REGULAR SEASON
St. FX | 17-3 | 25-9 | Steve Konchalski | |||||
Cape Breton | 15-5 | 18-7 | Jim Charters | |||||
Dalhousie | 13-7 | 24-12 | John Campbell | |||||
Saint Mary’s | 12-8 | 16-14 | Ross Quackenbush | |||||
UPEI | 11-9 | 13-15 | Matthew Davies | |||||
Acadia | 6-14 | 7-23 | Steve Baur | |||||
Memorial | 3-17 | 4-22 | Peter Benoite | |||||
New Brunswick | 3-17 | 4-23 | Brent Baker | |||||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Memorial Seahawks: Jason Shepherd, George English, Mark Woodland, Christian Somerton, Robbie Habib, Steven Earles, Manny Wilby, Ryan McCluskey, Jeremy Somerton, Jordan Constantine, Michael Quigley, Justin Penney, Joshua Howard, Matt Cleary, James Saxby, Mike Bowser, Sean Murphy, Aiwhat deWaart, Michael Quigley, coach Peter Benoite, assistant Martin Cull, assistant Evan Constantine
New Brunswick Varsity Reds: Michael Anderson, Colton Wilson, Dustin Anthony, Alex DesRoches, Antwann Parks, Adam Creaghan, Lonzel Lowe, Adeel Sahibzada, Jordan Gillis, Brent Kingston, Patrick Riley, Jason Rouse, David Dolan, coach Brent Baker
In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded UPEI Panthers defeated the 4th-seeded Saint Mary’s Huskies 79-70. Andrew Black made three baskets during a 12-0 run as the Panthers opened up a 67-57 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Huskies drew within 67-61 on back-to-back baskets inside from Ikeobi Uchegbu, but Rose stole the ball from Haywood and raced for a layup to restore a 71-63 lead with 1:34 to go. Jonathan Cooper sealed the game with eight free throws in the final minute. Joey Haywood hit two three-pointers and scored eight points as the Huskies opened the second half on a 10-2 run, giving them a 43-36 lead. But the Panthers responded with seven straight to knot the score at 43. The two sides were tied 51-51 after three quarters. Gamaliel Rose’s steal and dunk gave the Panthers a 34-33 lead at half. Andrew Black paced UPEI with 19 on 8-18 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 8 boards. Nick Toews added 17 on 6-9 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Jonathan Cooper notched 16 on 3-8 from the floor, 10-10 from the line and 5 assists. Gamaliel Rose scored 14 on 6-16 from the floor, 2-6 from the line, 14 boards, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Manock Lual scored 9 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 9 boards. Tim Butler added 2 and Vlad Farcas 2, while Jovan Geddes, Matthew Nobles and Mitchell McQuade were scoreless. The Panthers hit 28-68 (.412) from the floor, 4-12 from the arc and 19-26 (.731) from the line, while garnering 45 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 10 fouls, 10 turnovers, 6 steals and 4 blocks. Joey Haywood paced Saint Mary’s with 22 on 9-25 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc, 3 assists and 2 steals. Mark McLaughlin added 22 on 9-23 from the floor 4-10 from the arc, 5 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Iekobi Uchegbu scored 14 on 6-13 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 17 boards. Jack Gallinaugh added 4, Mike Poole 4, Miguel Pink 2 and Simon Marr 2, while Iain Robertson and Luke Reynolds were scoreless. The Huskies hit 29-75 (.387) from the floor, 9-22 (.409) from the arc and 3-4 from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 20 fouls, 13 turnovers, 4 steals and 3 blocks. The Huskies (coached by Ross Quackenbush) also included Jazzmen Cain, Ronald Vanel, Peter Gilfoy and Zach Wallace.
In the other quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Dalhousie Tigers edged the 6th-seeded Acadia Axemen 88-85. The Axemen had a chance to tie at the buzzer but a James Burke 3-point attempt after a Dalhousie turnover didn’t fall as the Tigers were able to escape with a 3-point victory despite holding a seven-point lead with 1:30 left in the game. “We thought at the beginning of the year we were one of the better teams in the conference,” said Tigers guard Simon Farine. “We had a rough middle stretch of the season (five losses in seven games) but we’re proving now we’re one of the better teams in the (AUS). Hopefully we’ll come out (in the final) and win again.” Dal actually led the nail-biter by 19 points after going on a 21-4 run in the third quarter. But the gritty Capers battled back with a 22-5 run of their own before a crowd of 5,149. Cape Breton led 68-66 when first-team all-star Phillip Nkrumah fouled out with 4:42 to go. That turned the tide. Dal’s key plays down the stretch came from Farine, on a three-point play to put the Tigers up for good with 73 seconds left, and Andrew Sullivan, with a pair of free throws with just 4.3 seconds on the clock. Second-year Capers guard Tremaine Fraser of North Preston had a chance for a game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer but drove in for a layup, a play his head coach, Jim Charters, chalked up to inexperience. “He just made a mistake,” Charters said. “Phenomenal,” said Farine’s teammate Andrew Sullivan. “He put us over the top. He had over half our points.” Farine called it his best game in a Tigers jersey. “My shot was dropping. I got to the line a lot in the first half and that got me going. At the start of the third quarter, I got on a little hot streak and carried it through to the end.” Acadia led 17-14 after one quarter. Dalhousie led 39-34 at the half and 69-64 after three quarters. Simon Farine paced Dalhousie with 45 on 13-30 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 15-17 from the line, 4 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Sandy Veit added 11 on 5-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 12 boards. Germain Bendegue scored 10 on 5-12 from the floor, 7 boards an d2 assists. Andrew Sullivan notched 9 on 3-8 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 6 assists and 3 steals. Josh Beattie scored 4 on 2-9 from the floor and 6 boards. Stephen Lopez added 4, Yannick Walcott 3 and Robert Nortmann 2. The Tigers hit 31-73 (.425) from the floor, 7-15 (.467) from the arc and 19-23 (.826) from the line, while garnering 35 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 16 fouls, 11 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks. Casey Fox paced Acadia with 32 on 11-20 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc, 6-6 from the line and 5 boards. Peter Leighton added 20 on 6-13 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 5-5 from the line and 2 assists. Justin Boutilier notched 13 on 4-6 from the floor, 5-6 from the line and 6 boards. Alex Traikov added 8 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 7 boards and 2 blocks. Luckern Dieu added 4 and Nathan Duncan 4 on 2-2 from the line, 7 boards and 5 assists. Chris Ogbuah added 2 and John-David Howlett 2, while James Burke and Joseph Nwabuzor were scoreless. The Axemen hit 28-64 (.438) from the floor, 7-19 (.368) from the arc and 22-25 (.880) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 23 fouls, 13 turnovers, 2 steals and 3 blocks. The Axemen (coached by Stephen Baur) also included Leonel Saintil, Patrick McIver, Stephen Jones, Brian Magann, Marcel Hyde, Garth Reid and Matthew Doidge.
In the semis, the top-seeded St. Francis Xavier X-Men crushed the 5th-seeded UPEI Panthers 89-60. The X-Men built a 24-18 lead in the first quarter and then outscored the Panthers 20-7. Rookie Jeremy Dunn hit consecutive three-pointers and the X-Men led by as much as 42-18 late in the half before heading to the break with a 44-25 advantage. The X-Men took a 70-43 lead after the third quarter as they coasted to the win. Five players scored in double figures in the romp. St. F.X. held UPEI scoreless for more than six minutes during an 18-0 run to start the second quarter. St. F.X. played without first-team all-star Richards and rookies Eamon Morrissey and William Donkoh, who were all charged with assault on Monday stemming from an incident on Feb. 21. They were later found guilty. “It’s been a tough week, but we consider our team like a family and we stuck together,” said X-Men guard Will Silver. “Without those three players, who are all very talented, it just shows how deep our team is and how everyone can come in and contribute.” Christian Upshaw and Silver started the decisive second-quarter run with a pair of layups. Then Jeremy Dunn hit back-to-back three-pointers, Alberto Rodriguez made a tip-in and two free throws, and Silver capped the run with another three to give X a 42-18 lead. Rodriguez, a native of Cuba, said rebounding is “my job and what I have to bring to the table. We have really good guards so we just feed off of them.” Silver said “we came out with a lot of energy today.” Jeremy Dunn paced St. FX with 17 on 7-15 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 7 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. William Silver added 15 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 3 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Christian Upshaw scored 13 on 5-11 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc and 2 steals. Alberto Rodriguez notched 11 on 4-5 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 13 boards. Terrence Taylor added 11 on 4-9 from the floor, 3-3 from the line and 7 boards. Dwayne Johnson added 9 on 4-11 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 8 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Rhett Thompson added 6 on 3-3 from the floor. Blake Portiz added 4 and Sean Nickel 3, while Jordan Hope and Chad Warren were scoreless. The X-Men hit 35-75 (.467) from the floor, 7-18 (.389) from the arc and 12-15 (.800) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 16 fouls, 21 turnovers, 12 steals and 2 blocks. Gamaliel Rose paced UPEI with 20 on 7-13 from the floor, 6-8 from the line and 8 boards. Andrew Black added 18 on 7-15 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 8 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Tim Butler added 8 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 4 boards. Matthew Nobles added 4, Nick Toews 3, Vlad Farcas 3, Manock Lual 2 and Mike Hardy 2, while Jovan Geddes and Jonathan Cooper were scoreless. The Panthers hit 22-66 (.333) from the floor, 5-17 (.294) from the arc and 11-16 (.688) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 13 fouls, 24 turnovers, 8 steals and 4 blocks. The Panthers (coached by Matthew Davies) also included Raseedi McKenley, Mitchell McQuade, Jeffrey Rodgers and Anthony McDougald.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Dalhousie Tigers stunned the 2nd-seeded Cape Breton Capers 78-77. Simon Farine notched the go-ahead three-point play, as Dalhousie survived. “It feels great, especially to win a game like that,” said Farine. “We’ve thought all year that we were one of the better teams in the conference. Hopefully we’ll come out tomorrow and win the game.” The Tigers started the third quarter on a 17-2 run and built a 19-point advantage, but Cape Breton came charging back. Phil Nkrumah stole the ball for a dunk that gave the Capers a 62-61 lead, capping a 25-5 run. Cape Breton led 73-71 when Farine made a one-handed floater in the lane, drew a foul and sank the free throw to put the Tigers ahead 74-73 with 1:13 to play. The Capers had a chance to take the lead when they forced a Dalhousie turnover with 11.3 seconds left, but then they lost the ball out of bounds themselves and had to foul Andrew Sullivan. He hit two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining to put Dal ahead 78-75. On Cape Breton’s last possession, Fraser drove the length of the court but went for a layup instead of pulling up for a three-pointer, giving Dal a 78-77 win. “We didn’t get the play that we wanted to get,” said Cape Breton coach Jim Charters. Simone Farine paced Dalhousie with 28 on 11-21 from the floor, 2-9 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 8 boards and 5 assists. Josh Beattie added 11 on 4-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 2 assists. Yannick Walcott added 10 on 3-5 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 2-4 from the line. Sandy Veit added 9 on 3-5 from the floor and 3-4 from the line. Andrew Sullivan added 8 on 1-8 from the floor, 6-6 from the line and 8 boards. Robert Nortmann notched 7 on 2-2 from the floor, 3-6 from the line and 3 boards. Stephen Lopez scored 3 on 1-2 from the floor and 5 boards. Germain Bendegue scored 2 on 1-3 from the floor and 7 boards. The Tigers hit 26-55 (.473) from the floor, 6-19 (.316) from the arc and 20-28 (.714) from the line, while garnering 28 boards, including 4 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 18 fouls, 11 turnovers, 4 steals and 4 blocks. Tremaine Fraser paced Cape Breton with 18 on 8-17 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 1-3 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Phillip Nkrumah added 18 on 6-15 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 4-7 from the line, 17 boards, 6 assists and 4 steals. Scott Jaspers-Fayer added 13 on 6-15 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. Chris Noddle notched 9 on 3-8 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. Lasario Burrows added 6, Ryan Roper 5, Aljosa Alilovic 4 and Mark McGarrigle 3, while Courtney Thomas and Justin Roper were scoreless. The Capers hit 30-80 (.375) from the floor, 6-25 (.240) from the arc and 11-18 (.611) from the line, while garnering 48 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 26 fouls, 10 turnovers, 8 steals and 2 blocks. The Capers (coached by Jim Charters) also included Jonathan Wyse, Kyle Bursey and Paul Glancey.
In the final, the 3rd-seeded Dalhousie Tigers stunned the top-seeded St. Francis Xavier X-Men 72-60. Josh Beattie hit a barrage of treys in the third quarter to turn the tide for the Tigers. “This feels amazing,” said tournament MVP Simon Farine. “We’ll definitely go out and celebrate for a while tonight, but we’ll get our rest because now we have to get ready for nationals.” Dalhousie survived a first half on Saturday in which they shot just 11-42 from the field. St. F.X. hit 10-31 and the score was knotted at 27 at the half. But Beattie hit six straight baskets, five of them treys in the third quarter. Farine sank a three for good measure as Dalhousie took a 49-32 lead, and St. F.X. drew no closer than six points the rest of the way. “For a second-year guy … to take those shots in the second half and have the confidence to make them was incredible,” Dalhousie coach John Campbell said of Beattie. The X-Men contained Farine but it opened the floor for Beattie. “When you require that much attention, other guys are going to get some looks and it comes down to whether or not those guys are going to make them,” Campbell said. “In Josh’s case, we were really fortunate that he took those shots and made them.” Beattie, a sophomore guard from Bedford, said he’s never had a stretch like that before. “Something just clicked. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve got to give all the glory to God. It’s because of Him I’ve been so successful this season.” St. FX coach Steve Konchalski said “Dal played some great defence, but our shots just weren’t dropping. We’re a team that led the nation in scoring and field goal percentage, and it just wasn’t our day shooting.” The X-Men again played without all-star forward Tyler Richards and rookies William Donkoh and Eamon Morrissy. The X-Men led 17-13 after one quarter. Dalhousie led 54-45 after three quarters. “This is incredible for Dalhousie basketball,” said Beattie. “We are so pleased to be a part of this new era.” Germaine Bendegue said that when he first arrived at Dalhousie, there were “so many frustrations. I really didn’t know if we could turn it around.” Even Campbell wondered: “There have been a lot of moments over the last seven years where I’ve had self-doubt.” Farine said “as a team, we believed in each other. We believed we could win and we believed we could win big games. We played hard and it worked out in the end.” Josh Beattie paced Dalhousie with 25 on 9-16 from the floor, 7-11 from the arc, 8 boards and 3 steals. Simon Farine added 16 on 5-20 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 11 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Stephen Lopez added 10 on 4-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards and 3 assists. Germain Bendegue added 6 on 2-8 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Yannick Walcott scored 6 on 2-10 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Sandy Veit added 4 on 2-8 from the floor and 14 boards. Andrew Sullivan added 3 and Robert Nortmann 2. The Tigers hit 26-76 (.342) from the floor, 10-27 (.370) from the arc and 10-15 from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 10 fouls, 12 turnovers, 8 steals and 4 blocks. Terrence Taylor paced St. FX with 15 on 5-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 5 boards. Christian Upshaw added 13 on 4-17 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 8 boards. Jeremy Dunn added 12 on 5-12 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 8 boards and 2 assists. William Silver added 6 on 3-10 from the floor, 7 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals. Alberto Rodriguez added 5, Sean Nickel 5 and Dwayne Johnson 4, while Rhett Thompson and Chad Warren were scoreless. The X-Men hit 23-64 (.359) from the floor, 5-23 (.217) from the arc and 9-11 (.818) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 21 fouls, 12 turnovers, 6 steals and 5 blocks.
The runner-up St. Francis Xavier X-Men: Terrence Taylor; Christian Upshaw; Tyler Richards; Jeremy Dunn; William Silver; Alberto Rodriguez; Sean Nickel; Dwayne Johnson; Rhett Thompson; Chad Warren; Will Silver; Rhett Thompson; William Donkoh; Blake Poritz; Jordan Hope; Eamon Morrisy; coach Steve Konchalski; assistant Doc Ryan; assistant Garry Gallimore; academic advisor Denton Anthony
The champion Dalhousie Tigers: Simon Farine; Nick Flynn; Galen Enlow; Jason Wang; Tim Coote; Robert Nortmann; Yannick Walcott; Josh Beattie; Sandy Veit; Germain Bendegue; Joseph Schow; Stephen Lopez; Andrew Sullivan; coach John Campbell; assistant David Nutbrown; assistant Chad Wadden; assistant Jay Williams; trainer Maria Dinney; trainer Jess Nichols; mental skills Dr. John McCabe; trainer Monica Ulrich; strength and conditioning Darren Steeves, strength and conditioning Drew Stratton