REGULAR SEASON
| BALDWIN | NELSON | |||||||
| St. FX | 16-4 | 28-7 | Steve Konchalski | New Brunswick | 13-7 | 17-12 | Thom Gillespie | |
| Saint Mary’s | 15-5 | 25-9 | Ross Quackenbush | Acadia | 12-8 | 18-15 | Dave Nutbrown | |
| Memorial | 8-12 | 10-17 | Glenn Taylor | Cape Breton | 9-11 | 13-15 | Bill Burns | |
| Dalhousie | 5-15 | 8-22 | Tim McGarrigle | U.P.E.I. | 2-18 | 3-27 | George Morrison | |
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Dalhousie Tigers: Benny Edison, Craig Slaunwhite, Will Jernigan, Dontae Blaney, Kinte Ambrose, Dion Wolcott, Nick Donald, Dave Mullally, Will Fagan, Mike Lawton, Greg McDonald, Matthew Smith, Colin Crawford, Randolph Edison, Scott Devnick, Kurt Walker, coach Tim McGarrigle, assistant Mark Parker, assistant Richie Spears, assistant Andrew Cook, assistant Brian Parker
Prince Edward Island Panthers: Scott Morrison, David Love, Chris Smith, Johnathan McKercher, Jim Morris, Mike Sirois, Dennis Manning, Daryl Boucaud, Neal Manning, Jeff Walker, Anthony Whelan, Scott Bateman, Terrance Campbell, Mike Peterson, Chris Connolly, coach George Morrison, assistant Dale Farish, assistant Len Lang
In the quarterfinals, 4th-seeded Acadia defeated 6th-seeded Memorial 90-80 as Mark Seaborn scored 17, Richard Brenton 4, Michael Messenger 2, Erick Wynter 2, Victor Herbert 2, Saj Joseph 16 off the bench, Mike Grant 2, Michael Dalley 4, Michael Carnes 16 off the bench and Jeffrey Nickel 2, while Glen Smith and Mike Palombella were scoreless. The Axemen hit 27-69 (.391) from the floor, 5-21 (.238) from the arc and 31-40 (.775) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 20 assists, 12 turnovers and 9 steals. Jermaine Bruce led Memorial with 23. Greg Winter added 15, David O’Keefe 14, Matthew Chapman 12, Jeffrey Saxby 3, Jeff Haines 2, Dion Langdon 9 and Kurt McAlpine 2, while Mike Ash, Bob Cook, Kevin English and Charles Barker were scoreless. The Sea-Hawks hit 28-73 (.384) from the floor, 6-20 (.600) from the arc and 18-26 (.692) from the line, while garnering 56 boards, including 24 on the offensive glass, 24 fouls, 20 assists, 21 turnovers 7 blocks and 2 steals. The Sea-Hawks (coached by Glenn Taylor, assisted by Howie Green, John Devereaux, Bill Redden and Peter Benoite) also included John Harvey and Blair Kennedy. Memorial had defeated Acadia twice during the regular season. Coach Glenn Taylor, who resigned after the season, was disconsolate. “I don’t know. It’s just a case where all of the players have to show up at the same time. We are playing against some very good basketball teams and if one or two of our guys struggled, it seems to be infectious.” Acadia hit five treys to build a 43-33 lead at the half and never looked back. Jermaine Bruce noted that “we got down but we came back and made a game out of it. We just couldn’t go one step further. We dug a hole for ourselves and we couldn’t get out.”
In the other quarterfinal, Saint Mary’s defeated Cape Breton 79-71 despite falling behind by double digits in the first half on the basis of a stifling in-your-face Capers defence led by guard Steve Nelson. But centre Patrick Toulouse rallied the Huskies, finishing with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Cory Janes added 16, Jonah Taussig 16, Gabe Goree 1, Cyril Smith 7, Kurt Henry 2, Ryan McClintock 2, Nathan Anderson 5, while Nelson Carvery, Ryan DeMone and Jordan Morrison were scoreless. The Huskies hit 24-46 (.522) from the floor, 2-7 (.286) from the arc and 29-41 (.707) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 19 assists, 18 turnovers, 4 blocks and 6 steals. Dave Phillip led Cape Breton with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Stephen Nelson scored 13, Craig Cline 7, Orville Edwards 5, Kirt Mombourquette 19, Damien Alexander 12, Todd Lewis 3 and David Burns 1, while Matthew Skinn, Andrew Carter and Matt Brooks were scoreless. The Capers hit 30-67 (.448) from the floor, 5-21 (.238) from the arc and 6-14 (.429) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 26 fouls, 21 assists, 19 turnovers, 3 blocks and 11 steals. The Capers (coached by Bill Burns, assisted by Ron Shaw) also included Brad Marshall, Orville Edwards, Brian Aylward, Todd Lewis and Shane Hussey. The Huskies outscored the Capers 29-14 over the final seven minutes of play. “We didn’t play defence at all in the first half,” said Toulouse. “it seemed like we just couldn’t stop them two possessions in a row. But as the game went on, I said: ‘listen guys, this could be my last game. I don’t want to lose tonight’.’ We did a great job of stopping them when we had to.” Saint Mary’s coach Ross Quackenbush noted that “they gave us a big scare. I just think our guys started to play harder because they realized if they didn’t start getting it done, it was going to be beyond repair. It wasn’t a matter of anything else other than guys player harder in all facets of the game.” Mombourquette noted that the Capers didn’t have the answer when Saint Mary’s made their second half run. “They’re the national champs. They know what to do in a situation like that. I thought we lost our composure a few times. But we gave it a go, gave it a run. This was my last game as a Caper, so it’s pretty tough right now.”
In the semis, St. FX defeated Acadia 81-60. Krysztof Stach scored 12 and grabbed 16 rebounds. Stach and Jason Kerswill dominated the boards as the X-Men out-rebounded the Axemen 51-41. Kerswill scored 8 and grabbed 8 boards. Acadia coach Dave Nutbrown said Stach was phenomenal. “We can’t have someone have a career night against us. We let him get away from us. I think we might have been able to control things a bit better.” Stach said everyone had a contribution to make for St. FX. “This is what you play all year for. Our game plan was to come out hard, not matter who was on the court. We understand basketball is an inside-outside game and if you don’t have both, you’re in trouble.” Fred Perry, who scored 30 and grabbed 14 boards, noted that “our scoring flow wasn’t clicking the way it usually does, so I just took it upon myself to come out strong. I thought being the captain, being the senior, I had to step up.” Acadia got within eight with three minutes to play but collapsed down the stretch. “We played hard until the end,” said guard Victor Herbert. “If we would have shot the ball better, it would have been a better situation for us. If we could have cut down on the mistakes that we made. But they came out ready and our heads weren’t in it.” Dennie Oliver added 12 for St. FX, Randy Nohr 8, Jordan Croucher 11, Jason Kerswill 8, Adams 0 and Kennedy 0. Richard Brenton led Acadia with 18. Mark Seaborn added 15, Victor Herbert 10, Michael Messenger 5, Mike Grant 4, Saj Joseph 3, Erick Wynter 2, Jeffrey Nickel 2 and Michael Carnes 1, while Michael Dalley and Michael Palombella were scoreless. St. FX shot 29-74 from the floor, 2-16 from the arc and 21-27 from the line, while Acadia hit 21-59 from the floor, 2-14 from the arc and 16-27 from the line. St. FX had 22 assists, led by Nohr’s 9, while Acadia had 18, led by Herbert’s 8. The Axemen (coached by Dave Nutbrown, assisted by Steve Pound and Sean Smith) also included Barry Anderson, Neal Bellot, Walter Moise, Shaun Critchlow and Phil Davis.
In the semis, 3rd-seeded Saint Mary’s defeated 2nd-seeded New Brunswick 87-68. The Varsity Reds took a 26-23 lead midway through the first half on a series of threes by Jeff Cotter but then went ice cold from the floor, scoring only three points through the remainder of the half as Saint Mary’s moved ahead 36-26 at the half. The teams then traded 8-0 runs before Saint Mary’s blew the game open with an 11-2 run to take a double-digit lead which they never relinquished. Varsity Reds forward Mike Kierstead was befuddled. “What the papers and fans were saying about us away from home came true. To lose by this much is a horrible game. We came out flat but Saint Mary’s is an excellent team. They capitalized on our mistakes.” Cory Janes had 18 points and 8 rebounds to lead Saint Mary’s. Cyril Smith added 17 points and 7 rebounds. Patrick Toulouse scored 14, Gabriel Goree 4, Jonah Taussig 6, Ryan McClintock 6, Kurt Henry 11, along with 9 assists, Nathan Anderson 5, Jordan Morrison 2, Nelson Carvery 3 and DeMone 0. Jeff Cotter led New Brunswick with 17 points on four treys and 7 assists. Mike Kierstead added 14 and 13 boards. Ryan Johnston scored 10, Mike King 9, Dave Myers 6, Andy Cotter 5, Bram Russell 4, and Henry Rogers 2, while Doug Jamer and Joe Thompson were scoreless. The Varsity Reds (coached by Thom Gillespie, assisted by Donnie MacNeil and Garth Wade) also included Jeff Nelson, Rob Levy, Sean O’Brien, David Myers, Dan Graf. Saint Mary’s shot 31-63 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc and 23-32 from the line, while UNB was 24-71 from the floor, 6-23 from the arc and 14-16 from the line. Saint Mary’s out-rebounded UNB 44-42 as Toulouse grabbed 10. Saint Mary’s had 24 assists, led by Henry’s 8, while UNB had 18, led by Jeff Cotter’s 7. “What we have to do is start believing we are as good as any of the teams down here,” Ryan Johnston told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. “We knew we could play with these guys but I don’t know if it was our confidence or what, we didn’t play characteristic UNB basketball.” Interim coach Thom Gillespie said “we couldn’t get the ball low, score and attack to put them on their heels. That kept pushing us out and made it tougher on the perimeter guys. Saint Mary’s fed on that.” Huskies coach Ross Quackenbush said “they did a good job knocking down some shots in the first 10 minutes,” said Huskies coach Ross Quackenbush. “Cotter had three threes and if you give the kid an inch, he will probably make the shot. We had to remind ourselves that under no circumstance can you leave him.” Gillespie said “we had a couple of bad breaks and that was the real momentum swing in the second half. We didn’t have our best game and I thought they played very well.” Kierstead said “we proved a lot of people right when we lost here. We were picked to finish fifth [of the six teams], we just played bad. We are going to have to improve with that next year and realize that you get calls at home you won’t get on the road. It’s a bad topic. We played bad on the road and proved it here. We have to work on it.”
In the final, St. FX defeated Saint Mary’s 68-62 despite trailing by 38-31 at the half. The X-men’s depth and pressure d wore down the Huskie. Randy Nohr scored 20, including 15 in the second half and couple of huge threes in the final minutes of play. He added 4 assists and three steals, while being name player of the game. Fred Perry was held scoreless from the field but hit 12-14 from the line and was chosen tournament MVP. “Today was my opportunity, so I just stepped up and did what needed to be done,” said Nohr. “We have such great players that usually do the scoring, but today was my turn, so I took care of that part.” Saint Mary’s led by as many as nine before St. FX made a second half run. Nohr hit a trey to knot the score at 60 with three minutes remaining. Cyril Smith countered with a pair of free throws for Saint Mary’s but Nohr responded with a three-point play and then a pair of free throws with 26 seconds on the clock to give the X-Men a 65-62 lead. Cory Janes tossed up an air ball in an attempt to knot the score. It was rebounded by Dennie Oliver, who scored 15 and nabbed 10 boards, who delivered it to Nohr for the insurance points. Janes, who scored only 10 on 5-10 from the floor, was disappointed. “It hurts me. I would have like to have been more of a factor but what can you do? It was a good game, a close game and that’s what everyone wanted. X is good team. I just don’t think they’re better than us.” Saint Mary’s was whistled for 24 fouls, while X was called for 14. Krystof Stach added 2 points for St. FX, Jordan Croucher 10, Adams 5, Jason Kerswill 2 and Kennedy 2. Gabriel Goree added 2 for Saint Mary’s, Patrick Toulouse 5, Jonah Taussig 11, Cyril Smith 20, McClintock 0, Kurt Henry 8 and Nathan Anderson 5. St. FX hit 21-57 from the floor, 6-15 from the arc and 20-30 from the line, while Saint Mary’s was 23-54 from the floor, 4-13 from the arc and 12-16 from the line. Saint Mary’s out-rebounded St. FX 38-34 as Taussig nabbed 9. Each team had 18 assists, led by Taussig’s 6. St. FX coach Steve Konchalski noted that “Saint Mary’s proved they’re one of the best teams in the country. They gave us all we could handle.” Konchalski told the Halifax Daily News that “our big guys got the job done. They rebounded well, played great defence and were a threat inside. My goal all year was to develop our posts over the course of the season. I’m really pleased with the way the guys responded.”
After the season, PEI fired coach George Morrison after 17 years at the helm. Morrison had a .560 winning percentage and led PEI to three Atlantic titles. His teams made the finals on four other occasions and recorded 303 wins during his career. But UPEI athletic director Barb Mullaly said the program needed to be re-organized. Morrison said he was asked to quit but couldn’t. He couldn’t do what he asked his players to never do. “I didn’t want to quit while the team is in a bad time.” He is later replaced by former PEI player Mike Connolly. The 47-year-old was a three-time UPEI captain and the Panthers MVP in 1974. “A winning attitude is something we have to work on. There is no question about it,” the 47-year-old Connolly said. “I am a big believer in the team concept. If you can get your players to buy into the fact, and I believe it’s a fact, if we all work together and assume our roles in the framework of a team, winning will follow naturally. … I hope to put an exciting team on the floor and depending on the personnel that we have, I hope to establish a transition game as part of our offensive strategy. …A trademark of my teams in the past has been defensive intensity and that’s something we’ll be looking for in our student-athlete recruitment.”
At Memorial, Glenn Taylor resigns as coach and is ultimately replaced by Todd Aughey, a former assistant at Fanshawe College in London. Taylor said his wife obtained a Canadian Tire franchise, which meant the family had to move. “It’s a goal that we’ve worked for as a family,” he told the Halifax Daily Herald. “My wife’s put a lot of time, energy and effort into it. It’s very similar to coaching in that you set a goal and go after it. We’re really excited about it.”
Thom Gillespie has the interim tag lifted at New Brunswick. In his initial year, he guided the Varsity Reds to a Nelson division title before losing out in the AUAA semis. “I’m delighted about it,” athletic director Clint Hamilton told the Fredericton Daily Gleaner. “I think our program keeps a very strong coach. Certainly, I feel Thom has put in a lot of time to become a university coach and showed that by the great job he did last year with the program. I think he’s going to willingly accept the challenge of getting the program to an AUAA championship level.”
The runner-up Saint Mary’s Huskies: Cyril Smith; Cory Janes; Patrick Toulouse; Gabriel Goree; Jonah Taussig; Ryan McClintock; Kurt Henry; Nathan Anderson; Jordan Morrison; Nelson Carvery; DeMone; Colin Allum; Damon Parachnowitsch; Kurt Walker; Dana Brinton; Stuart Josselyn; coach Ross Quackenbush; assistant Les Berry
The champion St. Francis Xavier X-Men: Fred Perry; Dennie Oliver; Randy Nohr; Krzystof Stach; Jordan Croucher; Jason Kerswill; E.L. Adams; Tom Kennedy; Billy O’Neill; Greg Marenick; Paul Ricketts; Jonathan Daniel; Isaac King; coach Steve Konchalski; assistant Ron MacDonald; student assistant Vince Marra; student assistant Jeff Starratt; manager Jeff Peterson, trainer Tara Sutherland; SID Matt Spencer; therapist Maggie Green