REGULAR SEASON
| EAST | WEST | |||||||
| Saint Mary’s | 12-8 | 20-12 | Ross Quackenbush | St. FX | 13-7 | 19-11 | Steve Konchalski | |
| New Brunswick | 10-10 | 14-17 | Clint Hamilton | Dalhousie | 13-7 | 19-13 | Tim McGarrigle | |
| Cape Breton | 7-13 | 8-19 | Bill Burns | Acadia | 12-8 | 18-14 | Dave Nutbrown | |
| UPEI | 6-14 | 9-18 | George Morrison | Memorial | 7-13 | 8-16 | Glenn Taylor | |
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Memorial Seahawks: Andrew Sinclair, Blair Kennedy, Jermaine Bruce, Greg Winter, Bob Cook, John Coaker, Dion Langdon, Loren Kielly, Dave O’Keefe, John Harvey, Matthew Chapman, Andy Moss, coach Glenn Taylor, assistant Scott Noftall, assistant William Redden
Prince Edward Island Panthers: Scott Morrison, Nate Philippe, Chris Smith, Jim Morris, Mike Sirois, Scott Bateman, Dennis Manning, John Murphy, Michael Moore, David Love, Mike Peterson, Jonathan McKercher, coach George Morrison
In the quarterfinals, Dalhousie defeated Cape Breton 69-66 despite shooting .297 from the floor as Mike Wall scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Benny Edison added 17 and David Mullally scored 10 and nabbed 10 boards. Kirt Mombourquette led the Capers with 19 points. Dave Phillip added 14, Craig Cline 12 and Stephen Nelson 8, along with 8 assists. UCCB shot .556 from the field, while Dal shot .297. Stephen Nelson had 12 of Cape Breton’s 28 turnovers. Dal committed 13 turnovers and had 20 steals. The Capers led by 9 with 11 minutes to play but repeatedly fumbled the ball away and allowed Dalhousie to escape with the win. Mombourquette missed a three that rimmed around and then popped out with 30 seconds to go. Cape Breton had the ball with seven seconds to play and a chance to tie it but never got off a shot. Edison had a steal, a rebound and six points in the final minute as the Tigers prevailed. “I told the guys at halftime that sometimes you just survive playoff games and we survived that one,” said Dalhousie coach Tim McGarrigle. We knew Cape Breton would be a better team than we played during the regular season and they showed it tonight. I thought both teams were really jittery in the first half. Our stat line looked okay at halftime. We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket.” The Capers led 31-29 at the break even though all-conference guard Dave Phillip hadn’t attempted a shot. They led by as many as nine in the second half but the Tigers rallied back and took a 61-60 lead with 3:10 to play. The Capers fed Phillip for a bucket in the paint and then Dal’s Scott Devnick and Phillip traded buckets before Edison knotted the score at 64 with a free throw and then hit a jumper to give them the lead with 54 seconds remaining. Edison them pilfered the ball and was fouled. But he threw up two bricks. He later missed a third but with 38 seconds on the clock hit one and then two more with 20 seconds on the clock after rebounding the ball. “We’ve been preaching defence all year and I think that was the difference down the stretch,” said McGarrigle. Rookie Capers coach Bill Burns said he was at fault. “I take responsibility for this loss. We had them on the ropes and as a coach, it’s my duty to put them away and I didn’t. We didn’t. My men played well enough to win this game. Losing Steve (Nelson) down the stretch was hard but we’ve had to do that before this season. Considering we didn’t get Dave many touches in the first half, their offensive rebounds, and our turnovers, I felt pretty good to be up at the half.” The Capers (coached by Bill Burns) also included Brook Daye, Andrew Carter, Brad Marshall, Bastiann Van Willigen, Brian Aylward, Brian Silver, Shane Hussey, Erwin Bourne, Craig Cline, Derrick Casselman.
In the other quarterfinal, Acadia defeated New Brunswick 78-73. New Brunswick took a 10-point lead in the first half. But Nutbrown settled the troops down during a time out and Acadia came out playing defence like wolves. Trojanowski picked up his fourth foul for Acadia in the first half but reserve Murray McLeod stepped up in his place with 14 points and 8 boards in the second half. He finished with 15 and 10. Acadia coach Dave Nutbrown noted that “we had some kids come and play big minutes for us. We got some big things from some people but we dragged them out. Murray played well. He was aggressive. We don’t usually ask him to play that many minutes (27). He’s had injuries throughout his career and his back isn’t good but he didn’t want it to be his last game.” After Trojanowski fouled out, the Reds cut the lead to 70-67 on a pair of Jon Kreiner free throws and then whittled it to one on a Jeff Cotter scoop. Mark Seaborn drained a long jumper and then Kreiner nailed a trey to knot the score at 72 with 2:39 to play. McLeod hit an eight-foot bank. New Brunswick’s Dave Low hit a free throw and then McLeod hit a pair from the line with 28 seconds to play. A Reds miss was rebounded by the Axemen and Saj Joseph iced the win with a pair of free throws. Seaborn finished with 17 points. Kreiner led UNB with 21. Low added 18 and Cotter 10. UNB had led 41-38 at the half. “We had chances but didn’t take advantage of them,” said Reds coach Clint Hamilton. “Murray stepped up in place of Jan and their team filled the void. We have a team that has to play with a lot of effort and we have a very small margin of error. Jan went out and you have to give Acadia credit for stepping up.” The Varsity Reds (coached by Clint Hamilton, assisted by Thom Gillespie) also included Mike Kierstead, Doug Jamer, Dave O’Brien, Henry Rogers, Mike King, Clint Simmons, Steve Lawlor, Ian Thomas, Ryan Johnston, Corey Freake, Eric Robert.
In the semis, Acadia defeated St. FX 81-68. The X-Men defied Acadia to beat from the perimeter, collapsing their defence on league MVP Jan Trojanowski. Mark Seaborn refused to comply, hit 7-12 from the perimeter and scoring 20 to lead Acadia to the win. With seven minutes to play, after Jordan Croucher had nailed a trey to cut the margin to 59-57, Seaborn ignited an 11-1 run with a trey of his own. The Huskies capped the run when Trojanowski slipped off a screen for a slam. “We’ve had better players but we’ve got a good team here,” said Acadia coach Dave Nutbrown. “Mark hit a big shot, a gutsy shot from the corner. He never hesitated. He struggled coming in here but he got his confidence. That shot might have been the biggest shot. If he misses that and they come down and tie it, it’s a whole different ball game.” Trojanowski finished with 22 points and 16 boards. Seaborn noted that “you can never expect this kind of win against a good team. We won three of four in the regular season, so that gave us some confidence coming in. Playing with Jan in foul trouble gave us a boost. We had to step it up. At Acadia, it’s all about the team game.” St. FX coach Steve Konchalski said the Axemen’s shooting game was the difference. “The way they shot the ball outside was certainly bit. We felt that on the basis of what we say this season, the way they had beaten us on the interior, we wanted to make them beat us from the outside, particularly Mark Seaborn. That brought us out and opened up the middle for Trojanowski.” Sam Worrell added 9 for Acadia, as did Murray McLeod. Michael Carnes scored 8, Saj Joseph 6, Victor Herbert 5 and Richard Brenton 2. Fred Perry led St. FX with 21. Jordan Croucher added 17, Jason Daymon 12, Damon Cole 8, Krzysztof Stach 4, Jeff Piers 4 and Jason Kerswill 2. The X-Men (coached by Steve Konchalski, assisted by Brian Lee, Mark MacKay and Ron MacDonald, managed by Jim Hardy, and trained by Mica Francis) also included Dave Langille, Tom Kennedy, Geoff Williams, Marc Chisholm, Jordan Croucher, Billy O’Neill, Ian Caron and Greg Marenick.
In the other semi, Saint Mary’s defeated Dalhousie 83-66 as Jonah Taussig scored 22 on 9-14 from the floor. He added 7 steals and 8 assists. Kurt Henry scored 18 and grabbed 7 boards. Patrick Toulouse scored 17 on 7-10 from the floor. Mike Wall led Dalhousie with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Danny Stone scored 14. Saint Mary’s shot .540 from the floor, including .670 in the first half. The Huskies exploded for a 21-8 run to open a 30-19 lead in the first half, after which they led 49-33 and then coasted to the easy win. “We were down 20 at the half and they’re too good a team to spot them 20 points and expect to win,” said Dalhousie coach Tim McGarrigle. “We didn’t rebound the ball very well. We weren’t at the top of our game. But they played outstanding.” Taussig controlled the tempo and dished the ball magnificently. “I think we’re the better team,” said Taussig, adding that the Huskies were determined to avenge a loss in the 1998 playoffs. “I didn’t have my greatest game last year and I wanted another chance at Dal in the playoffs.” The Tigers (coached by McGarrigle) also included Doug Newson, Matt Smith, Kyle Atkinson, Kinte Ambrose, Randolph Edison, Kurt Walker, Ashkan Rajaee, Dave Mullally, Scott Devnick, Colin Crawford, Dale Jackson, Jason Hiscock.
In the final, Saint Mary’s defeated Acadia 81-62 as Patrick Toulouse scored 20, Jonah Taussig 18, Kurt Henry 14, Cory Janes 11, Lloyd Thomas 8, Ryan McClintock 4, Cyril Smith 2, Paul Bromby 2 and Nelson Carvery 2, while Nathan Anderson and Wayne Hines were scoreless. The Huskies hit 31-53 (.585) from the floor, 4-9 (.652) from the arc and 15-23 (.652) from the arc, while garnering 36 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 12 fouls, 24 assists, 16 turnovers, 4 blocks and 7 steals. Jan Trojanowski led Acadia with 14. Mark Seaborn added 10, Saj Joseph 8, Sam Worrell 9, Richard Brenton 6, Murray McLeod 4, Mike Messenger 2, Michael Carnes 1, Thomas Crawford 4 and Erick Wynter 4, while Victor Herbert and Thor Arnarson were scoreless. Acadia shot 26-66 (.394) from the floor, 5-13 (.385) from the arc and 5-12 (.417) from the line while garnering 35 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 24 assists, 13 turnovers, 1 block and 8 steals. Taussig was elated. ‘It’s been a long time for the team and it’s been three year for me. It feels good to bring the banner back to Saint Mary’s. Coach keeps pointing up in our gym and saying, ‘look at those banners’. Now we can tell him: ‘look at that banner.” Taussig dominated the floor, demonstrating his command in the final minutes of the first half. With Saint Mary’s trailing 30-24, he pilfered the ball from Acadia guard Saj Joseph at midcourt, drove for a leaning bank shot, on which he was fouled, and hit the free throw. On the ensuing possession, he took a pass from Kurt Henry, drove the lane and notched a left-handed finger roll, against being fouled and again hitting the free throw to tie the game. Acadia’s Jan Trojanowski responded with a jumper but Taussig nailed a long jump shot at the buzzer to knot the score at 32 at the half. In the second half, the Axemen tried to contain Taussig, opening up the paint for Patrick Toulouse, who scored 16 in the second frame. Acadia coach Dave Nutbrown noted: “I thought we got beat by the better team and the team that will represent us best at the nationals. It’s hard to say that but they were the better team. Jonah took the game over. He’s a great player. Because he doesn’t hit his head on the rim or stand on his head, he doesn’t get noticed. I don’t think I’ve seen a kid with better basketball instincts. He controls games from the offensive and defensive end of the floor.” Toulouse was eager to get off the floor and call his parents. “Jonah hit those big shots from I don’t know where and in the second half, they passed the ball inside and were getting some easy layups.” Leading 41-40, Saint Mary’s ripped off a 17-1 run capped by treys from Taussig, Henry and Lloyd Thomas. “In the second half, we played harder defensively,” said Taussig. “We knew we had to do whatever it took to win. It was the first time in the final for all of us and we knew we had to come out and play loose to win.” After starting the season (0-4) and struggling to a (12-8) record, the Huskies started to come together at the end of the season, Taussig added. “One of our rookies, Nelson Carvery, said we’d win it easily. I told him: ‘we’re 12-8. We’re not that good. We have to come out and prove it. That’s what we did today.” Mark Season said the Axemen simply “ran out of legs in the end. The three games in three days caught up with us. They executed a little better than we did and that was it. We had our shoot at winning and we couldn’t quite do it at the end. That’s part of competitive sport. They were the stronger team and you have to give them credit.”
Following the season, Clint Hamilton steps aside at New Brunswick to become the athletic director and is replaced by assistant Thom Gillespie on an interim basis. “We have goals for the program, such as the conference or the CIAU title,” Gillespie, a former UNB player who spent the past three campaigns as Hamilton’s assistant, told the Saint John Telegraph-Journal. “But something we will continue to be is the hardest working team in all of Canada.” Gillespie was the interim coach at the University of Victoria in 1995-96, (with a 9-4 record) and head coach of the Saskatchewan Canada Games team from 1992-94. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from UNB in 1990 and earned a diploma in high-performance coaching from the National Coaching Institute in Victoria five years later. “I am confident our program is in good hands,” said Hamilton.
The runner-up Acadia Axemen: Jan Trojanowski; Mark Seaborn; Saj Joseph; Sam Worrell; Richard Brenton; Murray McLeod; Mike Messenger; Michael Carnes; Thomas Crawford; Erick Wynter; Victor Herbert; Thorvaldur Arnarson; Barry Anderson; Greg Albright; Mike Dalley; Jeff Nickel; Erick Wynter; Jim Sletter; Ryan Stacey; coach Dave Nutbrown
The champion Saint Mary’s Huskies: Jonah Taussig; Cory Janes; Lloyd Thomas; Patrick Toulouse; Kurt Henry; Ryan McClintock; Cyril Smith; Nathan Anderson; Paul Bromby; Nelson Carvery; Wayne Hinds; Colin Allum; Ryan Demone; Cecil George; coach Ross Quackenbush, assistant Les Berry, manager John Landry; assistant manager John Gilhen; therapist Kevin Miller
Thanks to: Jonah Taussig and Ryan Demone for clarifying Huskies roster information.