REGULAR SEASON
| Cape Breton | 13-6 | 18-10 | Tim McGarrigle | |||||
| Acadia | 13-7 | Dave Nutbrown | ||||||
| U.P.E.I. | 13-7 | George Morrison | ||||||
| Saint Mary’s | 12-8 | 19-16 | Ross Quackenbush | |||||
| St. FX | 12-8 | 21-14 | Steve Konchalski | |||||
| Dalhousie | 11-9 | Bev Greenlaw | ||||||
| Memorial | 5-15 | 5-17 | Glenn Taylor | |||||
| New Brunswick | 1-19 | Clint Hamilton | ||||||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Memorial Seahawks: Bruce Nowe, Mark Elliott, Scott Redden, Shane Harte, Mike Scott, Bernard Leonard, Marc Woods, Corey Freake, John Devereaux, Rod Spurrell, Michael Woods, coach Glenn Taylor
New Brunswick Varsity Reds: Yaw Obeng, Duff Adams, Alex Kidney, Andy Mackay, Jamie Watt, Keith Gibson, Joe O’Brien, Alan Whitley, Clint Simmons, Chris McKenna, Marc Aube, Greg Mapp, Marc Roberts, S Armstrong, S Jeffrey, coach Clint Hamilton
PEI Panthers: Mark Cameron, Raham Dixon, Curtis Robinson, Brian McLennon, Darrell Glenn, Mike Chisholm, Jason Kaul, Jason Kielly, Peter Lawlor, J MacDonald, S MacKay, R MacLean, Craig Walker, Jeff Watson, coach George Morrison
St. FX qualifies for the playoffs by finishing fourth after Dalhousie had a 63-62 win over Cape Breton taken taken away from them because the Tigers had played Dean Thibodeau in a game against the Capers while his eligibility was being appealed. Dalhousie athletic director Tony Martin and coach Bev Greenlaw believed Thibodeau was eligible while his one-game suspension for being ejected from a game against Acadia a week earlier was being appealed. Dalhousie was under the impression that if an appeal was filed and they did not hear back from the conference’s ethics committee, then a player could suit up. The AUAA ruled otherwise, saying that a one-game suspension is automatic for the match following an ejection. The Tigers (coached by Greenlaw) also included Shawn Plancke, Chris Cain, David Reynolds, Marcus Jamieson, Jeff Mayo, Derrick Taylor, Sean O’Neil, Colin Mason, Cory Janes, Craig Hurst, Steve McGilligan, Scott Rogers, Shawn Mantley, David Chiasson, Matt Finden, Don Chisholm, Ron McIntosh, Chudi Igboemeka and Jeff McAleer.
In the semis, St. FX stunned top-seeded Cape Breton 72-69 on a last second three-pointer by Jason Hirtle. The shot staved off a second half Capers rally that had culminated in Jim Charters drilling a trey to knot the score at 69 with five seconds to play. “First John Ryan hit a leaner and then Charters hit that trey. I didn’t think we were ever going to get out there with a win but I guess it is poetic justice,” said Hirtle. St. FX had built a 9-point lead at the half on stellar interior play and four blocks by Richard Bella. Cape Breton coach Tim McGarrigle said his troops were severely hampered by a slow start. “I didn’t think we had that much flow early in the game. We seemed to be nervous and hesitant. They played really good ball early and took us out of our game.” The Capers awoke in the second half, ripping off a 10-2 run to claw within 44-43 but St. FX responded with an 11-1 run capped by a Mark Corrigan trey. The Capers refused to quit and rallied back to knot the score at 61 with 3:17 to play as Rawle Philadelphia hit a pair of free throws. But again St. FX rallied, building a 69-64 lead. “We never seemed to get the big stop when we wanted to,” said McGarrigle. “Every time they needed a big hoop, they got it.” Bella led St. FX with 23 points and 13 boards. Brian Lee added 14 and Mark Corrigan 12. John Ryan led the Capers with 26. Michael Dailey added 18 and 13 boards. Troy Jones scored 5 and nabbed 9 boards. “We’ve certainly matured a lot since our first year in the league,” said McGarrigle. “I really felt this team had to get into the finals to take that next step. But we were one shot away. That’s the hardest part. Being one shot away and having to wait.” The Capers (coached by McGarrigle) also included Scott Mazerolle, Jim Charters, Rawle Philadelphia, Kirk Mombourquette, Terry Wright, Patrick Lahey, Jeff Eagar, Shaun Robinson, Paul Rowe, Sheldon Shaw, John Tait and redshirt Michael Wall.
In the other semi, Saint Mary’s defeated Acadia 63-57. The Axemen had taken a 45-39 lead with seven minutes to play but Jeff Baltzer drilled a trey and Richard Sullivan scored 8 points, including a pair of treys, to ignite a 15-2 run over minutes that gave Saint Mary’s a 54-47 lead. Rookies Jason Medford and Dwayne Hemmings each scored four minutes to final three minutes to ice it. “That typifies what this team is all about, I guess, at the risk of sounding corny,” said Huskies coach Ross Quackenbush. Sullivan said the Huskies led Acadia push them around in the first half as the Axemen built a 28-25 lead. “We just toughed up our defence. They were pushing us around all over the floor. We had to make up our mind to give some of that back.” Sullivan finished with 21 points. Will Njoku added 18 and Jason Darling 11. Acadia coach Dave Nutbrown said his troops shot poorly. “We usually compensate by being aggressive and getting a lot of second shots. But I didn’t think we boxed out on the defensive board as well as we normally do. We gave them a few too many second shots which I think really critically hurt us. Defensively, we really can’t hold them to a whole lot less than what we did.” Stafford Lowe and Mark Redden each notched 12 for Acadia. Lowe also grabbed 10 boards. Reggie Oblitey scored 8 and nabbed 9 boards. The Axemen (coached by Dave Nutbrown, assisted by Chuck Goreham, manager Dave Church, manager Ian McGinnis, therapist Stephen Craan) also included Eric James, Kevin Lee, Danny Eveleigh, Mike Redden, Jerome Carter, Rory Herget, Keith Johnson, Kevin Pick, Wayne Mulgrave, Tom Henry, Duncan White, Adam Miller, Geoff Kott, redshirt Leon Beaton and redshirt Clive Henry.
In the final, centre Richard Bella scored 29 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead St. FX past Saint Mary’s 84-71. The fourth-seeded X-men had squeaked into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season. The match was viewed a showdown between Bella and conference MVP Will Njoku, who scored 22 and grabbed 11 boards. “This is my game,” said Bella. “When I start playing, nobody can stop me. Also, I wanted to show people that I’m one of the best big men in the country. Coach told me to play my game and relax and do everything I’ve been taught.” X-Men coach Steve Konchalski said his 6-9, 235-pound centre “showed everybody the great player that he is. That’s not to take away from the other great big men in our conference but today, Richie was ‘The King’.” Forward Blair White noted that “it was the biggest game of the year, so I think everybody came out fired up. When Richie is scoring 20 or 30 points, people are double and triple-teaming him and everybody else is getting open shots and open jumpers.” Guy Mbongo added 19 points and 11 boards, while White scored 12 and nabbed 6 boards. St. FX took an early 10-0 lead as the Huskies missed their first eight shots and then extended it to 40-24 at the half. St. FX led by as many as 24 in the second half before a late run by Saint Mary’s made the final score respectable. “This is our dream. We’ve been working hard during the season,” said Bella. “We said we have to take the AUAA and go to the CIAU and take care of everything. The championship means a lot to us and our coach. We did it for coach, for us, and for our fans.” Huskies coach Ross Quackenbush said Bella was all but unstoppable. “Bella is still a man among boys and he was not about to be denied today. I’ve got to congratulate him for coming to play that way. He had the best game I’ve ever seen him have – unfortunately, it was against us in the final.” Konchalski said his backcourt kept down their turnovers. “We were on the top of our game. Defence. It all stems from the defence and the fact that our inside game is so strong. We have to take advantage of our inside game.” Baltzer noted that the Huskies dug themselves too deep an early hole. “I was proud because we didn’t give up. We said in the locker room that we have nothing to be ashamed of. We weren’t nervous. If anything, maybe overconfident because yesterday we were really happy about the win and looking forward to today’s game, so maybe we were a little too anxious. The poor start offensively definitely hurt us because when you score a basket, you’re more psyched to play defence and it just builds on itself that way.” Jason Darling scored 19 for the Huskies, including three from beyond the arc, while point guard Richard Sullivan and Jeff Baltzer each notched 10.
The runner-up Saint Mary’s Huskies: Will Njoku; Richard Sullivan; Jason Darling; Chris Lawrence; Andrew Gibb; Bill Seaward; Jason Medford; Adam Gladwin; Brian Luinstra; Derek Hurdle; Mike Dixon; Dwayne Hemmings; Jeff Batzer; coach Ross Quackenbush; assistant Greig Redding; manager Scott Munroe
The champion St. Francis Xavier X-Men: Richard Bella; Mark Corrigan; Guy Mbongo; Joseph Odhiambo; Michael Clarke; Sean McLean; Sean Clarke; Brian Lee; Aristide Nguilibet; Blair White; Jason Hirtle; Merrick Palmer; coach Steve Konchalski; assistant Todd McKillop; manager Kyle Walsh; trainer Dave Gordon; SID Kim Dickson; athletic director John McFarland