2007-08 AUS – men

REGULAR SEASON

	Acadia	18-2	24-6	Les Barry
	St. FX	15-5	15-7	Steve Konchalski
	Cape Breton	14-6	14-7	Jim Charters
	Saint Mary’s	14-6	19-8	Ross Quackenbush
	Dalhousie	10-10	13-12	John Campbell
	UPEI	7-13	7-16	Matthew Davies
	New Brunswick	2-18	2-19	Thom Gillespie
	Memorial	0-20	0-23	Todd Aughey

Playoff non-qualifiers:

Memorial Seahawks: Nathan Dunn, Mark English, Jeremy Feist, Jeffrey Gallant, Robert Grant, Matthew Gregory, Grant Harvey, Mark Lynch, Justin Penney, Nicholas Rigakos, Jason Shepherd, Andrew Spurrell, Manny Wilby, Randy O’Rielly, coach Todd Aughey

New Brunswick Varsity Reds: Michael Anderson, Colton Wilson, Thor Jensen, Jeff Van Dolah, Mike Bowser, Colin Swift, Nickola Rusic, Jonathan Maxwell, Danya Bubar, Adam Creaghan, Jens Ourom, Joel Little, James Edwards, Alex DesRoches, Kyle Roode, coach Thom Gillespie

In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Dalhousie Tigers upset the 4th-seeded Cape Breton Capers 82-72. “This feels great,” said Dalhousie guard Simon Farine. “It’s a great moment for this team and hopefully a sign of good things to come.” Dal played without big man Germain Bendegue, who broke a finger in practice. But the rest of the team stepped up. “The whole team played good D and we made shots,” said Farine, in his first season with the Tigers after transferring from Wisconsin-Green Bay in the NCAA. “Andrew Sullivan played incredible, Drew Stratton played incredible, Devon Norris did all the little things. (Cape Breton) brought it back to a really close game but we stepped it up in the end.” Fifth-year senior Eric Breland scored 18 in the first half, but outside of Scott Jaspers-Fayer, the rest of the Capers were just 3-for-18 as Cape Breton fell behind 39-31. The Capers rallied in the third quarter and took a brief 58-57 lead when Breland scored on a baseline drive to start the fourth. But the Tigers responded with a 9-1 run, capped by a Sullivan three-pointer, and Cape Breton never got closer than four points again as Dal wrapped up its first playoff victory since 1999. “We didn’t play very well, and I’ve got to take responsibility for that,” said Capers coach Jim Charters. “We just didn’t get the ball inside enough, and that’s my fault. They hit shots and we didn’t. We turned the ball over too many times. I think they outscored us in points off turnovers and they get to the line 32 times and we went (18). Our defence wasn’t too bad, but the biggest thing was they hit key shots when they needed to and we turned the ball over too many times. (Breland) was everything for us, he just didn’t get enough support from the supporting cast.” The Tigers looked the hungrier team from start to finish, for the most part, and were rewarded with the school’s first postseason victory since 1999. The turning point came with 41 seconds left after Dal’s Devon Norris hit a free throw, but converted his own miss on the second for a 78-69 Tigers advantage. “We believed in ourselves and this feels great to lift all this pressure off our shoulders,” Andrew Sullivan said. “There’s a lot of Dal supporters and alumni who have waited years for us to be in the winner’s circle in the playoffs and we gave it to them. We’re back there for at least one night.” The Tigers led 21-16 after one quarter and 39-31 at the half before the Capers showed signs of fight. A 17-6 run to end the third quarter, including a thunderous dunk from all-Canadian forward Eric Breland which originated from down the left baseline, brought Cape Breton back to within one at 57-56 after three quarters. But Dal re-asserted itself over the final quarter and hit some big shots to make the upset a reality. “Breland is such a phenomenal and savvy player and he basically put his team on his back,” Campbell said. “Their defensive pressure caused us some problems, especially in the third quarter, but we did enough things well to win.” Charters said “our inexperience might have hurt us a little bit, but we just didn’t get the ball inside enough and that’s my fault. It’s not the kids’ fault. It’s more mine for not preparing them well enough.” Andrew Sullivan paced Dalhousie with 24 on 7-13 from the floor, 5-7 from the arc and 5-6 from the line. Drew Stratton added 21 on 8-17 from the floor, 5-6 from the line and 4 boards. Simon Farine notched 19 on 3-13 from the floor, 13-14 from the line, 9 boards and 10 assists. Devon Norris scored 8 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 11 boards. Ryan DeWinter notched 4 on 1-5 from the floor and 7 boards. Sandy Veit added 4 and Yannick Walcott 2, while Jason Wang was scoreless. The Tigers shot 24-64 (.375) from the floor, 6-14 (.429) from the arc and 28-32 (.875) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 14 fouls, 16 turnovers and 6 steals. Eric Breland paced Cape Breton with 35 on 13-19 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 8-10 from the line and 17 boards. Paul Blake added 11 on 4-14 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 4 boards, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Mark McGarrigle added 8 on 3-13 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 4 boards. Scott Jaspers-Fayer notched 7 on 2-2 from the floor and 3 boards. Chris Noddle added 4, Mike Cruikshank 3, Tremaine Fraser 2 and Phillip Nkrumah 2, while Aljosa Alilovic was scoreless. The Capers shot 28-67 (.418) from the floor, 3-20 (.150) from the arc and 13-18 (.722) from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 22 fouls, 21 turnovers, 11 steals and 3 blocks. The Capers (coached by Jim Charters) also included Jonathan Wyse, Paul Glancey, Kyle Bursey, Brendan Martin and Scott Martin.

        In the other quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Saint Mary’s Huskies edged the 6th-seeded UPEI Panthers 65-63 as

Aaron Duncan converted a three-point play with 30.9 seconds left on the clock. The Panthers led 63-61 after Jonathan Cooper made a wild layup while falling to the ground. But Duncan scored on a drive of his own and sank a free-throw after drawing a foul to put SMU ahead. UPEI’s Jared Budd missed a three-pointer and Anthony McDougald couldn’t convert a putback attempt on their final possession. Duncan corralled the rebound and sank one of two free-throws with 1.2 seconds left. “UPEI played really well,” said Mark McLaughlin. “I guess the bounce at the end just went our way. But a win’s a win.” Duncan said “basketball’s a game of runs and luck, and we had the last one. Maybe we tried to overlook UPEI a bit so we have to come out prepared to play harder.” Cooper said “everyone worked their butts off in practice and it transferred over to the court. We just came up short, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.” Mark McLaughlin paced Saint Mary’s with 19 on 7-15 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 5 boards. Aaron Duncan added 16 on 6-14 from the floor, 4-7 from the line and 11 boards. Ikeobi Uchegbu added 15 on 7-10 from the floor and 11 boards. Mark Ross scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor and 9 assists. Shane Morrison added 2, Derrick Coleman 2, Mike Poole 2 and Luke Reynolds 1. The Huskies shot 26-60 (.433) from the floor, 2-14 (.143) from the arc and 11-23 (.478) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 16 fouls, 11 turnovers, 7 steals and 1 block. Andrew Black paced UPEI with 17 on 7-15 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 15 boards. Anthony McDougald added 13 on 6-11 from the floor. Manock Lual scored 11 on 4-10 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 10 boards. Brent McLaren scored 10 on 2-5 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. Jonathan Cooper added 4 and Jared Budd 4 on 1-8 from the floor and 7 boards. Chad Macdonald added 3, while Shakir Chambers was scoreless. The Panthers hit 22-59 (.373) from the floor, 4-18 (.222) from the arc and 15-21 (.714) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 18 fouls, 16 turnovers and 5 steals. PEI (coached by Matthew Davies) also included Nick Kaminsky, Todd Williams, Tim Butler, Marty Claybourne, Vlad Farcas, Andreas Franz and Mitchell McQuade.

        In the semis, the Acadia Axemen defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 83-75. Patrick McIver, a second-year guard, provided a much-needed spark and drained a pair of key three-pointers as part of Acadia’s 25-8 advantage over the final quarter, including a 16-2 run over the final five minutes. McIver played the final five minutes in place of star guard Paulo Santana, who banged his knee in the second quarter and missed the entire third. “Paulo gave us everything he could, but Pat came in and hit some big shots for us,” Acadia coach Les Berry said. “We needed a spark and he gave it to us.” Acadia scored its first 16 points about a foot from the rim, including a game-opening two-handed dunk from Leonel Saintil and a pair of slams from Shawn Berry. The Tigers played their second straight game without starting forward Germain Bendegue, who broke a finger in practice. The pressure got the best of the Axemen late in the third quarter when Andrew Kraus and Leonel Saintil were whistled for technical fouls in less than a minute. The Tigers, courtesy of multiple trips to the free throw line, closed the third on an 11-0 run to erase a four-point deficit. Dal led 69-60 after guard Simon Farine’s 12-foot jumper with 8:40 left in the fourth. “They came in as the number one seed in the conference and they rose to the occasion,” Farine said. “I think we put Dal basketball back on the map. Lots of people will look back at this tournament as the year we turned it around.” Acadia trailed 67-58 after a meltdown at the end of the third led to a 13-0 Dalhousie run and cost the Axemen starting point guard Andrew Kraus, who fouled out. McIver responded, sinking five three-pointers and blocking a key shot in the last minute. His trey with 2:45 left gave Acadia the lead for good at 74-73. “One thing about Pat is he’s not scared,” said Berry. “He believes in himself, he has a lot of confidence, and he’ll step up and take the big shot. He’s a tough-minded kid. For a second-year guy to do that on this stage and accept a role that he’s never done before is something I’ll commend him on.” McIver said he was too thrilled to be nervous about playing point guard for the first time. “I’ve been watching games here since I was a kid, so it’s pretty great to be a part of it,” he said. “This was the most fun experience I’ve ever had. I was just so into the game that it didn’t really matter what position I was playing.” Berry said “I think that was one of our best defensive quarters of the year.” Dalhousie coach John Campbell said “I’m really proud of the way they battled,” said Dal coach John Campbell. “I thought both nights they played with a lot of confidence and a lot of poise. Acadia’s a very good team, so if we’re able to go toe-to-toe with a team of that calibre, I think it bodes well for our future.” Shawn Berry paced Acadia with 23 on 7-13 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 7-8 from the line and 3 boards. Leonel Saintil added 20 on 9-15 from the floor, 11 boards, 5 assists and 5 steals. Patrick McIver scored 17 on 5-9 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Achuil Lual added 12 on 3-5 from the floor, 6-8 from the line and 11 boards. Andrew Kraus scored 7 on 3-6 from the floor. Luckern Dieu added 4, while Peter Leighton, James Burke and Paulo Santana were scoreless. The Axemen hit 29-53 (.547) from the floor, 7-18 (.389) from the arc and 18-24 from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 21 fouls, 16 turnovers, 7 steals and 3 blocks. Simon Farine paced Dalhousie with 24 on 8-18 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 7-12 from the line, 5 boards and 6 assists. Andrew Sullivan added 19 on 6-17 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 3 steals. Drew Stratton notched 13 on 6-9 from the floor. Yannick Walcott added 6 on 4-4 from the line. Jason Wang added 4, Ryan deWinter 4, Sandy Veit 4 and Devon Norris 2, while Shea Balish was scoreless. The Tigers (coached by John Campbell, assisted by Scott James) shot 27-64 (.422) from the floor, 3-9 from the arc and 18-24 from the line, while garnering 23 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 23 fouls, 12 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks. The Tigers (coached by John Campbell, assisted by Scott James) also included Charles Campbell, Jeppe Knudsen, Robert Nortmann, Germain Bendegue and Josh Beattie.

In the other semi, the Saint Mary’s Huskies clipped the St. Francis Xavier X-Men 76-64. The Huskies, which lost three straight and four of five overall to the X-Men, used a late 12-4 run to lead 70-59 with 43 seconds remaining. Seldom-used Huskies rookie forward Derrick Coleman hit for six points during the final minutes, including back-to-back buckets which turned a three-point advantage to seven. “It was about coming out and proving we could beat them,” Coleman said. “We had to stop their transition game and we did that for the most part. All the times they beat us we couldn’t stop their running and we did today.” The X-Men, which lost for the second consecutive year after securing a first round bye, led 18-11 after the first quarter. The Huskies missed 21 of their first 32 shots as St. F.X. built an early 11-point lead. But Saint Mary’s started to force turnovers and put together a 16-0 run over the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to take a 33-26 lead that they never relinquished. “This was more of a heart game, proving we could beat this team,” said Coleman. “We expected them to run in transition, and we stopped that for the most part today.” St. F.X. coach Steve Konchalski thought his team’s 18 turnovers were a big factor in the loss. “Overall, that was probably the difference in the game,” he said. “We owned this floor for a decade or so, and now with this young group we have to learn how to play here. It’s not the court, it’s the atmosphere they’re not used to.” Mark McLaughlin paced Saint Mary’s with 30 on 11-20 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 6-6 from the line and 3 steals. Derrick Coleman added 17 on 7-12 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 6 boards. Ikeobi Uchegby scored 16 on 8-12 from the floor and 10 boards. Aaron Duncan notched 9 on 4-14 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 7 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Shane Morrison added 2 and Mark Ross 2, along with 5 assists. Jazzmen Cain and Mike Poole were scoreless. The Huskies shot 32-73 (.438) from the floor, 2-13 (.154) from the arc and 10-13 (.769) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 9 turnovers, 10 steals and 2 blocks. Tyler Richards paced St. FX with 22 on 5-21 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 10-11 from the line and 4 assists. Dwayne Johnson added 17 on 6-9 from the floor, 5-9 from the line and 13 boards. Islam Luiz De Toledo notched 9 on 4-10 from the floor and 6 boards. Christian Upshaw scored 6 on 3-7 from the floor and 5 boards. Alberto Rodriguez added 4 on 2-3 from the floor and boards. Dave Joyce added 2, Will Silver 2 and Terrence Taylor 2. The X-Men shot 22-56 (.393) from the floor, 2-12 (.167) from the arc and 18-24 from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 18 fouls, 18 turnovers, 5 steals and 2 blocks. The X-Men (coached Steve Konchalski, assistant Doc Ryan, assistant John Bustin, manager Pierre LeVert Desveaux, academic advisor Denton Anthony, therapist Tara Sutherland, therapist Katrina Lambert, student therapist Sandy MacIntosh, doctor David Cudmore) also included Daouli Lengema, Nathan Johnson, Sean Nickel, Blake Poritz, Chad Warren and Rhett Thompson.

        In the final, Saint Mary’s won its first AUS tourney since 1999 by defeating Acadia 75-72. Saint Mary’s head coach Ross Quackenbush broke out into a wide grin once the buzzer sounded. It wasn’t long before his eyes welled up with tears. “That thud you hear is Marv Levy falling off my back,” he joked in reference to the Buffalo Bills head coach who lost four straight Super Bowls in the early nineties. “We’ve had lots of success to reach this stage over the years, but it sure feels good to win, too.” Acadia took its first lead after Shawn Berry drained a pair of free throws with 2:24 remaining to give the Axemen a 72-71 advantage and its first lead since early in the opening quarter. Saint Mary’s had once led by as many as 11 points, but was showing signs of fatigue after two straight shot clock violations inside the final five minutes. But Shane Morrison hit a jaw-dropping 12-foot fallaway shot with 1:58 left and tourney MVP Mark McLaughlin sank a pair of free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to seal the deal. Acadia guard Andrew Kraus almost stole the ball on the Huskies’ final possession, but narrowly stepped on the end line. Axemen forward Achuil Lual heaved a long desperation three-pointer at the buzzer, which looked like it could fall, but the attempt was off the mark. “This is a storybook ending for us,” Mark Ross said. “It feels absolutely amazing. I’m so proud of the guys right now. We battled through a lot all year, and Acadia’s a great team. I’ve been here three times and lost the first two, but I guess third time’s the charm.” Tournament MVP Mark McLaughlin said “I went to sleep last night and had about four different dreams about beating Acadia today. It feels just absolutely unbelievable.” Saint Mary’s led most of the way after scoring 49 first-half points, and they took a 67-63 lead into the fourth quarter. But the Huskies made just one basket in the first 7:35 of the final frame as the Axemen drew closer and closer, finally taking a 72-71 lead on a pair of Shawn Berry free throws with 2:24 remaining. It seemed like déjà vu for the Huskies, who went scoreless for seven minutes in the face of Acadia’s zone during last year’s final and watched a 16-point lead melt away before losing 74-72 in overtime. But Shane Morrison restored the Huskies’ one-point lead with a wild, one-handed leaner just before the shot clock expired with two minutes to go, and Acadia couldn’t score the rest of the way. “Once they took the lead, I was flashing back (to last year),” said McLaughlin. “But our defence at the end was just too tough. Shane’s basket, I don’t know how it went in, but it got the lead back for us and we were just able to hang onto it.” The top-seed Axemen caught a bad break when point guard Andrew Kraus recovered a McLaughlin turnover with six seconds left but stepped on the sideline as he collected the ball. Saint Mary’s retained possession and Acadia was forced to foul McLaughlin, a 90 per cent free-throw shooter who sank both attempts with 5.2 seconds remaining. Achuil Lual’s desperation shot from just in front of half-court bounced off the backboard as time expired on the Axemen. Acadia coach Les Berry said his team’s defence just wasn’t solid enough in the first half in giving up 49 points. “That was not good enough and unfortunately it might have been our undoing. They shot the ball really well and hit some tough shots, but 49 points is a lot of points.” Shawn Berry noted that “they were making a bunch of shots, we weren’t defending very well and they just exposed us with their threes. We just weren’t able to stop them and that really hurt us.” Aaron Duncan paced Saint Mary’s with 21 on 7-22 from the floor, 3-9 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 7 boards and 5 assists. Ikeobi Uchegbu added 16 on 8-9 from the floor and 7 boards. Mark McLaughlin scored 15 on 6-15 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 7 assists. Shane Morrison scored 9 on 4-10 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 3 boards. Derrick Coleman scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc and 5 boards. Mark Ross notched 6 on 3-4 from the floor, 5 boards and 3 assists. The Huskies hit 31-66 (.470) from the floor, 7-17 (.412) from the arc and 6-8 from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 16 fouls, 13 turnovers, 4 steals and 1 block. Achuil Lual paced Acadia with 18 on 8-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 12 boards. Shawn Berry added 15 on 6-13 from the floor and 3-3 from the line. Leonel Saintil notched 15 on 5-10 from the floor, 5-7 from the line, 10 boards and 4 blocks. Andrew Kraus added 11 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the line and 8 assists. Peter Leighton added 5, Patrick McIver 3, Luckern Dieu 3 and Paulo Santana 2, while James Burke was scoreless. The Axemen hit 28-61 (.459) from the floor, 2-14 (.143) from the arc and 14-19 (.737) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 18 fouls, 13 turnovers, 1 steal and 4 blocks.

After the season, the University of New Brunswick announces that Thom Gillespie has stepped down as head coach of the Varsity Reds Men’s Basketball team. Dean of Kinesiology Terry Haggerty and Director of Athletics Kevin Dickie express their appreciation to Thom for his efforts since taking over the program in 1999. Gillespie is replaced by Brent Baker, head coach of the St. Francis Xavier women’s program for the previous two years. Prior to that, he was an assistant with the men’s program.

After the season, Memorial’s Todd Aughey resigned after eight years at the helm. The Sea-Hawks had finished 0-26 on the campaign. Aughey was replaced by Peter Benoite, who’d served as an assistant coach with both the women’s team (1999-2000) and the men’s team (2005-2007). He also played with the Sea-Hawks from 1993-1998, leading the team to its best ever record of 16-4 in 1996-97. He was team captain of the Sea-Hawks during his time at Memorial, receiving many individual honours including being named a first team All-Canadian and a finalist for the Canadian Interuniversity Male Athlete of the Year. “I have deep ties to Memorial basketball and have a strong ambition to see the men’s team compete with the best teams in the country,” Benoite said. “I want to make the team into something that the community can support and be proud of.”

In June, Acadia announces that coach Les Berry has resigned. Berry, who led the Axemen to an upset of Carleton in the CIS semis, coached a last place team to an 18-2 finish. He was suspended until the first of January, and further punished, for using an ineligible NCAA transfer in a previous season, so 11 of those 18 wins were technically credited to his then-assistant Stephen Baur, who assumes the Acadia reins.

The runner-up Acadia Axemen: Achuil Lual; Shawn Berry; Leonel Saintil; Andrew Kraus; Peter Leighton; Patrick McIver; Luckern Dieu; Paulo Santana; James Burke; Joel Boudreaux; Kevin Duffie; J.D. Howlett; Alex Traikov; coach Les Berry; assistant Steve Baur; assistant Kevin Veinot; graduate assistant Mike Lawton; manager Chris Randall; therapist Dr. Jim MacLeod; student therapist Josh Loveys; SID Eric Cederberg

The champion Saint Mary’s Huskies: Mark McLaughlin; Mark Ross; Ikeobi Uchegbu; Derrick Coleman; Shane Morrison; Aaron Duncan; Peter Gilfoy; Jack Gallinaugh; Jazzmen Cain; Mike Poole; Luke Reynolds; Zach Wallace; Iain Robertson; Brandon Mullins; coach Ross Quackenbush; assistant Jonah Taussig; assistant Augy Jones; manager John Landry; trainer Chad Newhook; trainer Kurt Stevenson; SID Lori Forbes