1997-98 AUS – men

REGULAR SEASON

	Acadia	16-4	25-9	Dave Nutbrown
	Saint Mary’s	12-8	18-13	Ross Quackenbush
	Cape Breton	12-8	16-14	Greg Jockims
	New Brunswick	11-9	18-12	Clint Hamilton
	St. FX	11-9	20-11	Steve Konchalski
	Memorial	7-12	9-17	Glenn Taylor
	Dalhousie	7-13	12-18	Tim McGarrigle
	U.P.E.I.	3-16	4-22	George Morrison

        In 1997-98, the league went to an eight-team playoff format, in which all members of the league qualified for postseason. The league also did away with four-point games (which caused the wonky standings). But the schedule remained the same, so mainland Nova Scotia teams competed versus non-mainland Nova Scotia teams in eight games for 16 points and against mainland teams in 12 games for 24 points. The unequally weighted schedule prompted league officials to allow all eight teams to qualify for the playoffs.

        In the quarterfinals, player of the game Derek Cotton scored 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead Acadia past UPEI 73-46. The Panthers stayed in the game for 30 minutes despite hitting a dreary 1-18 from the arc and despite playing without starters Phil Davis (broken finger) and Michael Moore (knee). Jan-Pierre Fleurantin tallied 19 for Acadia. Jan Trojanowski added 10 points and 12 rebounds. Mark Seaborn scored 8, Jim O’Grady 4, Chris Cain 2, Victor Herbert 2, Sam Worrell 8 and Mike Messenger 6, while Murray McLeod, Saj Joseph and Richard Benton were scoreless. The Axemen hit 31-64 (.484) from the floor, 3-10 from the arc and 8-10 from the line, while garnering 52 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 17 assists, 16 turnovers and 4 steals. Jim Morris led the Panthers with 11 points and 6 rebounds off the bench. Nate Philippe scored 2, Greg Lucas 7, Scott Morrison 9, Reagh Vidito 8, Mike Sirois 3, Dennis Manning 2, and Chris Smith 4, while Scott Bateman and Michael Saunders were scoreless. UPEI (coached by George Morrison) shot 20-65 (.308) from the floor, 1-18 (.056) from the arc and 5-16 (.313) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 12 fouls, 9 assists, 15 turnovers and 3 steals. Acadia led 35-26 at the half. “We had a lot of difficulty this week in terms of health problems,” said Acadia coach Dave Nutbrown. “Chris Cain couldn’t play Thursday and Victor Herbert had a 101-degree temperature. You can’t say enough about the two kids. They probably shouldn’t be playing.”

        New Brunswick defeated St. Francis Xavier 75-74 as Jeffrey Tegard scored 22, Jeff Cotter 18, Dave Low 13, Jon Kreiner 10, Gordon McNeilly 2, Ryan Johnston 6, Henry Rogers 2 and Steve Lawlor 2, while Mike King, Ian Thomas and Eric Roberts were scoreless. The Varsity Reds hit 28-52 (.538) from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 17-26 (.654) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 15 assists, 25 turnovers and 7 steals. Fred Perry led St. FX with 15. Andrew Tyler added 11, Marc MacKay 5, Marc Chisholm 4, Isaac King 9, Jordan Croucher 19 off the bench, Jason Dayman 2 and Jeff Piers 9, while Tom Kennedy, Greg Marenick, Damon Cole and Krzysztof Stach were scoreless. St. FX (coached by Steve Konchalski, assisted by Ron MacDonald and Peter Hunt) also included Dave Langille. St. FX hit 26-59 (.441) from the floor, 3-11 (.273) from the arc and 19-26 (.731) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 11 assists, 21 turnovers, 4 blocks and 6 steals. New Brunswick, (probably Johnston) hit two free throws with five seconds to play to win it. The win was UNB’s first in the postseason since Jeff Cotter’s father Rick played for UNB in 1967. “I thought he played as well as you could expect for a freshman point guard,” said Reds coach Clint Hamilton. “We had time to attack the basket at the end. That’s what we did a we got a break.” That break was a block foul call with 2.8 seconds to play, when Ryan Johnston drove the lane and collided with X-Man forward Marc McKay. Johnston hit one of two from the line to pull out the win. The Reds had trailed 39-27 at the half. St. FX coach Steve Konchalski was upset with the final call. “I think you have to let the players determine the game. When you make that call with two seconds left in the game, it better damn well be a clear-cut call and I don’t think that was.”

        Meanwhile, Dalhousie defeated Saint Mary’s 77-66 in overtime as Brian Parker scored 29 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and stole the ball six times. Tremayne Howe added 26 points on 9-14 from the floor. David Mullally added 7, Darryl Baptiste 5 and starter Michael Sabel was scoreless. Paul Williscroft added 6 points and 14 rebounds off the bench. Dale Jackson scored 4, while Scott Devnick, Jesse Brothers, Jason Hiscock, Colin Crawford and Saul Offman were scoreless. The Tigers hit 26-66 (.394) from the floor, 7-18 (.389) from the arc and 18-27 (.667) from the line, while garnering 60 boards, including 28 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 22 assists, 29 turnovers, 2 blocks and 12 steals. Patrick Toulouse led Saint Mary’s with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jonah Taussig added 14, Kurt Henry 11, Lloyd Thomas 9, Nate Anderson 2, Colin Allum 7, and Paul Bromby 5, while Jermaine Fletcher, Chris Barrington and Brendan Hines were scoreless. The Huskies hit 28-68 from the floor, 3-18 from the arc and 7-17 from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 23 assists, 16 turnovers, 4 blocks and 11 steals. The Huskies (coached by Ross Quackenbush and managed by John Landry) also included Cory Janes, Cecil George, Ryan McClintock and Cyril Smith. Taussig missed a chance to win it regulation time when he missed a foul shot with five seconds to play. “I told the guys, I didn’t want this to be my last game, so the guys said: ‘let’s do this for Brian’,” Parker said. “We knew if we came out and played together, we’d be successful.” Both teams had a chance to win in regulation time at the line. Dalhousie’s Dale Jackson hit a free throw to tie the game at 64 with 8.1 seconds to play but missed the second. Huskie point guard Jonah Taussig was fouled with 5.6 seconds to play but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Dalhousie coach Tim McGarrigle said Parker came into the game with something to prove, having lost the AUAA MVP vote to Acadia’s Jan Trojanowski. “Brian’s a winner and good players always bring their best for the biggest games. He knows how the voting went and he’s a proud guy and he feels kind of slighted. He thinks he’s a pretty good player and this is a stage where he can prove that.” Saint Mary’s coach Ross Quackenbush questioned the officiating. “They got their first two points (in overtime) at the line and I thought that was questionable. Then they scored on a missed free throw. They got back to the line –that was questionable—then they got back to the line again, and again it was questionable. We had every chance to win the game. We were 7-17 from the free throw line in regulation, so we had our chance. I have to give my guys credit though. They didn’t leave anything on the floor.”

        In the last quarterfinal, Cape Breton defeated Memorial in overtime 89-87 as Dave Phillip scored 38 points and grabbed 22 rebounds. Stephen Nelson added 16 points and 15 rebounds, Kirt Mombourquette scored 11. Lennell Izzard scored 6 and grabbed 13 boards, Brooke Daye 2, L.J. Evans 9, Brian Silver 4, Brad Marshall 2 and Finley Tolliver 1, while Chuck Harrison was scoreless. The Capers hit 31-83 (.373) from the floor, 4-16 from the arc and 23-41 (.561) from the line, while garnering 66 boards, including 33 on the offensive glass, 23 fouls, 22 assists, 20 turnovers, 5 blocks and 12 steals. Peter Benoite led Memorial with 37 points. David O’Keefe scored 11 and grabbed 19 boards, Loren Kielly scored 4, Jermaine Bruce 9, John Coaker 4, Glen Squires 5, Greg Winter 4, Matthew Woods 7 and Matthew Chapman 6, while Dion Langdon, Andrew Sinclair and David Sparkes were scoreless. The Seahawks hit 29-80 (.363) from the floor, 5-15 from the floor, 24-36 (.667) from the line, while garnering 54 boards, including 25 on the offensive glass, 27 fouls, 24 assists, 18 turnovers, 2 blocks and 11 steals. The Sea-Hawks (coached by Glenn Taylor, assisted by Paul Byrne, manager Howie Green) also included David O’Keefe. Memorial was ahead by six with 50 seconds to play. But Nelson stole the ball from Benoite and nailed a three. Memorial missed and shot and Cape Breton got the ball back. They missed a three but Dave Phillip had a monster follow up slam to bring them within one. Jermaine Bruce hit one of two free throws to give Memorial a two-point lead but Phillip forced overtime with a bucket. Phillip hit a short jumper in overtime to give Cape Breton a two-point lead with seven seconds to play. Benoite missed a chance to tie in the dying moments of the game.

        In the semis, Acadia defeated the New Brunswick Varsity Reds 76-68 as J.P. Fleurantin scored 21 while player of the game Sam Worrell provided a big lift off the bench with 16 points, including 11 in the second half. Jim O’Grady rebounded from a poor effort in the quarterfinals to grab a career high 14 rebounds to go along with his 9 points. Jon Kreiner and Dave Low paced New Brunswick with 21 and 20 points respectively. Jeff Cotter added 13, including two treys in the final minute, and 6 assists. UNB jumped out to an early eight-point lead but Fleurantin kept Acadia in it on a series of buckets off passes from Chris Cain, who finished the game with 14 assists. The Axemen slowly took command and stretched their lead to 43-33 at the half. Kreiner got hot early in the second half to rally the Varsity Reds and the lead changed hands until Worrell entered the game with six minutes to play. He twice tied up the ball, grabbed a rebound and hit a perimeter jumper to rally Acadia. After O’Grady hit a putback rebound, Acadia took command. Although the Red hit a pair of threes in the final minute of play and Acadia missed four free throws down the stretch, Worrell hit a pair from the line to ice it. Jan Trojanowski added 10 for Acadia, Derek Cotton 8, Chris Cain 8 and Mark Seaborn 4, while Victor Herbert, Saj Joseph, Mike Messenger, Richard Brenton and Murray McLeod were scoreless. The Axemen hit 26-66 (.394) from the floor, 5-12 (.417) from the arc and 19-26 (.731) from the line, while garnering 45 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 13 fouls, 20 assists, 13 turnovers, 2 blocks and 3 steals. Ryan Johnston added 6 for New Brunswick, while Gord McNeilly scored 4, Jeff Tegart had 2 and Mike King 2, while Henry Rogers, Steve Lawlor, Ian Thomas and Eric Roberts were scoreless. The Reds (coached by Clint Hamilton, assisted by Thom Gillespie) hit 28-59 (.475) from the floor, 5-15 from the arc and 7-12 (.583) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 24 fouls, 26 assists, 16 turnovers, 2 blocks and 5 steals. Acadia coach Dave Nutbrown noted that Trojanowski only got eight shots. “They beat up and he didn’t have one of his better games. He got off to a slow start and never got into it. I thought O’Grady and Worrell stepped up in his place. Sammy’s had a little bit of time adjusting to our program (after transferring from Cape Breton). I told him he was a three-point player and he said he could play harder. I told him to show me. He went out and showed me. He responded to the challenge.” UNB coach Clint Hamilton was pleased the effort of his troops. “Acadia’s a quality team and we knew today we wanted to make some defensive adjustments. I thought we did a job on Cotton and Trojanowski but J.P. stepped up. We made a very good team have to play very well in order to beat us.”

        In the other semi, Dalhousie defeated Cape Breton 70-60 as Tremayne Howe scored 27, David Mullally 17, Brian Parker 15, Darryl Baptiste 3, Michael Sabol scored none but had 10 rebounds, Dale Jackson 2, Paul Williscroft 4, Scott Devnick 2, while Colin Crawford, Jesse Brothers, Jason Hiscock and Saul Offman were scoreless. The Tigers hit 26-63 (.413) from the floor, 3-22 (.136) from the arc and 15-21 (.714) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 27 fouls, 19 assists, 19 turnovers, 4 blocks and 17 steals. Dave Phillip led Cape Breton with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Stephen Nelson scored 16, Kirt Mombourquette 3, L.J. Evans 2, Lennell Izzard 2, Brian Silver 1, Brad Marshall 4, Brooke Daye 2 and Chuck Harrison 5, while Finley Tolliver was scoreless. The Capers (coached by Greg Jockims) also included Shane Hussey, Erwin Bourne. The Capers hit 17-49 (.347) from the floor, 3-11 (.273) from the arc and 23-39 (.590) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 13 assists, 23 turnovers and 11 steals. Dalhousie led 36-24 at the half and made it look easy as they coasted to the win. “Tremayne and Mullaly stepped it up,” said Dalhousie coach Tim McGarrigle. “You need more than one player to pick up the slack. At times, we had guys in lulls and injured and we didn’t have the people to do it. We were pretty disciplined on offence and we’ve been preaching defence since day one. Assistant coach Richie Spears is a defensive guru and I think that’s starting to pay off for us right now.”

        In the final, top-seeded Acadia defeated 7th-seeded Dalhousie 73-66 as player of the game Jan Trojanowski notched 26 points and 14 rebounds. Derek Cotton added 15 points and 5 assists. Chris Cain tallied 10 and 12 assists. Jim O’Grady scored 4, Jan-Pierre Fleurantin 11, Mark Seaborn 2, Murray McLeod 2 and Sam Worrell 3, while Victor Herbert, Saj Joseph, Mike Messenger and Richard Brenton were scoreless. The Axemen hit 28-52 (.538) from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 13-19 (.684) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 12 fouls, 16 assists, 12 turnovers and 4 steals. Brian Parker led Dalhousie with 23 points, including 9-21 from the floor and 7 assists. Tremayne Howe added 18. Michael Sabol scored 2, David Mullally 7, Darryl Baptiste 9, Paul Williscroft 7, while Dale Jackson, Jesse Brothers, Jason Hiscock, Colin Crawford, Saul Offman and Scott Devnick were scoreless. Dalhousie hit 27-61 (.443) from the floor, 6-17 (.353) from the arc and 6-12 from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 22 assists, 13 turnovers, 2 blocks and 7 steals. The Axemen had defeated Dalhousie four times during the regular season but it was close throughout the contest. With Cotton and Jim O’Grady on the bench with a pair of fouls apiece, reserve Murray McLeod played a sterling game. Trojanowski led Acadia to a 37-30 lead. Parker rallied Dalhousie back to a 60-59 lead in the second half but Cotton stepped it up down the stretch, driving the lane and hitting perimeter jumpers to give Acadia the lead. Paul Williscroft nailed a three to cut the lead but Acadia iced it at the line. Dalhousie out-rebounded Acadia 33-30. “This is my first league championship and it’s the best feeling in the world right now,” said Trojanowski. “I’ve never felt anything like it. It wasn’t just me. It was everybody else. Derek hit some clutch shots. It was a great game. We were confident we were going to pull this off. We had built a buffer zone for ourselves and we let it slip a bit but we knew could fight back. We beat this team four times before and we’re not going to let a seventh-ranked team come in and win the AUAAs and go to nationals. We’re not going to let that happen. We decided we’re going to wrestle with them. We’re going to fight with them. That’s what we did. There was no guarantee of a wildcard. We wanted the AUAA, win it outright.” Coach Dave Nutbrown said Trojanowski was exceptional. “This is a kid who wasn’t even all-conference last season. I can’t take credit for that.” Tournament MVP Brian Parker said “we worked hard – everybody doubted us – but we worked hard all week. We knew we could do it, even if nobody believed it. Today, Acadia just played a little better than we did.” Dalhousie coach Tim McGarrigle noted “this is the end of an era for Dalhousie basketball. Since the day Brian steppe don campus, he’s been an outstanding person and player. I’m said he couldn’t go out a winner but in the scheme of things, he is a winner. I thought we would the tournament, to be perfectly honest. That’s how we prepared all week and that was our mind set. Our guys played very well. They played very hard and I thought we were as deserving as Acadia.”

        In August/98 Bill Burns is appointed coach at Cape Breton, replacing Greg Jockims, who resigned after four years to assume the helm at the University of Saskatchewan. Burns, coach of the provincial high school team Riverview Rural for the previous 18 years, said “I’m extremely excited about the opportunity.” Athletic director Dave MacLean said “we’re delighted we found someone in our own neighbourhood who has so many years of head coaching experience. It should work very well for our program.”

After the season, the AUAA voted to revert the playoff format to a six-team draw. “It puts more meaning in the regular season,” said executive-director Kevin Cameron. After dropping four-point games at the start of the season, the conference didn’t have time to make up a new schedule. “That’s why we allowed all eight teams. It was a bit of a compromise. It was tried and it wasn’t met with a lot of approval and it wasn’t overly successful either. I think the argument to go back to six is much stronger than that of remaining at eight.” The league was also split in two divisions, with Dalhousie, St. FX, Acadia and Memorial in one division, while Saint Mary’s PEI, Cape Breton and New Brunswick toiled in the other. The top three teams from each division would get into the playoffs, with the first-place team earning a draw. They’d all play a 20-game schedule, with four games against each foe in their division and two against teams in the other. The mainland Nova Scotia teams agreed to alternate divisions annually to equalize travel costs over the years.

        The runner-up Dalhousie Tigers: Brian Parker; Tremayne Howe; Michael Sabol; David Mullally; Darryl Baptiste; Paul Williscroft; Dale Jackson; Jesse Brothers; Jason Hiscock; Colin Crawford; Saul Offman; Scott Devnick; coach Tim McGarrigle

        The champion Acadia Axemen: Jan Trojanowski; Jean-Pierre Fleurantin, Chris Cain; Derek Cotton; Jim O’Grady; Mark Seaborn; Sam Worrell; Victor Herbert, Saj Joseph; Mike Messenger; Richard Brenton; Murray McLeod; Adam Griffin; Marcus Goch; Everton Thomas; Michael Goch; Colin Poponne; coach Dave Nutbrown; assistant Steve Pound; assistant Chuck Goreham