REGULAR SEASON
| Bishop’s | 16-4 | 27-8 | Eddie Pomykala | ||
| Concordia | 14-6 | 23-9 | John Dore | ||
| McGill | 5-15 | 6-24 | Ken Schildroth | ||
| Laval | 2-18 | 2-26 | Sylvain Pothier | ||
In the regular season, Bishop’s finished atop the standings with a (16-4) record.
Playoff non-qualifier Laval Rouge et Or: Marc-Olivier Bessette, David Ruel, David Brownrigg, Yann Roy, Juan Jomphe, David Kirouac-Dumont, David Dumas, Richard Lepine, Pascal Morin, Jolivet St. Louis, Francois Caussignac, Dominic Laroque, coach Sylvain Pothier
In the postseason semis, Concordia defeated McGill 74-65. The Redmen slowed the game to a half-court crawl but the Stingers easily met the challenge. Except for an 11-2 McGill run that narrowed the score to 52-51 in the second half, Concordia used good ball movement on perimeter, and inside-out, to free up Mark Spence, who scored 17. “It comes down to execution and overall we did that pretty well tonight. It’s just a question of hitting the open man. We were able to do that a lot because of the movement we generated out there, as well as the intensity we maintained.” McGill, playing without 6-7 Mark Rawas, suspended for taking a number of technicals, trailed 34-24 at the half. “We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Kirk Reid told the Montreal Gazette. “Had we been able to do that, I’m certain things would have turned out differently. I don’t think it was a case of running out of gas. It’s more than runs don’t last forever and you just have to hope when they come they last for a while.” Reid scored 14 and nabbed 7 boards. Nick Edkins paced McGill with 17. League MVP Jay Prosper and Wayne Alexander each scored 12 for Concordia, which regained a 61-51 lead on Prosper’s bucket with six minutes to play and never allowed McGill closer than nine down the stretch. “We did a lot of things well tonight,” said Concordia coach John Dore. “Our halfcourt game created a lot of looks for us. We’re still a young team and prone to making mistakes. I know I’ve said that before but it’s true. But we learning how to get getter and it showed tonight.”
In the finals, Bishop’s defeated Concordia 55-76; 78-74; 76-68 (2g-1).
In game one, Concordia defeated Bishop’s 76-55. The Stingers quickly took an 11-7 lead with the Gaiter’s looking entirely out of sync after an 11-day layoff. Concordia’s defensive pressure gave Bishop’s fits all night and a late 10-3 run gave the Stingers a 33-21 lead at the half. The Stingers’ defensive pressure was equally effective in the second half. Doubling down on Rob Burns inside and forcing the Gaiters to a perimeter attack with the shot clock expiring, Concordia took command quickly. Although Joel Sherbino briefly rallied the Gaiters midway through the second half the outcome was never in doubt. Wayne Alexander led Concordia with 19 points and 9 rebounds, and 11-13 from the line. Mike Kieran scored 15 off the bench. “Michael has struggled a bit this year but you have to give him credit because he’s stuck with it,” Gaetan Prosper said of Kieran. ‘Everything went his way tonight and that’s good for him because it’s a question of confidence.” The Stingers bench outscored the Bishop’s bench 32-4. Eric Zulu scored 10. “This is a big win for us. The first game in a series like this is so important,” said Zulu. “We expecting everything that Bishop’s tried to do against us tonight. Defensively, this was probably our best game of the year.” Bishop’s coach Eddie Pomykala, whose Gaiters committed 22 turnovers to Concordia’s 16, said “the biggest thing for us coming out of this game is that we’re still alive. These guys have already been reminded that they’re champions. They know they weren’t game-ready tonight and have to improve.” Rob Burns led Bishop’s with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Sherbino added 15. Patrick Lemieux had a mere 5 points but grabbed 11 rebounds. Concordia shot .360 from the arc, while Bishop’s was .180. Concordia out-rebounded Bishop’s 33-30 and outshot them from the line 21-25 to 11-15.
In game two, Bishop’s even the series with a 78-74 victory as league MVP Patrice Lemieux drilled four three-pointers and knocked down 28 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Bishop’s took an early 17-11 lead midway through the first half and stretched the margin to 10 on a Lemieux three-pointer before the Stingers cut it to 40-33 at the half. With Rob Burns on the bench with his fourth foul early in the second half, Concordia cut the lead to 48-47 before Bishop’s responded with an 8-0 run to stretch their lead to 56-47. Ryan Thorne hit a three to give Bishop’s a 76-71 lead with a minute to play. But Michael Kieran responded with a three for Concordia. Thorne was then fouled but missed both free throws. With an opportunity to tie the game, Wayne Alexander drove the paint but missed left. Thorne corralled the rebound and fed it to Joel Sherbino, who was fouled and calmly hit both free throws to seal the win. Sherbino scored 16 for Bishop’s, while grabbing 10 boards Thorne scored 13, grabbed 9 boards and dished for 7 assists. Jay Prosper led Concordia with 16 and 9 rebounds. Mark Spence added 15, Eric Zulu 14, Michael Kieran 11. Bishop’s out-rebounded Concordia 40-33. Lemieux had only scored 5 in game one of the finals but was dominant in the second contest. “We had the key adjustments tonight and after watching the film fixed the mistakes and everyone stepped up,” said Lemieux. “That wasn’t the real Bishop’s Gaiters team in Montreal on Sunday and I know we can still get better.” Bishop’s coach Eddie Pomykala noted that “I give a lot of credit to my guys especially the way they bounced back after Sunday. Alexander didn’t hurt us like Sunday (when he scored 19) and we did a great job defensively.” Concordia coach John Dore said “we made a lot of mistakes tonight and I give those guys a lot of credit. Now we got at it again on Friday, Let’s roll the dice and see what happens. …It wasn’t a four-point game. It was a whoever-made-the-last-shot game. We’re not all that disappointed because although we didn’t shoot the ball well (.390 to Bishop’s .500), our guys did a pretty good job.”
In game three, Bishop’s captured the crown on its home court Mitchell Gymnasium by a count of 76-68. Spurred on by 2,000 fans, the biggest crowd in Bishop’s history, the Gaiters took a 25-12 lead on a Patrice Lemieux three-pointer midway through the first half. The Stingers’ Eric Zulu scored 10 of Concordia’s next 12 as the Stingers rallied to within 51-41 at the half. Concordia held Bishop’s to only seven points over the first 10 minutes of the second half as they took a 60-58 lead. The Gaiters rallied back to take a 64-63 lead and then made three big plays down the stretch. First Ryan Thorne hit a three, then Lemieux hit a hanging baseline jumper and finally, Rob Burns drilled a 17-footer. Lemieux led Bishop’s with 23. Burns added 20 and 9 rebounds, Thorne 15 and Joel Sherbino 14. Eric Zulu led Concordia with 16, Jean-Sebastien Michel added 14 and Gerces ‘Jay’ Prosper 11 and 10 rebounds.
The bronze medalist McGill Redmen: Mark Rawas; Kirk Reid; Nick Edkins; Matt Watson; Lazslo Molnar; Andrew Bier; Hidesh Bhardwaj; Brady Murphy; Joel Pearlman; Jeremy McCann; Damian Moe; Ari Hunter; Julien Cazabon; Pat Kieran; Mike Johnston; Chad Wozney; coach Ken Schildroth; assistant Nevio Marzinotto; assistant Bernie Rosanelli
The runner-up Concordia Stingers: Eric Zulu; Jean-Sebastien Michel; Gerces Prosper; Mark Spence; Michael Kieran; Ezra Franklyn; Constantine Gymnopoulos; Glenwyn Alexander; Wayne Alexander; Moranseau Belleus; Roland Colley; Alexei Mentchinov; Real Kitieu; coach John Dore; assistant Ernie Rosa; manager John Mylonas; therapist Ron Rappel, student therapist Kate Bradfield; student therapist Assad Badaan
The champion Bishop’s Gaiters: Ryan Thorne; Rob Burns; Patrice Lemieux; Joel Sherbino; Phil Miguel; Remi Aucoin; Dwayne Ells; Paul Stephens; Shawn Craik; David Suzuki; Matthew Hehn; Darin Newton; Sam Rogers; Andrew Carter; Kris Ruiter; Patrice Lemieux; coach Eddie Pomykala; assistant Jeff Harris; assistant Brecon Cage; trainer Steve King; manager Tom Sutton