftime that nobody on our team wanted to win more than John Yotis and that was to his credit because of the way he played. But we certainly sucked it up in the second.” Dore said “we have guys on this team who would run through walls for you. But unfortunately, we couldn’t put the ball in the basket.”
The bronze medalist McGill Redmen: Matt Watson; Rick Varisco; Pat Inglis; Joel Pearlman; Hubert Davis; Mark Rawas; Mike Johnston; Peter Fraser; Tyler Smith; Scott Gingles; Rick Varisco; Chris Burchell; Paul Cornett; Victor Ali; Joel Baetz; Chad Wozney; coach Ken Schildroth; assistant Nevio Marzinotto; assistant Bernie Rosanelli
The runner-up Concordia Stingers: Jean-Pierre Reimer; Mark Spence; Bill Gagne; Glenwyn Alexander; Constantine ‘Gus’ Gymnopoulos; Cory Peddie; Damion Lewis; Jay Prosper; Daniel Furlong; Alexei Mentchinov; Eric Bouris; John Yotis; Robert Ferguson; Ezra Franklyn; coach John Dore; assistant Ernie Rosa; manager Scott Mawhinney; therapist Gavin Broomes; therapist Faisal Naqui
The champion Bishop’s Gaiters: Stewart Clark; Kris Ruiter; Ryan Thorne; Patrice Lemieux; Rob Burns; Greg Southward; Joel Sherbino; Jamie Woods; Remi Aucoin; Sam Rogers; Markus Rodousakis; Sam Menard; Glen Faucher; Omar Jennings; Patrick Cazeau; Remi Aucoin; coach Eddy Pomykala; assistant Chris Forsythe; assistant Jeff Harris; manager Roger Thomas