Final regular season standings (9): King’s (23-1); Mount St. Vincent (20-4) New Brunswick-Saint John (17-7); St. Thomas (14-10); Sexton (11-13); Mt. Allison (10-14); Nova Scotia Agricultural College (6-18); Moncton (5-19); Atlantic Baptist (2-22)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Atlantic Baptist Blue Tide: Jeff Vass, Nick Carter, Scott Black, Nick Earle, coach Jamie Small
Moncton: Didier Muhire, Guillaume Bouguovin
Sexton: Igor Prevelic, Rob Dumeresq
In the quarterfinals, 3rd-seeded the New Brunswick-Saint John Seawolves clipped 6th-seeded the Nova Scotia Agricultural College Rams 78-52 as Scott Hache scored 15 and Joe Dowe 14. Billy McNutt led the Rams with 19. UNBSJ coach Greg Doyle said strong defence and unselfish offence proved the difference. The Seawolves led by 20 at the half. The Rams also included Joel Bishop.
In the other quarterfinal, the 4th-seeded St. Thomas Tommies dumped the 5th-seeded Mount Allison Mounties 71-57 as Barrett Williams scored 16. Dennis Hopper led the Mounties with 15. Doyle Anthony added 11. The Mounties also included Matt Finniss, Tim McAleenan, Colin Weldon, Kent Matheson, Matthew Sarty, Mike Wilson.
In the semis, the top-seeded University of King’s College Blue Devils defeated the 4th-seed St. Thomas Tommies 73-55 as Chad Smith scored 37, including 3-8 from the arc, and grabbed 14 boards. Aaron Carpenter added 10.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Mount St. Vincent Mystics clipped the New Brunswick-Saint John Seawolves 61-43 as Brendon Arnold scored 18 and nabbed 13 boards. Danny O’Blenis added 10. Joe Dow and Scott Hachey each scored 10 for the Seawolves. “It was a tough way to finish, they were dominating defensively,” UNBSJ coach Greg Doyle told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. “We got beat up a little bit and just couldn’t get anything to fall. They went out and competed really hard. Some games you shoot the ball well, some games you don’t. But I thought we gave a solid effort and over the course of the season I’m really proud of our effort. We had a really good run.”
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Mount St. Vincent Mystics defeated the top-seeded University of King’s College Blue Devils 72-64 as Shawn Clarke scored 14, Brendon Arnold 13, Ibrahaim Toulany 11, Mark Brien 11 and Mike Wilson 11. Aaron Carpenter paced King’s with 23. Chad Smith added 15 and Tim Adams 8. King’s led 39-32 at the half but the Mystics tightened their defence in the second frame and pulled out a win. “I told my team that a seven-point lead wasn’t safe because we lost the same lead to them a year ago,” said Mystics coach Rick Plato. “There was no quit in them. They came out, played solid defence and took care of business.” The Blue Devils sputtered when all-stars Tim Adams and Matt Jones got in serious foul trouble. In fact, four King’s starters picked up four fouls each, while Adams fouled out. “The foul situation hurts us. But we didn’t match their intensity in the second half,” said King’s coach Jeff Paris. “They got up in our faces early after the half and we didn’t have the answer.” Mystic Shawn Clarke said “we played as a team and really focused on our defence, which has been our strength all year. They have good shooters but we were able to shut them down.”
After the season, Holland College joined the ACAA.
Tom Doucette stepped aside from the helm of the Nova Scotia Agricultural Rams after 10 years at the helm. He was replaced by assistant Donnie MacGregor.
The co-bronze medalist St. Thomas Tommies: Jay Walsh; Jamey Edwards; Jared Budd; Adam Thornton; Chris Tufts; coach Tom Doucette
The co-bronze medalist New Brunswick-Saint John Seawolves: Joe Dow; Scott Hachey; Jon Lane; Alan Rivers-Bowerman; Jeremy McLean; John Tallis; Nick Doyle; Colin Johnston; coach Greg Doyle
The silver medalist University of King’s College Blue Devils: Aaron Carpenter; Chad Smith; Tim Adams; Matt Jones; Marlon MacLean; Paul Wilson; Simon McCamus; Maurice Carr; Lucas Adkola; Tyrone Williams; Bannon Morrisy; Brandon Burke; Mike Jones; coach Terry Wright; trainer Jeff Sullivan
The champion Mount St. Vincent Mystics: Shawn Clarke; Brendon Arnold; Abe Toulany; Mark Brien; Mike Wilson; Danny O’Blenis; Damian Gay; Steve Morris; Ian Baker; Ben Hunter; Adam Jewkes; Matt Gamblin; Joey Sampson; Mike Pearson; Carl Wickstrom; Devon Burke; Trevor Boutlier; coach Rick Plato; assistant Dave Brien; manager Andrea Plato