REGULAR SEASON
| McGill | 13-9 | 18-17 | Nevio Marzinotto | ||
| Laval | 12-10 | 22-14 | Jacques Paiement | ||
| Concordia | 12-10 | 19-14 | John Dore | ||
| Bishop’s | 5-17 | 7-24 | Eddie Pomykala | ||
In the regular season, McGill finished atop the standings with a (13-9) record.
Playoff non-qualifier Bishop’s Gaiters: Justin Blazer, Shaun Brade, Jason Brade, Shaun Craik, Dwayne Els, Mathieu Guerette, Matt Hehn, Erik LaGarde, Matt Legault, Francois Lemaire, Phil Miguel, Darin Newton, Bryan Nichol, Andrew Ranson, Paul Stevens, David Suzuki, Brian Woods, Justin Blazer, coach Eddie Pomykala, assistant Glen Faucher
In the semis, Laval stuns Concordia 70-65 before 500 fans at Concordia Gym. Concordia led for most of the game, generally between 9 and 12 points but made a series of mistakes down the stretch. “We didn’t lose this game tonight. We lost it over the course of the year,” said guard Gavin Musgrave, who scored 15 and grabbed 5 boards. “Their team was probably in the weight room or doing extra shooting when we weren’t doing as much. They were obviously more committed to getting better. Their players improved immensely where most of our players, I think we were content at times at being just good enough to get by. That hurt us in the long run.” Power forward Marc-Antoine Horth scored 27 and grabbed 10 boards for Laval. Charles Fortier added 16, Samuel Audet-Sow 16. Laval erased a four-point halftime deficit (38-34) and tied the game at 51 with eight minutes to play. Tied against at 60, field goals by Horth, David Kirouac-Dumont and Fortier put Laval ahead 66-60. Concordia could get no closer than three. “Beating a team like Concordia in their gym is really something,” said Laval coach Jacques Paiement. “Even though I’ve only been coaching in this league for two years, I know everything there is to know about Concordia basketball. They’ve done great things in Quebec and in Canada. Beating them here, of course, I’m very happy but I have the greatest respect for them and coach John Dore. Having said that, our guys did a tremendous job tonight. Everybody worked very hard. Even when we were down in the first by 12 at one point, the fact we came back to trail by only four at half-time, when we could have been blown out, was victory itself.” Centre Real Kitieu led Concordia with 16 points, 10 boards and 6 blocks. But got into foul trouble early in the second half and had to play with caution. James Aubourg and Shawn Critchlow added 13 and 12 points, respectively for Concordia. “Was this game lost over the course of the season. I think most games are lost over the course of the season,” said Concordia coach John Dore. “You prepare to win or you prepare to fail. Preparing to win takes a great commitment mentally and physically and as a team, we’ve been extremely inconsistent this year collectively and individually and that manifested itself tonight. We had some breakdowns, the little things. It’s the little things that a mature team won’t have need to worry about.”
In the finals, Laval defeated McGill 92-80; 82-72 (2g-0).
In game one, Laval dumped McGill 92-80 as the Redmen sleepwalked through the affair. “I have no idea where the intensity went,” said McGill coach Nevio Marzinotto. “We were up two points at halftime and feeling good about ourselves because we had to play most of the first half without Burkey (Denburk Reid) because of foul trouble. Then we came out for the second half and we sort of coasted. We never recovered. Why we lost the intensity when we did, I really can’t explain it right now.” McGill had grabbed a 46-37 with two minutes in the first half on consecutive treys by Domenico Marcario, Ari Hunter and Kirk Reid. But the Rouge et Or scored seven unanswered points to rally within 46-44 at the break and then outscored the Redmen 23-10 in the first 10 minutes of the second half to take command. Charles Fortier paced the Rouge et Or with 28 points, including 17 in the second half. He hit 10-20 from the floor. Samuel Audet-Sow added 22 and Marc-Antoine Horth 20. “I don’t know what happened to us,” said Kirk Reid, who led McGill with 24 points on 3-8 from the arc, 5 boards and 4 steals. “Perhaps we lost some confidence in the first half and because of that we didn’t play with a lot of confidence or emotion in the second half.” Marcario notched 12, as did Frederic Bernard. Laval out-rebounded McGill 42-30. “They kicked us,” said Marzinotto. “We gave them too many good second-shot opportunities and they kicked us good. Everybody knows they can score and that we can score, but can we box out? We didn’t do it today. It’s not as if we didn’t work hard. We just didn’t work intelligently.”
In game two, Laval defeated McGill 82-72 at the PEPs Gym in Sainte-Foy. Marc-Antoine Horth had 26 points, David Brownrigg 17, including 12 in the second half and three from beyond the arc in the final five minutes as Laval qualified for its first ever national tournament. Brownrigg rallied Laval from a 61-59 deficit with just over five minutes left in the game with the first of his three three-pointers down the stretch. The teams were tied at the half at 37 after Laval rallied back from seven down shortly before the intermission. “Brownrigg was the guy who really hurt us tonight with four three-pointers in the game and three in the final five minutes,” said McGill coach Nevio Marzinotto. “We really didn’t expect that from him because he hasn’t shot that well in the latter part of the season. Other than that, we did what we wanted to do, but in the end, they made the shots and we didn’t.” Charles Fortier had 13 for Laval. Samuel Audet-Sow 11. Kirk Reid and Frederic Bernard led McGill with 16 points each. The game featured 16 lead changes before a crowd of 1,553 at Laval. The Rouge et Or shot .944 from the line, hitting 17-18, while McGill shot 8-12 from the line. Laval shot 9-20 from the arc, while McGill was 4-21. The game was tied at 37 at the half but Laval took command of the boards in the second half. But the Redmen were ahead by 61-59 midway through the half before Brownrigg took control. Rookie Marc-Antoine Horth led Laval with 26 points. Charles Fortier scored 12. Samuel Audet-Sow added 11. Kirk Reid and Frederic Bernard led McGill with 16 points apiece. Domenico Marcario added 15.
The bronze medalist Concordia Stingers: James Aubourg; Real Kitieu; Shawn Critchlow; Wayne Alexander; Jonathan Dresner; Fred Fraser Gagnon; Armel Kitieu; Gavin Musgrave; Sidney Shreves; Nicholas Snow; Ronald Stoddard; Eric Zulu; Chris Hickey; Alfonz Simonds; Oliver Zulu; coach John Dore; assistant Ernie Rosa
The runner-up McGill Redmen: Frederic Bernard; Hidesh Bhardwaj; Greg Kennedy; Pat Kieran; Domenico Marcario; Laszlo Molnar; Brady Murphy; Brent Prowse; Denburk Reid; Kirk Reid; Andrew Bier; Ari Hunter; Brent Prowse; coach Nevio Marzinotto, assistant David King; assistant Bernie Rosanelli
The champion Laval Rouge et Or: Charles Fortier; Samuel Audet-Sow; Marc-Antoine Horth; Daniel Lacasse; David Ruel; David Brownrigg; David Kirouac-Dumont; Yannick Boileau; Marc-Olivier Bessette; Francois Caussignac; Yuan Jomphe; Luc Paquet; Donald Lamousnery; Gopal Bernatchez; Jean-Charles Moundio-Alene; coach Jacques Paiement; assistant Marc Lavertu; assistant David Levasseur; medical director Gilles Courchesne; SID Michel Belanger