2002-03 AUS – men

REGULAR SEASON

	BALDWIN				NELSON
	St. FX	16-4	22-9	Steve Konchalski	Acadia	13-7	19-12	Dave Nutbrown
	Saint Mary’s	13-7	21-14	Ross Quackenbush	U.P.E.I.	12-8	22-13	Mike Connolly
	Dalhousie	5-15	8-23	John Campbell	New Brunswick	11-9	19-13	Thom Gillespie
	Memorial	2-18	2-29	Todd Aughey	Cape Breton	8-12	12-15	Jim Charters

        Playoff non-qualifiers:

Cape Breton Capers: NiKrumah Hylton, Anthony Breland, Jason Hicks, Ryan Keliher, Ryan Enslow, T.J. Downey, Derek Alexander, Patrick Lukusa, Murray Graves, Jarrett Timmons, Will Fagan, Philip Blackwood, Matthew Skinn, Orville Edwards, Mustapha Maynard, coach Jim Charters

Memorial Seahawks: Etienne Orr-Ewing, Darryl Boucaud, Colin Power, Ante Ivankovic, Nigel Pennie, Justin Halleran, Evan Constantine, Robbie Hickey, George Mammen, Curtis Power, George English, Shawn Clarke, Peter Ingram, Teddy Pettle, Will Schmidt, Michael Wilson, Tim Winsor, coach Todd Aughey, assistant Howie Green, assistant Bill Redden

In the quarterfinals, UPEI defeated Dalhousie 65-53 as rugged Australian import Jason Aucoin pulled down 16 rebounds, 11 in the second half, scored 12 points, and made several hard screens to lead the Panthers. Point guard Tyler Wood scored 15 on a trio from beyond the arc, including 2 that stopped Dal surges that threatened to make it a close game. UPEI raced out to a quick 10-1 lead. Dal finally made a couple of baskets at around 13:00, then the Panthers were off on a 21-3 run that put them comfortably ahead by 21, 31-10, at 06:39. Then they decided to take a nap. Tim O’Connor scored Dal’s third basket at 05:35, then the Tigers led by a couple of full-court layups by Nick Donald brought it back to 32-22 at the half. Tigers kept within that margin in the second half, then a Donald three and O’Connor closed it to 3, 38-35. at 12:41. A timeout and the Panthers woke up, going on a 10-0 run, then extending it to a 16-2 run for a 54-37 lead at 06:51. Tyler Wood led UPEI with 15 points. Jason Aucoin added 12, Walker 11, Stay 10, Duncan 8, Edwards 5 and McKinney 4. The Panthers shot 16-35 from the floor, 4-17 from the arc and 21-28 from the line. Nick Donald led Dalhousie with 21 points, including 5-8 from the arc. Tim O’Connor added 12, Kinte Ambrose 9, Trystan James 4, Dion Walcott 2, Monte Francois 2, Josh Langford 1, Sandy Gerta 1, while Steven Hanrahan, Marcus Verdu and Hugh Mullally were scoreless. The Tigers shot 13-38 from the floor, 5-17 from the arc and 12-17 from the line. UPEI out-rebounded Dal 42-34 led by Aucoin’s 16. O’Connor had 12 boards for the Tigers. UPEI had 11 assists, led by Edwards 5, while Dalhousie had 9, led by Ambrose’s 3. UPEI had 12 steals to Dal’s 10, and 19 fouls to Dal’s 24. The Tigers (coached by John Campbell, assisted by Scott James) also included Oreine Davis, Mike Harvey, Greg MacDonald, Philip Mang, Lee Perrin and Rubens Aubourg.

        In the other quarterfinal, Saint Mary’s nipped New Brunswick 69-66 in a physical bruising affair. The Varsity Reds missed a golden opportunity to tie it in the final seconds. Trailing by three, Reds guard Tom Spink advanced too far for a three, decided to drive to the basket in hopes of an old-fashioned three-point play but had his short jumper blocked by Gabe Goree with three seconds to play. The first half was all defence. SMU got out to an early 10-2 lead thanks to a pair of Mike Shaughnessy threes, but saw UNB come right back to tie it at 10-10. SMU pulled ahead by 6, then UNB’s Mike King went to work, tying it at 16-16, again at 20-20, and then putting the Reds in the lead for the first time 22-20. Two more UNB baskets by Monro and Sevigny, and Goree shooting 1-1, left UNB ahead by 4 at the half. In the second half, the score was tied 10 times and there were 7 lead changes. UNB momentarily led by 6 to open the second half, and SMU twice led by 4. Otherwise it was 2- or 3-point margins all the way. In one late sequence UNB’s Doug Thompson scored a three to go ahead 50-49, Shaughnessy immediately replied with a three to put SMU ahead 52-50, then Mike King came right back with another to make it UNB 53-52. Shaughnessy led Saint Mary’s with 12 on 3-7 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc and 5-7 from the line. Cole added 9, Goree 16, Thibault 0, Atnas Maeko 13 on 6-8 from the floor, McCarthy 8, Williams 0, and Smith 0. The Huskies shot 18-38 from the floor, 7-18 from the arc and 12-19 from the line. Tom Spink paced UNB with 17 on 7-12 from the floor. Brent Sevigny added 11, Mike King 15, Dave Myers 2, Dan Goggin 0, Andrew Munro 6, Joe Thompson 3, Doug Thompson 9, Oliver Glencross 1, and Adam Parent 2. The Varsity Reds shot 20-35 from the floor, 3-12 from the arc and 17-26 from the line. Each unit nabbed 32 boards. Sevigny led UNB with 11. Goree led the Huskies with 7. Saint Mary’s had 15 assists, led by Cole’s 6, to UNB’s 12, led by Glencross’ 4. UNB had 19 fouls to Saint Mary’s 18, including one technical. The Varsity Reds (coached by Thom Gillespie) also included Dylan Lisson and Robert Levy.

        In the semi-finals, UPEI stunned top-seed St. FX 72-71 to earn a berth in the nationals as 6-0 Florida native Tyler Wood scored 27, including five from beyond the arc. Both teams started slowly, with the X-Men looking rusty. After a quick timeout, and substitutions with John Bustin, Neil MacDonald, and Brandon Gorman, X climbed back to 6 as MacDonald hit the lay-up. A strong possession by X on defence wasn’t enough to stop sloppy offensive possessions. PEI led 16-10 at the 10-minute mark. Brandon Gorman’s 3 cut the score 20-17 with 7:00 go to in the half. Gorman hit another trey 30 seconds later to cut the lead. 2. UPEI’s Kenny Duncan hit a three to answer on the next possession, and then X’s Ed Reynolds answered back with the 3rd in three possessions. After some mischief between UPEI’s Jason Aucoin and St FX’s Reynolds and E.L. Adams, X’s Alex Stephen awoke from his sleep to bring a monster jam with 4 minutes to go in the half. Adams on a missed foul opportunity hit a very slick lay in to cut the lead to 1. But, it wasn’t enough; UPEI’s Jeff Walker hit a huge three to bring it yet again to 4. St FX’s E.L. Adams stole the ball to make it 32-31 with 30 seconds left. Adams started off the offensive possession with a pass to Gorman who knocked it out of bounds. The halftime score was 32-31. As the second half started it was apparent that X understood was at stake. Tied at 35, John Bustin’s defence and Jernigan’s offense put X on top for the first time in the game. An Alex Stephen Dunk allowed St. FX to regain the lead 41-40. Kyle Sanders’s goaltending allowed UPEI to change the lead 42-41. Several lead changes, and Tyler Wood allowed a 6-point PEI lead, Wood hit a huge 3 pointer at 15:14 to capitalize the lead. Kenny Duncan hit another three to make it a 9-point Panthers lead. Tyler Wood came back again at 11:40 to extend the lead to 57-47. It was his 5th from 3-point land. The three’s kept on coming down like a hard Halifax rain, Brandon Gorman answered back to make it 57-52. Tyler Wood hit a behind the head lay in at 8:24 to put the Forum on its feet. The UPEI lead was 65-52. With 5 minutes go to, Wood hit 2 foul shots on an and-one, which kept UPEI ahead 66-58, when Kyle Sanders awoke from his sleep and hit a huge X field goal, and was fouled, which gave X three more points to make it 66-61. Sanders on the next X possession hit a soft lay in, to cut the score to 3. UPEI looked confused at this point, as if the game and their greatest upset was slipping away. X came back strong within one, 66-65 when Wood missed a three; Dion Williams rebounded and took it up the court. The drama started as an E.L. Adams steal sparked a defensive foul from Gorman. This led to a Kyle Sanders lay in with 4:48 to go. Sanders hit what could have been a clinching 6-foot jumper to make the score 66-63. X’s Adams misses past a routine offensive swing when UPEI’s Edwards hit the game shocking 13-foot jump shot. Edwards then hit a 13-foot jump shot to make the score 70-68. Another E.L. Adams mental mistake put the MVP Tyler Wood on the line for a 1 and 1, which he produced a point making the UPEI dream a reality at 71-68. Sanders fouled Jason Aucoin with :09 seconds to go giving the new AUS dark horse a 4-point lead. When the chips are down, X goes go Dion Williams, which is what they did in this situation. Williams drained a 20′ three pointer as time expired, the crowd went berserk, it wasn’t enough as the Panthers earn their first berth in the AUS final since 1996. Wood led UPEI with 27 on 3-7 from the floor, 5-7 from the arc and 6-8 from the line. Jason Aucoin added 15 on 3-4 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 3-4 from the line. Kenny Duncan notched 9, Sharone Edwards 12, Jeff Walker 3, McKinney 4, and Stay 2. The Panthers hit 14-38 from the floor, 11-22 from the arc and 11-16 from the line. UPEI out-rebounded St. FX 38-34 led by Duncan’s 8. Adams and Jernigan each had 6 boards for St. FX. Dion Williams had 5 assists as St. FX collected 14 assists to UPEI’s 10, led by Duncan’s 3. UPEI had 8 steals and St. FX 7, while collecting 17 fouls to X’s 16. Brandon Gorman led St. FX with 17 on 5-7 from the arc. Alex Stephen added 13 on 4-9 from the floor and 5-10 from the line. Kyle Sanders added 12, Will Jernigan 8, Everett Adams 10, Dion Williams 5, John Bustin 0, Neil MacDonald 4, Edwin Reynolds 2. The X-Men shot 19-42 from the floor, 6-12 from the arc and 15-23 from the line. The X-Men (coached by Steve Konchalski, assisted by Ron MacDonald and Jim Hardy, managed by Mike Johnston, and student therapist Kara Spencer) also included Mark Mackenzie, E.L. Adams, Michael Baxter, Brandon Gorman and Ian Spindler.

        In the other semi, Saint Mary’s earned a berth in the nationals by dumping Acadia 71-59. Gabe Goree started off the Huskies with a three directly after the tip. Acadia’s Matt Chapman and Brian Finniss, and Saint Mary’s Damon Cole each hit buckets and then Atnas Maeko extended the lead with a very athletic layup for a 7-4 lead. Acadia’s Nick Landrigan’s out of bounds pass caused another turnover. A well-executed Acadia offense took the lead on an Erick Wynter jumper. SMU answered back with a Thibault 3 pointer, along with a Goree field goal on the next SMU possession. The pace remained fast until Acadia’s Greg Winter hit a 3 pointer to tie the game at 12 at the 12:47 mark. Thibault after a time out laid in a fast break 1 on 1 to give the Huskies a 2-point lead. Fresh in the game, point guard Shaun Smith, forward Ben McCarthy, and shooting guard Geoffrey Williams kept the lead, when Goree hit an outside 2-point jumper with 10:10 play. Williams drained a three at 9:12 to make the score 21-16. Acadia coach Dave Nutbrown called a short timeout. This proved to do no good as SMU rolled thanks to AUS 2nd team all-star Mike Shaughnessy drilled a 2 pointer from the top of the key. At the 5-minute mark Saint Mary’s led 28-23. Axemen Erick Wynter missed a three-point chance, which allowed Goree on the next SMU possession to extend the lead to 7 at 30-23. After two minutes of a fast paced of basketball, Axemen Matt Chapman, who suffered a nasty cut to the chin, went to the foul line and put Acadia down by 5. Goree maneuvered in the post for a runner to make it 32-25. Smith’s inbounds pass allowed Shaughnessy a 1 hand lay in to put SMU in control 34-25 at halftime. SMU came out of the gate in the second half even more determined than the first, when Mike Shaughnessy put SMU ahead 36-29 with a strong set shot. 1st half leading scorer for Acadia, Brian Finniss put on a strong defensive stand on the top of the key, which forced Saint Mary’s to go to its post-game, which Atnas Maeko responded to well with his athleticism down low. Ben McCarthy’s entrance was appreciated with his post work; two strong rebounds with 15 minutes left in the game. Goree’s offensive presence allowed fellow team mate Damon Cole to shift his way to a lay in which sparked a 10-point lead with 13:43 to play. The Huskies offence consisted of outside jump shots, which seemed to allow offensive rebounding in turn easy layups. Geoff Williams’ strong crash to the hoop and lay in forced Nutbrown to call a 30 second timeout, SMU’s lead was now 44-35 with 12:57 to play. Nutbrown’s plan of attack was putting Finniss on Goree man-to-man. Goree drew a foul with a missed lay in from Acadia’s Finniss, which came up short. Erick Wynter cut the SMU lead to 4 at 9:40. Wynter fouled Thibault for 2 shots, which caused 4 free throw misses in a row. Damon Cole hit a jumper to put them within 6, and then Wynter answered a 3 pointer to cut it to 3. With 7:15 to play, Goree was fouled on an end-around lay in; Goree made both foul shots and led SMU to a 50-45 lead. After the next Acadia wasted possession Jon Thibault drove the length of the floor went up for a full speed lay in, and was fouled by Andre Grant. An ice-cold Thibault missed both shots yet again. Acadia’s Chapman cut it to 3 with 6:08 to play. A plethora of fast break fouls continued as Damon Cole fouled senior Greg Winter, who cut the score 50-49. In the closing minutes, Atnas Maeko fouled out with 3:46 to go with SMU lead 54-49. Goree rose to the occasion with a strong offensive rebound to add a point at the foul line as he was fouled coming down with the ball. Acadia’s Brian Finniss fouled out with 2:48 to go. Jon Thibault hit a game clinching 3 pointer that put the Saint Mary’s Huskies ahead 60-53. On the next possession Lowell, Massachusetts’s native Mike Shaughnessy was fouled and made both free throws giving SMU a 9-point lead and they coasted home. Greg Winter led Acadia with 14 points on 3-7 from the floor and 2-9 from the arc. Brian Finniss added 13, Matt Chapman 13 on 5-11 from the floor, Walter Moyse 6, Andre Grant 5, Erick Wynter 5, Mike Filinski 2, Tim Adams 2 and Nick Landrigan 2, while Ryan Marrast, Brian Donelson and Chris Akelaitis were scoreless. The Axemen shot 20-47 from the floor, 4-16 from the arc and 7-11 from the line. Gabe Goree led Saint Mary’s with 24 points on 6-9 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 9-14 from the line. Damon Cole added 8, Mike Shaughnessy 16, Jon Thibault 8, Atnas Maeko 10, Ben McCarthy 0, Shaun Smith 0, and Geoffrey Williams 5. The Huskies shot 16-25 from the floor, 7-18 from the arc and 18-32 from the line. Brian Finniss, Chapman and Maeko fouled out. Each team ad 36 boards, led by Goree’s 15 for Saint Mary’s and Finniss’ 12 for Acadia. Saint Mary’s had 15 assists, led by Goree’s 6, to 12 for Acadia, led by Landrigan’s 7. Acadia had 10 steals to Saint Mary’s 5, and 22 fouls to Saint Mary’s 15. The Axemen (coached by Dave Nutbrown) also included Dan White, Chris Unruh, Matt White, Greg Winter and Craig Green.

        In the final, upstart UPEI earned the title by dumping Saint Mary’s 74-65. With a 7-0 run PEI jumped out to an early 7-2 lead on strong post work from Jason Aucoin. Jeff Walker hit a jumper to make it 9-4. SMU started getting their act together when Gabe Goree hit a one hand lay-in over PEI’s Sherone Edwards, then on the next possession Goree drew a foul. SMU’s offense continued to sputter, but there defence kept them within 5 at the 15:00 mark. Tyler Wood was called on 3 fouls within the first 5 minutes which put him on the bench. But UPEI increased its lead to 17-9. Saint Mary’s Mike Shaughnessy played a tough post during this stretch as he and Atnas Maeko cut it to 5. With Damon Cole on the bench, Saint Mary’s sixth man Shawn Smith assisted Gabe Goree for the bucket which cut the score to 2, at the 9:15 mark. After a full SMU timeout, Smith drove to the basket and was stuffed by PEI’s Sherone Edwards. PEI led 23-15. Jason Aucoin laid in a fast break play to give the Panthers a 10-point lead. In transition, Saint Mary’s forward Mike Shaughnessy drained a long 3 pointer from the top of the circle. Jeff Walker hit a jumper and drew the foul which put PEI ahead 28-18. Walker hit an acrobatic floater to put the Panthers ahead 35-22. Down 39-24 Atnas Maeko drove for a lay-in and was obviously slapped to the face yet the referee didn’t call it. This led on the next possession to a near fist fight between UPEI’s Kenny Duncan and SMU’s Jon Thibault on the floor disputing a rebound. Jeff Walker came up big with a jump shot and then two free throws that made the UPEI lead 44-30. The Huskies Damon Cole answered back to cut the score to 44-34 with a jumper. The physical play was taking effect as Jason Aucoin hit another UPEI 3 pointer making the score 54-42. Saint Mary’s point guard Damon Cole drew Wood’s 4th foul at 7:18 to put him back on the bench. Mike Shaughnessy hit a lob shot for 2 to cut the UPEI lead to 59-54. Wood made the score 63-56. Shaughnessy hit a pair from the line to cut the UPEI lead to five. UPEI’s Jeff Walker hit a running jumper to extend the UPEI lead 65-58. On the next possession Damon Cole was charged with his 4th personal foul on a charge. Jeff Walker hit a pair from the line to give UPEI a 67-61 lead with under a minute to play. “We were not content with just getting to the dance,” Aussie Jason Aucoin told the Fredericton Gleaner. “We wanted to go in the front door and grab the championship.” For UPEI tourney MVP Tyler Wood, from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, it was “a dream come true. It just doesn’t get any better than this. This team is incredible. Every night it’s someone different hitting the big shot or grabbing that big rebound. No one thought we could do this except ourselves, perhaps now we have convinced a few people that we are for real.” Coach Mike Connolly noted that “just when you think this team can’t possibly play any better they go out and take it a notch higher. We were forced to play without our starting point guard for 14 minutes in the first half due to early foul trouble and in steps senior Jeff Walker and he did what he has done all year for us, which is come through when we needed him most. …What can you say about this team. They wanted it bad and went out and made it happen. Words cannot possibly express my feeling’s right now nor how proud I am of this team.” Gabe Goree led Saint Mary’s with 23 on 7-12 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 6-6 from the line. Mike Shaughnessy added 15, Damon Cole 12, Atnas Maeko 20, Jon Thibault 2, Benjamin McCarthy 3, Ibraheim Muhammad 0, Shawn Smith 0, Geoffrey Williams 0, Cordell Wright 0 and Dean Jones 0. The Huskies also included Derek Vanweerdhuiz. The Huskies shot 20-42 from the floor, 3-16 from the arc and 16-21 from the line. Walker led UPEI with 20 points on 7-13 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 6-7 from the line. Wood added 15 on 9-10 from the line, Sherone Edwards 15 on 6-13 from the floor, Kenny Duncan 9, Jason Aucoin 13, Doug McKinney 2, Stay 0, and Killorn 0. The Panthers shot 22-46 from the floor, 4-12 from the arc and 18-23 from the line. UPEI out-rebounded Saint Mary’s 36-35 led by 9 apiece from Aucoin and Edwards. Maeko had 9 boards for the Huskies. Each team had 12 assists. UPEI had 11 steals to Saint Mary’s 10, and committed 18 fouls to the Huskies’ 19.

        The runner-up Saint Mary’s Huskies: Gabe Goree; Mike Shaughnessy; Damon Cole; Atnas Maeko; Jonathan Thibault; Benjamin McCarthy; Ibraheim Muhammad; Shawn Smith; Geoffrey Williams; Cordell Wright; Dean Jones; Derek Van Weerdhuizen; coach Ross Quackenbush; assistant Les Berry; assistant Scott Munro; manager John Landry; therapist Amylyn Kearney; SID Lori Forbes

        The champion Prince Edward Island Panthers: Tyler Wood; Kenny Duncan; Sherone Edwards; Jeff Walker; Jason Aucoin; Doug McKinney; Peter Stay; Alex MacDonald; Trevor Postma; Donnie Killorn; Jeff Connolly; Christopher Howell; Jeffrey Austin; Christopher Linzel-Waddell; David Mullally; coach Mike Connolly; assistant Butch Postma; assistant Rick Millard; trainer Janet Rogers; trainer Colin Moore; trainer Chad MacDonald; manager Rob Armstrong; SID Ron Annear