REGULAR SEASON
| Concordia | 13-7 | 18-13 | John Dore | ||
| Bishop’s | 8-12 | 10-14 | Eddie Pomykala | ||
| Laval | 7-13 | 9-16 | Jacques Paiement | ||
| McGill | 7-13 | 12-22 | Ken Schildroth | ||
In the regular season, Concordia finished atop the standings with a (13-7) record.
Playoff non-qualifier Laval Rouge et Or: Samuel Audet-Sow, David Brownrigg, Daniel Lacasse, Yannick Boileau, Bruno Larose, David Ruel, David Kirouac-Dumont, Frederic Giguere, Martin Labrie, Yuan Jomphe, Philippe Cote-Jacques, Jean-Charles Moudio Alene, Karl-Stephane Rossignol, Alexandre Pariseau, coach Jacques Paiement Sr.
In the sudden death semi, McGill defeated Bishop’s 70-68 as Ari Hunter sank two free throws with six seconds remaining on the clock. “I wasn’t trying to think at all at the time,” Hunter, whose 11-13 night from the line were career highs, told the Montreal Gazette. “But even after I sunk them, I tried to stay calm because even though there remained only six seconds, I knew that Bishop’s has some really good players who can score.” The free throws helped stave off a late rally which saw Bishop’s come from 16 points down to tie the score at 68 on a jumper by Patrick Lemieux with 59 seconds to play. But the Gaiters then turned the ball over when Darin Newton was called for travelling. “Bishop’s took a really good kick at it,” said McGill coach Ken Schildroth. “But our players played well, especially Ari. I think he played the best game of his career in a Redmen uniform.” Hunter led McGill with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Both teams started slowly but McGill slowly built a 32-28 lead by the half. McGill extended its lead to double digits before the late Bishop’s rally. “I was happy with their effort,” said Bishop’s coach Eddie Pomykala. “But I wasn’t happy with the play execution: we turned over the ball 27 times to McGill’s 15. I think we were really nervous.” Patrice Lemieux scored 19 and Phil Miguel 18 off the bench for Bishop’s. Mark Rawas scored 14 for McGill. Bishop’s out-rebounded McGill 36-33. McGill shot 28-68 from the floor, 1-10 from the arc and 13-20 from the line. Bishop’s shot 23-49 from the floor, 4-14 from the arc and 18-25 from the line.
In the finals, Concordia defeated McGill 92-87; 74-87; 76-56 (2g-1).
In game one, Concordia defeated McGill 92-87 as centre Real Kitieu recorded a triple double and five Stinger starters scored in double figures. Kitieu scored 19, grabbed 16 boards and 10 blocks, while Wayne Alexander also pitched 19. The Redmen opened with a 12-1 run but Concordia finally settled down and took the lead late in the first half when Arniel Kitieu drove a lane to put the Stingers ahead 32-31. There were six lead changes early in the second half before Concordia dealt McGill a death blow with a 12-point outburst over one minute of play on a series of turnovers. Concordia scored 29 points off McGill turnovers on the night. Leading 73-72 with five minutes to play, Concordia ripped off a 17-9 run that put the game out of reach. Concordia coach John Dore was pleased with his Stingers composure. “Eight guys in either first or second year makes us a young team. This was our first playoff game and the second for McGill, so it took us a while to settle down. As bad as things might have seemed at the time, at least we didn’t panic. We regained our composure and fought back. Still, even at the end of the game, our inexperience showed, with three turnovers and going 3-6 from the foul line in the last minute. We have to learn to manage our time better and make sure the people who have to be on the floor at the end are there.” Eric Zulu scored 17 for Concordia, Michael Kieran also scored 17. Sophomore Kirk Reid led McGill with 35 points on a 14-22 shooting night, including 6-12 from the arc and 5 steals. Frederic Bernard added 13. Both teams grabbed 34 rebounds. McGill shot 33-72 from the floor, 8-19 from the arc and 13-20 from the line. Concordia shot 31-66 from the floor, 7-16 from the arc and 23-29 from the line. “Kirk was all-world out there today,” said Alexander. “I’m not really sure why he got so many good looks. Probably a breakdown in communication on defence. Whatever happened, I know we can’t afford to let him do the same thing at McGill.” Reid said McGill needed to tighten its defence. “We did a lot of good things but had a couple of lapses on defence because of some miscommunication. We need to change a few things for the next game but I think that playing at home and getting good support from our fans will help too. It will also be nice to finish a game with the kind of run we had to start this one with.”
In game two, McGill upset Concordia 87-74 as Kirk Reid tossed in 24 points and freshman guard Domenico Marcario scored a career high 23. The Redmen forced game three when Marcario hit a bucket with 2:24 to play to give McGill a 76-70 lead which essentially finished the Stingers. ‘It felt great,” said Marcario, describing the play which saw him cut across from the right side and blow past Concordia’s 6-11 centre Real Kitieu to sink a layup. “I went right at him. Any time a 5-10 players does that on a 6-10 player, it’s also nice to see.” McGill took the early lead and then exploded with a 25-6 run to pull ahead 36-17 midway through the first half. But Concordia rallied with its own 14-2 run to cut the margin to 38-31. “We had some missteps (in the first half),” said Reid. “But we buckled down and played some great defence.” Reid was a perfect 6-6 in the first half, including four from beyond the arc. But Concordia rallied back in the second half and took the lead at 5:52 on Eric Zulu’s three-point play after he stole the ball from Hidesh Bahardwaj for an easy layup to put the Stingers ahead 54-52. The Redmen stole it back a minute later and Marcario hit a three to put McGill ahead by one. McGill took the lead for good eight minutes later when Frederic Bernard raced in for a layup to trigger a 20-9 McGill run to close out the half. “We didn’t fold this time,” said forward Mark Rawas. “This was a test of wills but this time we stayed in there, played together and got great play from the guys who have to be in there for us at the end. We’ve been in situations like this before but for some reason things fell apart. Guys would get nervous or cocky and we’d lose it. This is the first time we’ve beaten then since I’ve been here (four years) and it feels very good. It definitely is a real boost to our confidence.” Stingers coach John Dore said “the slow start hurt us tonight. So did Reid by providing McGill a great start. The message is clear: if you’re going to win, you have to able to stop teams.” Real Kitieu led Concordia with 20. Mark Spence added 14, Wayne Alexander 13, Zula 12, Michael Kieran 11, G. Alexander 4. Mark Rawas had 12 for McGill, Frederic Barnard 12, Ari Hunter 11, Hidesh Bhardwaj 3 and Andrew Bier 2. McGill out-rebounded Concordia 41-39. The Redmen shot 30-65 from the floor, 10-19 from the arc and 17-22 from the line. Concordia shot 28-69 from the floor, 5-25 from the arc and 13-16 from the line. The Cameroon born Kitieu brothers, Real and Armel, attended the U of Montreal for a year before transferring to Concordia.
In the final game, Eric Zulu and Real Kitieu each scored 18 to lead the Stingers pat the Redmen 76-56 at Loyola Gym. The Stingers dominated early and led 18-7 after eight minutes of play. The Redmen pulled to within three on a 13-5 run with 5:37 to play in the first half. But every time McGill threatened, Concordia’s Mark Spence would drill a three. Concordia opened the second half with an 8-2 run to put the game out of reach. Concordia led 33-25 at the half. “You really have to give our guys credit,” said Concordia coach John Dore “We came out today and stopped a hot team in the final game of the series. McGill came into this series with a lot of momentum after beating Bishop’s. They also played well in the first game and in the second game the other night to tie this series. But today was our turn to show how well we can play. This team has been up and down all year and sometimes we stink the joint out. But we also have the ability to play very well and we saw that today.” McGill coach Ken Schildroth said “I don’t think we ever relaxed out there. When it was 19-11 Concordia for about four or five minutes in the first half, and with Kitieu and Zulu out, I thought that was our opportunity to get our emotions under control and get back into it but we were just too nervous. We never got settled out there.” Stinger guard Michael Kieran said an early dunk by Real Kitieu “set the tone of the game for us. It was a message to us and McGill that the big man was here to play.” Schildroth said the Redmen were forced to abandon their full-court pressure early in the game “because we just weren’t comfortable defensively. We tried in in the first three minutes of the game and we got hurt.” Zulu hit 6-11 from the floor and 4-6 from the line to finish with 18 points. Real Kitieu was 6-12 from the floor and 6-7 from the line for his 18 points. He also nabbed 20 boards as Concordia out-rebounded McGill 51-33. Mark Spence added 14, Wayne Alexander 12, Michael Kieran 8, Shreves 4. G. Alexander 2. Kirk Reid led McGill with 15. Mark Rawas added 11, Domenico Marcario 9, Ari Hunter 6, Patrick Kieran 4, Nick Edkins 4, Hidesh Bhardwaj 3, Frederic Bernard 2 and Andrew Bier 2. McGill shot 24-62 from the line, 2-15 from the arc and 6-17 from the line. Concordia shot 27-66 from the floor, 6-20 from the arc and 16-23 from the line. Concordia out-rebounded McGill 51-33.
After the season, Ken Schildroth announces that he is stepping aside after 15 years at the helm. He’ll be replaced by long-time assistant Nevio Marzinotto, who steered the Redmen in 91-92 when Schildroth took a sabbatical. Marzinotto has been coach of the Quebec provincial men’s team since 1991 and an assistant to Schildroth for the past nine years. “I’m going to enjoy the challenge,” said Marzinotto, who has coached for the past 28 years at the high school level in Montreal. “Thanks to Ken’s recruiting efforts, I will be surrounded by a number of good young players next season. I believe that most of the pieces are there to get this team to a berth at the Nationals. I think we have the ability to put the ball in the hoop, so I intend to put more of a focus on improving our defensive aspect of the game.” Schildroth was 105-122 during his tenure at McGill.
The bronze medalist Bishop’s Gaiters: Patrice Lemieux; Darin Newton; Phil Miguel; Paul Stephens; Mathieu Guerette; Ian Lee; Matthieu Legault; Francois Lemaire; Erik Lagarde; David Suzuki; Remi Audoin; Matt Hehn; Dquayne Ells; Shawn Craik; coach Eddie Pomykala; assistant Jeff Harris; student assistant Brecon Gage; manager Harris Bajramovic
The runner-up McGill Redmen: Kirk Reid; Domenico Marcario; Mark Rawas; Frederic Barnard; Ari Hunter; Hidesh Bhardwaj; Andrew Bier; Patrick Kieran; Nick Edkins; Lazslo Molnar; Louis Vigneault; Brady Murphy; Bayo Ajayi; coach Ken Schildroth; assistant Nevio Marzinotto, assistant Bernie Rosanelli
The champion Concordia Stingers: Eric Zulu, Real Kitieu; Mark Spence; Wayne Alexander; Michael Kieran; Sidney Shreves; Glenwyn Alexander; Armel Kitieu; Alfonz Simmonds; Guillaume Tual; Todd Brown; Constantine Gymnopoulos; David Goodridge; Kenneth Stanislaus; coach John Dore; assistant Ernie Rosa; assistant Harvey Liverman; athletic therapist Ron Rappel; student therapist Hazif Gafoor; student therapist Heather Barton; SID Catherine Grace