REGULAR SEASON
| NOVA SCOTIA | NB-PEI | |||||||
| Acadia | 4-2 | 14-8 | Stu Aberdeen | U.P.E.I. | 3-1 | Ed Hilton | ||
| St. FX | 4-2 | 13-6 | John McFarland | New Brunswick | 2-2 | 11-10 | Don Nelson | |
| Saint Mary’s | 4-2 | 8-8 | Frank Baldwin | Mount Allison | 1-3 | 4-10 | Gus McFarlane | |
| Dalhousie | 0-6 | Harry Wilson | ||||||
In UNB/PEI play, the Prince Edward Island Panthers emerged the champs.
Other UNB-PEI other rosters:
Mount Allison Hawks: Ed Regier, Kenny Gould, Thomas Storey, Noxin, Donald MacAulay, Ivan Carey, Bruce McCubbin, William Blair, Thomas Hierlihy, Ron Wallace, Greg Morton, William McCormick, David McKinney, coach Gus McFarlane, manager John Bragg
New Brunswick Varsity Reds (then the Red Raiders): Rollie Labonte, Don Morgan, Ray Miller, Ted Tomchak, Ed Browne, Laird McLennan, Bob Baber, Clary Lay, Ken Harvey, Gordie Jones, Gord Foster, Arlen Burleigh, Dean Martin, Al hart, Bill Gilmore, Morton Marder, coach Don Nelson (In Northeast Conference play, UNB’s Laird McLennan was chosen MVP of the league).
In regular season play: …………………………………………………… UPEI clipped New Brunswick 86-75 as Sirois scored 34, New York-product John Heine 15, Joe Sassi 10, Frank Garrity 10, Don DesRoches 9, Francour 6 and Farrel 2, while Bonney, Marr and Pelrine were scoreless. Laird McLennan paced the Red Raiders with 26. Morgan added 14, Labonte 13, Roy Miller 9, Tomchak 6, Lay 4, Browne 2 and Baber 1, while Harvey and Jones were scoreless. The Red Raiders led 39-33 at the half. …………………………………………………… New Brunswick edged Mount Allison 61-59 as Rolly Labonte drilled a mid-range jumper with 8 seconds to play. McLennan paced the Red Raiders with 17. Browne added 13, Miller 9, Morgan 8, Labonte 3, Tomchak 6 and Baber 4, while Lay was scoreless. Gould led the Hawks with 22. Blair added 13, Wallace 13, MacAulay 9, McKinney 1 and McCubbin 1, while Storey, Carey and Hierlihy were scoreless. …………………………………………………… New Brunswick clipped Mount Allison 71-55 as Tomchak scored 19, Labonte 17, Miller 13, Morgan 10, Browne 6, Baber 5 and Lay 1, while Harvey and Jones were scoreless. Blair led the Hawks with 14. Gould added 13, McCubbin 9, Macauley 9 and Wallace 8, while Storey, McKinney, Heirlihy, McCormick and Morton were scoreless. …………………………………………………… UPEI defeated host New Brunswick 59-54 as Heine scored 15, Desroches 12, Frank Garrity 10, Sirois 10, Francour 6, Sassi 4 and Farrel 2, while Pelrine, Marr and Bonney were scoreless. Labonte paced the Red Raiders with 15. Miller added 9, McLennan 7, Browne 7, Morgan 7, Tomchak 7 and lay 2, while Baber and Harvey were scoreless. …………………………………………………… UPEI pouned Mount Allison 97-68 as Heine scored 33, Sirois 16, Francouer 13, Farrell 12, Pelrine 4, DesRoches 4, Sassi 2 and Bonney 1, while Marr was scoreless. MacKinney led the Hawks with 16. Gauld added 15, McCubbin 8, Blair 4, Storey 4, Morton 2 and Heirlity 1, while Carey and McCormack were scoreless.
In the NSIBL, Acadia, St. FX and Saint Mary’s all finished 4-2 in the regular season, but Acadia was awarded the top seed in the playoffs by virtue of their 95-51 win over Saint Mary’s in the final game of the season. The margin of victory gave Acadia the best point spread differential in games between the trio.
Early in the season, a controversy erupted over the league’s decision to rule Acadia star Warren Sutton ineligible for further play for having used up his eligibility. The 6-4 Sutton had played two years at Alfred College in Rochester, New York, and then played one game in his third year at the school. He then transfereed to Acadia and played 1.5 years for the Axemen.
In the Nova Scotia semis, St. FX defeated Saint Mary’s 58-45; 87-72 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In the first contest, Boston College transfer Bob Napolitano scored 17, Jay Ashe 10, Dude Macdonald 9 and Paul Chenard 9 as St. FX took a 23-16 halftime lead and was never headed en route to a 58-45 win. Saint Mary’s was led by John Sullivan 10, John Riley 9 and Buzz McHale 8. …………………………………………………… In the second contest, St. FX took a 49-21 halftime lead and breezed to an 87-72 victory as Paul Chenard scored 21, Neil Bisson 18 and Bob Nepolitano 12. Saint Mary’s was paced by 5-5 Lowell, Massachusetts-product Buzz McHale’s 37 points. Robert Clinton added 10. The Huskies (coached by Frank Baldwin and managed by Pat Curran, statistician Bob Kane) also included Bob Healy, Bob Lahey, John Riley, Frank Arment, Bob DeLuca, Jim O’Sullivan, Sean McCarthy, John O’Sullivan, Tom Webb, Dick Salinetti, Manchester, N.H.-product Dick Loiselle and Tom Walsh.
In the other semi, Acadia defeated Dalhousie 84-60; 71-44 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Ritchie Spears scored 31 to lead Acadia to an 84-60 win. …………………………………………………… In game two, Ritchie Spears scored 33 and Peter Simmonds 16 to lead Acadia to a 71-44 win. The Tigers (coached by Harry Wilson) included Howie Parker, Ted Brown, George Blakney, Blair Dixon, Nick Fraser, Bruce Stewart, Al MacDonald, Hank Newman, Pete Nicholson, Doug Chapman, John Schiffman, William Robertson, George Brown, Fisher, Dave MacDonald.
In the Nova Scotia finals, St. FX defeated Acadia 59-57; 46-59; 57-51 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… St. FX opened the series by nipping Acadia 59-57 after taking a 26-24 halftime lead. St. FX was ahead 47-40 in the second half when Acadia rallied to tie the game at 55. But free throws by Bernie Bouchey and Jay Ashe put St. FX ahead 57-55. Spears tied the game with two free throws. St. FX called time out and upon emerging from the huddle, Bob Nepolitano held the ball and passed it into Paul Chenard with seconds to go. Chenard hit a 20 jumper at the buzzer to give St. FX the victory. The freshman Chenard scored 17, Bob Nepolitano 14, Bernie Bouchy 9, Neil Bisson 4 and Jay Ashe 7. Acadia was led by Ritchie Spears 23, Charlie Thomas 12, Ian MacMillan 4; Campbell 2, Mike Tazagarakis 3, Peter Simmonds 7 and Andy Kranack 6. …………………………………………………… In game two, Acadia turned the tables on St. FX with a 59-46 victory as the Axemen took a 30-20 halftime lead. Ritchie Spears scored 25 while Andy Kranack dominated the boards. Charlie Thomas scored 10, Peter Simmonds 6, Andy Kranack 2, McMillan 7, Mike Tsagarakis 7 and Bill White 2. St. FX was led by Bernie Bushey 8, Jay Ashe 7, Neil Bisson 6, Bob Nepolitano 6, Paul Chenard 5, Dude Macdonald 6, Paul Coakley 5 and Jim Greaney 2. …………………………………………………… The deciding contest went to St. FX 57-51 as sophomore coach Packy McFarland won the title for the first time. Acadia was ahead 24-15 early in the first half but St. FX rallied to tie the score at 30 at the half. With six minutes to go, St. FX took a 48-47 lead and never again trailed. With two minutes to go, St. FX went into a freeze, which led to a series of insurance free throws. Bob Nepolitano scored three free throws to make it 54-51. He and Jay Ashe later added to the margin with more free throws. Nepolitano finished with 15, Dude Macdonald 13, Jay Ashe 10, Bernie Bouchey 9, Neil Bisson 8 and Paul Chenard 2. Acadia was led by Ritchie Spears 20, Peter Simmonds 9, Charlie Thomas 8, Bill White 6, Mike Tzagarakis 4 and Andy Kranack 4. The Axemen (coached by Stu Aberdeen) also included Ian Hendry, Gary Merrill, Ian MacMillan, John Olinto, Fred Campbell, Kevin Nameth and Warren Sutton.
In the Maritime finals, St. FX d’d UPEI 49-39; 57-63; 56-52 (2g-1).
St. FX took the opener over U.P.E.I. 49-39 after leading 29-19 at the half. Paul Chenard led St. FX with 19 points while Bob Nepolitano added 18. John Heine led the Panthers with 13.
In the second contest, UPEI squared the series with a 63-57 victory as Bob Francoeur scored 29, including 15-16 from the line, Dan DesRoches 14, Len Sirois 10, Joe Sassi 7, and John Heine 3. St. FX was led by Jay Ashe 16, Bob Nepolitano 14, Chenard 9, Dude Macdonald 6, Paul Coakley 4, Bernie Bouchey 4, Neil Bisson 2 and Terry Daigle 2. The X-Men led 38-31 at the half but the Panthers took command of the boards in the second frame.
In the deciding contest, St. FX took a 31-26 halftime lead and dominated the boards en route to a 56-52 victory over the Panthers (then the Saints). St. FX hit 16-24 from the line, while UPEI was a dismal 8-19. Springfield, Mass.-born Jay Ashe led St. FX with 22, Paul Chenard 15, Bernie Bouchey 10, Dude Macdonald 6 and Bob Nepolitano 3. UPEI was led by Bob Francoeur 23, John Hiene 10, Len Sirois 9, Joe Sassi 5 and Dan DesRoches 6.
The runner-up Prince Edward Island Panthers: Bob Francouer; Don DesRoches; Len Sirois; Joe Sassi; John Heine; Frank Garrity; Larry Farrell; Bob Bonney; Keenan Marr; Pat Smith; Bob Francoeur; Phil Mullally; Ed Campbell; W Buotte; J Pelrine; coach Ed Hilton; manager? J Hickey
The champion St. Francis Xavier X-Men: Bob Napolitano; Dude Macdonald; Bernie Bouchey; Neil Bisson; Paul Chenard; Terry Daigle; Al Lacey; Paul Coakley; Jim Greaney; Jay Ashe; Hugh Peters; Mike Hubbard; Turcotte; Bannish; coach Packy McFarland; manager Ray Oulette