1977-78 CCAA men

	Fanshawe	75
	Sheridan	73	Fanshawe	72
			Dawson	75	Dawson	89
							—–DAWSON
			Vancouver CC	69	Vancouver CC	70
	John Abbott	60	John Abbott	67
	N.S.A.C.	52

        In the Four-West semis, the Langara Falcons defeated the Mount Royal Cougars 63-57 as Don Schmidt scored 20 and John Stark 12. Don Newfield led the Cougars with 18. Tom Herr added 12.

In the other semi, the Briercrest Bible Clippers crushed the Red River CC Rebels 96-56 as Phil Webb scored 28, Mark Redekop 26 and Steve Ratzalaff 18. Gordon Dack led the Rebels with 13.

In the bronze medal match, the Mount Royal Cougars defeated the Red River Rebels 95-79 as Rob Wilson scored 25. Gordon Dack led the Rebels with 30.

        In the Four-West final, the Langara (then Vancouver CC Cheetahs) Falcons, coached by Duncan McCallum, thumped the Briercrest Bible Clippers 72-60 as Andy Dupree scored 23. Steve Ratzalaff led the Clippers with 15.

        In the national quarterfinals, host by the FASCQ at the Montreal Velodrome, the Fanshawe Falcons defeated the wild card Sheridan Bruins 75-73 after withstanding a furious second-half rally. Sheridan, coached by Dick Ruschiensky, had trailed 63-51 midway through the second half, when they shifted to a full-court press that thoroughly rattled Fanshawe. With 22 seconds to play, Fanshawe led by two when Sheridan forward Jerry Auger grabbed a rebound. The Bruins raced down the floor and Paul Kane took a 10-foot jump shot with five seconds on the clock. Bruin Jerry Maandag grabbed the rebound and passed it to Andre Graovac, whose last second desperation shot missed. Fanshawe coach Glenn Johnston told the Globe & Mail that “our performance was nothing more than credible. We almost gave it away by turning it over when Sheridan began to press us. … No, I wasn’t happy. We kept on turning the ball over and we took some lousy shots. Really, we just played bad ball.” Fanshawe only played five players and all hit double figures led by Ron Bailey’s 19. Gabe Romano added 18, Bob Horvath 15, Bert Udema 13 and Barry Brady 10. Andre Graovac led Sheridan with 26. Nick Maandag added 19 and Jerry Auger 11 for Sheridan. Bruins coach Dick Ruschiensky said his troops were hampered by the absence of injured guard Ambrose Campana. “But we played lackadaisically in the first half. We wanted to keep pressure on them but we sat back. If we had given it to them early, fatigue would have set in. They did get tired but it was too late.”

        In the other quarterfinal, the John Abbott Islanders broke open a tight game with three minutes to go to defeat the Nova Scotia Agricultural College Rams 60-52. Bidding to win the Atlantic representatives first game ever in the nationals, the Rams trailed 50-48 with three minutes to play when Gerry Vermeulen picked up his fifth foul, dashing their hopes. “If we had amassed a 10-point lead, we probably could have held on, but being two points behind we weren’t going to come back,” said Rams coach Ken Smyth. Vermeulen finished with 20 points and dominated the boards. Rodney Jeanty led John Abbott with 18, including 16 in the first half. Glen Lipomanis added 13.

        In the semi-finals, Langara (then Vancouver College) pulled out a 69-67 overtime with over the John Abbott Islanders. With 35 seconds to play, Langara led 60-59. Falcon John Stark was fouled by Rodney Jeanty but missed the front end of a one-and-one. John Abbott controlled rebound and called a timeout with 23 seconds to play. But the Islanders missed the shot on the set play. Langara’s John Stark was again fouled. He hit the first but missed second free throw, on which ball bounced out to halfcourt. The Islanders recovered it and Rodney Jeanty swished and 18-footer to tie the game at 61. Langara’s John Doughty fumbles in-bounds play against John Abbott’s press and threw the ball directly into the hands of Jeanty, who passes it teammate Glen Lipomanis for a layup with three seconds to play. Doughty then threw a perfect touchdown pass to Don Schmidt who hits 6-footer at buzzer to put game into overtime. Schmidt also scored winning basket in overtime, and finished with 14 points. Doughty hit 24 for the Falcons.

        In the other semi, the Quebec champion Dawson Blues edged the Ontario champ Fanshawe Falcons 75-72 despite being outplayed and outhustled for 28 minutes of the affair. With 12 minutes to go, Dawson trailed 50-39. But they suddenly awoke and exploded with a 19-2 run to pull away from the Falcons as reserve guard Alywn Blackett nailed a series of bombs. Veteran guard Harley Lawrence, playing in his third nationals and playing with four fouls, scored 17 points in the second half, en route to a 27-point night. “It was just a matter of time before we found five players who would jell and play together. Once we started to run and play with confidence, the game was ours,” Blues coach Andy Mezey told Canadian Press. Fanshawe, coached by Glenn Johnston, slowed the tempo to a crawl for 28 minutes, tired down the stretch as the Blues picked up the pace. Ron Bailey led Fanshawe with 20 points. Mezey told the Montreal Gazette that “we were a lot more nervous than we should have been. Don’t forget these guys are 17, 18, 19 and they’re playing for a national title.” Mezey added that once they started playing as a team, “we started to roll.” Johnston said “I think mental fatigue hurt us more than anything else.”

        In the bronze medal match, the John Abbott Islanders defeated the Fanshawe Falcons 80-62. “I’m really proud of our team. They took a lot of grief this year but came on strong to vindicate themselves and prove they were a good team,” said Islanders coach Mike Dawson. Rodney Jeanty paced the Islanders with 16. Ron Bailey led the Falcons with 18.

        The final was a close contest all the way, with the Dawson Blues pulling out a win over Langara with a pair of buckets in the final 30 seconds. The Blues appeared in control for most of the first half, as they took a 42-34 lead. With 10 minutes to play, Langara, led by forward Don Schmidt, fought back from an 8-point deficit to take a 58-52 lead on the strength of a 16-2 run. But then the Blues switched from a zone defence to full-court pressure. They clawed back to within four and when Schmidt picked up his fifth foul with three minutes to play, took command of the paint. Tournament MVP Harley Lawrence led Dawson with 21. Point guard Neil Tolchinsky added 19, Bart De Nooy 14 and Eddy Muha 10, along with 20 boards. John Doughty led Langara with 20. Don Schmidt added 19 and Andy Dupree 12. Blues coach Andy Mezey told the Montreal Gazette to “look around at how these guys love each other. You’ve got blacks, whites, Hungarians, Jews, you name it, and they’re here. That’s one of the things that’s so nice about this. You take all these players and you see what they can accomplish when they all work together. … We had 180 practices, 40 games and a two-week trip to the West Indies. That’s why I don’t think I’m wrong when I say I think we deserved to win. They worked for it.”

        The all-tourney team featured: MVP Harley Lawrence (Dawson); Gerry Vermeulen (N.S. Agricultural); Bob Horvath (Fanshawe); Don Schmidt (Langara); John Doughty (Langara); and Bart De Nooy (Dawson)

        The bronze medalist John Abbott Islanders: Rodney Jeanty; Glen Lipomanis; Alex Jeanty; Jamie Crawford; coach Mike Dawson

        The silver medalist Langara Falcons: Don Schmidt; John Doughty; John Stark; Andy Dupree; coach Duncan McCallum

        The gold medalist Dawson Blues: Harley Lawrence; Gary Bienvenu; Ron Crevier; Bart De Nooy; Alwyn Blackett; Harold Monroe; Clairmont Burgess; Larry Gaudet; James Connors; Neil Tolchinsky; Salvatore Daniels; Eddy Muha; John Corey; coach Andy Mezey