REGULAR SEASON
| Lethbridge | 18-2 | 28-5 | Dave Crook | |||||
| Alberta | 15-5 | 29-11 | Don Horwood | |||||
| U.B.C. | 12-8 | 19-14 | Bruce Enns | |||||
| Victoria | 11-9 | 19-12 | Guy Vetrie | |||||
| Saskatchewan | 10-10 | 14-16 | Greg Jockims | |||||
| Calgary | 7-13 | 8-17 | Cory Russell | |||||
| Trinity Western | 4-16 | 6-20 | Stan Peters | |||||
Trinity Western makes the leap from CCAA ball to the CIAU.
Playoff non-qualifier Trinity Western Spartans: Josh Hall, Malcolm Campbell, Tyler Coston, Dave Martens, Mike Slofstra, Gary Chapman, William Maksymiw, Scott Portmann, Richard Pridmore, Ryan Jobs, Damien Moe, Layne Rainey, Ryan Thompson, Damian Moe, Joey Maksymiw, coach Stan Peters, assistant Carlton Haak, assistant Dave Heidebrecht
In the quarterfinals, U.B.C. defeated Calgary 77-74; 58-65; 64-63 (2g-1). In game one, Courtenay Kolla scored 21 to lead the Thunderbirds to a 77-74 win. U.B.C. led 37-35 at the half. John Riad led the Dinosaurs with 15. Brad Gallup added 14, while Chris Harris nabbed 9 boards. …………………………………………………… In game two, John Riad scored 26 to lead Calgary to a 65-58 win and their first road victory of the season and first postseason win since 1994. …………………………………………………… In game three, U.B.C. erased a 13-point deficit in the final 10 minutes to pull out a 64-63 win. Calgary coach Cory Russell lambasted officials. “We were the victims of absolutely terrible officiating,” noting that the Thunderbirds got 29 free throws, 20 more than the Dinosaurs. “They weren’t a factor in either of the first two games. But they certainly were tonight.” UBC coach Bruce Enns said “this is the best game we’ve played in the last month. It was a heckuva game. They really brought out the best in us. They’re a very good team and this is a great win.” The T-Birds hit three treys in a space of two minutes as they rallied from the 49-36 deficit. The teams traded buckets from there on, before T-Bird guard Jason Bristow drained a twisting layup with 33.8 seconds to go to give his squad a 61-60 lead. Calgary guard John Riad missed on layups on his team’s next two trips down the floor, and UBC sank three of four throws that came after that to clinch it. Calgary guard Brad Gallup hit an uncontested three-pointer just before the clock expired. UBC guard Courtney Kolla led the winners with 19 points, while forward Jon Fast added 18 plus eight rebounds. Jeff Loomis scored 20 for Calgary on 4-6 from the arc. John Riad added 14 points. The Dinos (coached by Cory Russell) also included Chris Harris, Adam Begley, Andrew Stordeur, Richie Gill, Brad Gallup, Jonathan Woods, Wes Jickling, Richard Wiebach and Derry O’Connor.
In the other quarterfinal, Victoria defeated Saskatchewan 69-62; 85-68 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Etienne Orr-Ewing scores 10 points and grabs 10 boards to lead Victoria. The Vikings were ahead 43-29 at the half. Calvin Palmer led Saskatchewan with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Victoria held the Huskies to no field goals in the first five minutes as they sprinted to a 15-5 lead and quickly stretched their margin to 12. The Vikings shot .750 from the floor and out-rebounded Saskatchewan 22-13 in the first half. The Huskies whittled the lead to nine before Allister Wilmott hit three to give Victoria a 14-point lead at the half. An 8-0 Huskies run early in the second half cut the lead to four, but strong defensive play by guards Jamie Blake and Keith Bustard allowed the Vikings to hang on for the win. Victoria shot a mere 5-12 from the line in the final four minutes of play but held Saskatchewan to .355 from the field. …………………………………………………… In game two, Ali Wilmott scores 29 points, 6 reb and 7 assists as the Vikings eliminated Saskatchewan 85-68. James Kenyon led Saskatchewan with 23 points. Etienne Orr-Ewing led the Vikings with seven points and six boards in the first half as they took a 38-35 lead despite being out-rebounded by the Huskies 19-15. Vic held Saskatchewan to .375 from the floor. The Huskies tied the game at 53 in the second when they exploded with a 14-4 run but the Vikings responded with a tear as Alister Wilmott scored 19 second half points on 6-8 from the floor. He finished with 29 points and 6 boards. Sandy Bisaro added 12 points and 7 boards off the bench. Victoria shot just 19-31 from the line. Jody Glines added 9 points and 10 boards for the Huskies. The Huskies (coached by Greg Jockims) also included Ryan Leier, Seth Lang, Paul Seipp, Calvin Palmer, Ian Ferguson, Jamie Charlton, Steve Berschaminski, Vance Verhoeven and Kyle Vermette.
In the semis, Lethbridge defeated Victoria 79-72; 95-69 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, before a sellout crowd of 1200, the top-ranked Horns defeated the 10th ranked (11-9) Vikings 79-72. Victoria took an early 8-6 lead as Lethbridge had trouble getting its shots to fall. Victoria slowed the pace and hit from the perimeter while taking a 41-31 lead into the lockers, as Stephen Macdonald scored 12 points in the first half and Alexander Bisaro 10. Only John Tschritter hit for Lethbridge in the first half, with 11 points. The Horns were 0-10 from beyond the arc and 13-23 inside. Victoria was 6-8 from beyond the arc. “Boy, were they prepared. They did everything they had to do to beat us. They slowed the game down, they played combination defence, they did a great job and they controlled the tempo and sort of lulled us to sleep. It was almost like we had a little rust from not playing for so long, because we just did not execute and we missed shots. As much as they were good, and we did create a lot of opportunities for ourselves; we never capitalized on them. We missed a lot of good shots,” said Lethbridge coach Dave Crook. The Horns opened the second half with an 11-0 run to take the lead and get the crowd back in the game. They picked up the tempo and ran the Vikings into the floor. They took a 64-53 lead in the second half. But Victoria rallied back to cut the lead to 67-66 with three minutes to play. Ryan Hall drilled a three-pointer for the Horns with 2:22 to go and two free throws with 34.9 seconds to play to give the Horns a 75-72 margin. Spencer Holt added two insurance frees with 11.9 seconds to go to ice it. “We came out of the half and made 3 or 4 key adjustments. The good thing was that everything we talked about doing, we came out and did in the second half. We had the quick run early, we had them was two times outs. We got into the game. That was critical,” Crook said. “They gave us lots of shots and we did not make any of them. But in the second we created more easier shots for us, and we finished what we didn’t in the first half. I thought the bench (Michael Meyers, Jason Harrison, Ryan Reed and Dennis Bekkering) played good tonight. The three perimeter guys had two fouls in the first 10 minutes of the second half; that has never happened before. Tonight, was a night where the depth of our bench really showed. Everybody played great. We did a good job on the glass. Our guys were strong.” Danny Balderson led Lethbridge with 17 points and 8 boards, Tschritter had 14 points and 6 boards. Michael Meyers scored 11 and grabbed 5 rebounds, while Spencer Holt scored 10. Ryan Hall had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, while Jason Harrison grabbed 7 boards and got 5 assists. Allister Wilmott led Victoria with 16 points and 6 assists. Stephen MacDonald scored 14, Alex Bisaro 12, Keith Bustard 13 and 6 boards. Etienne Orr-Ewing scored 7 and 11 rebounds. “We gave MacDonald four open looks in the first half and he was four for four,” said Crook. “We talked about him all week long, but we made a couple of critical errors. In the second half, he never got open looks again. It made a big difference in the game.” Lethbridge out-rebounded Victoria 42-31. …………………………………………………… In game two, Lethbridge, which had only lost twice at home on a Saturday in three years, pounded Victoria 95-69. The Horns started slowly taking a 9-7 lead after minutes of play but eventually turned it up-tempo and tightened the defence and took a 23-17 lead. They led 41-33 at the half despite committing 16 turnovers. But they out-rebounded the Vikings 16-8 in the half and shot .651 from the floor while Victoria shot .407. Chris Wilde and Danny Balderson put the game out of reach with three-pointers early in the second half as Lethbridge took a 16-point lead with 12 minutes to play. Spencer Holt and Balderson put on a show. “They gave a pretty good effort together. They made each other look good at the time. But they all looked good and they all played well. It was sweet,” said Lethbridge coach Dave Crook. “Again, the strength of the bench and the depth of our team really showed tonight. What an effort. In the first half, we were thinking, we’re there, we’re there. We just could never seem to go over the top. We could never get away from them. In the second half, we had a couple little runs and got the lead up to 14. We hit some big three’s and at the point, it was over. That was great.” Vikings coach Guy Vetrie noted “they are a very good team. We battled them. We knew that it would be tough going in. If we were going to get them, we were going to have to get them last night. We didn’t and credit has to go to the Horns. Being down 10 last night at the half, and they still came out and took a run at us early in the second. They are a very, very good team and tonight it was Mr. Balderson and Mr. Holt leading the way.” Balderson scored 26 points and 4 assists. Holt scored 18, 4 assists and 3 steals. Wilde shot .880 from the floor and scored 14 with 4 rebs, 2 assists, a block and a steal. Jason Harrison scored 11 points and nabbed 4 boards. John Tschritter had 7 points and 9 rebounds. Ryan Hall notched 7 pts and 5 assists. Allister Wilmott led the Vikes with 18 points and 4 assists. Etienne Orr-Ewing scored 14 points and grabbed 4 boards. Keith Bustard scored 10, while Aaron Buckham added 7 points and 8 boards. Lethbridge out-rebounded Victoria 36-23.
In the other semi, Alberta defeated U.B.C. 75-48; 68-60 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Alberta thrashed UBC 75-48 as Pat Crevolin scored 18 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, dished 3 assists and block 3 shots. Nick Maglisceau scored 14 and grabbed 12 boards. Jason Bristow led UBC with 11 points and three rebounds. “We just executed a little bit better offensively,” said Bears guard Brad Berikoff. “We did a poor job of that in the first half. In the second half, we came out and executed. We got up 20. From there, we just did the job and closed the deal.” The Bears committed 10 turnovers and led just 30-29 after the first half. But they held UBC scoreless for the first 7:21 of the second half, while post Nick Maglisceau began swatting Thunderbird shots into the stands. The Bears held UBC to 7-35 from the floor in the second half. Assistant coach Cliff Rowein said “after the first half, we were think of change to a zone defence if, in the first five minutes of the second half, they continued to get the ball inside like they did in the first half. But, of course, we didn’t have to.” …………………………………………………… In game two, Alberta defeated UBC 68-60 as Nick Maglisceau scored 19 points, grabbed 18 boards and blocked five shots. Zaheed Bakare led UBC with 15 points and 6 boards. Alberta was ahead 34-31 at the half. Phil Scherer scored 16, including 10 of Alberta’s last 11, while notching three assists, two steals and two boards. Alberta coach Don Horwood said Scherer showed what kind of competitor he was. “And I think our full court man-to-man press tired them out so that they had no legs left in the second half.” UBC forward Adam Nicholson said “the Bears are a strong team all around but especially inside. And they’re good at getting the ball to their big men and playing to their strengths.
In the finals, Alberta defeated Lethbridge 78-85; 93-84; 82-71 (2g-1).
In game one, before a sold-out crowd in Lethbridge, the top ranked Horns defeated the third-ranked Bears 85-78. The first half was a tight defensive affair. Lethbridge took an 8-4 lead and then extended it to 17-10. Spencer Holt and Michael Meyers combined for a steal and a dunk to ignite the fans and give the Horns a 26-18 lead. Danny Balderson beat the buzzer with a bucket as Lethbridge took a 32-26 lead at the half. He nailed a three-pointer early in the second half as the Horns transition game began to wear down the perimeter-oriented Bear attack. The Horns moved ahead by 10 midway through the half and stretched their lead to 16 on a Ryan Reed three. Alberta rallied to within 10 with two minutes to play as Brad Berikoff and Phil Scherer drilled treys. Nick Maglisceau fouled out with 1:11 to play and the Bears down by seven. But Michael Meyer hit a pair of critical free throws in the final minute to ice the win. “I thought that Lethbridge outworked us. They deserved to win,” said Bears coach Don Horwood. “They did all the little things well. I thought we did a good job on Balderson but if you give him one or two open looks and bang, he puts the dagger in your heart. … I think the guys were nervous. We played timidly and weren’t attacking. They played much more aggressively than we did.” Phil Scherer led the Bears with 19 points and four steals. Pat Crevolin had 18 points and six boards. Nick Maglisceau and Chris Tydal scored 13 apiece for Alberta. Maglisceau nabbed 8 boards and Tydal 4. Danny Balderson led Lethbridge with 20 points, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 assists. Michael Meyers had 18 points 3 rebs and 2 steals. Spencer Holt scored 11 pts, 6 assists, 4 reb and 2 steals. Jason Harrison added 10 pts, all on free throws. Dave Crook said the bench was the difference. “We continued to have that tonight. The guys gave great minutes. It did not seem to matter who was on the floor. All those guys have played well. That’s been the key.” Crook added that “we needed to win tonight. Now we put the pressure on them. They have to try to beat us two nights in a row in our gym. I think that will be difficult for them to do.” Horwood said he was pleased with the Bears effort late in the game. “That is something we will take into tomorrow night’s game. We’ve got to turn it up a notch. We can’t come in here and beat a team like Lethbridge playing 85 or 90 per cent. It has to be 100%. They did it tonight and we didn’t.”
In game two, Alberta prevailed 93-84. Ryan Baldry set the tone early as he drilled a three and Bears took a 5-0 lead after two minutes of play. The Bears defence forced a series of quick turnovers as they sprinted ahead 11-4, scoring inside early. They stretched it to 21-10 as the Horns were cold. Lethbridge crawled back to within 26-20 but Stephen Parker scored 15 points in ten minutes of play as Alberta took a 46-35 lead at the half. The Bears shot .600 from the floor in the first half, while Lethbridge hit .350. “As much as we were not good early, the majority of it was that Alberta played so good,” said Horns coach Dave Crook. “I thought that they played really well and made it difficult for us. It was a great game. It was a battle to the end.” The Bears took a 15-point lead in the second half, 58-43 with fifteen minutes to play. Lethbridge whittled it back to 10 and then ripped off a 14-4 run to close within 68-62 with 10 minutes to play. Stephen Parker fouled out for the Bears with three minutes to play and John Tschritter went to the line and hit both free throws to tie the game at 78. Tschritter then fouled out and Ryan Baldry hit two free throws to put Alberta back in the lead. Spencer Holt fouled out and then Chris Wilde fouled out as Phil Scherer hit a pair from the line to give Alberta 86-83 lead with 47 seconds to play. Scherer added a pair from the line and Nick Maglisceau hit a layup and a free throw to ice it. “We didn’t shoot it very well. I thought that they did a really good job,” said Crook. “They made some shots certainly in the first half. The big thing was that we fought back and made it close and made it to a one possession game at the end. We just could never seem to get the one possession to get ahead. But that happens sometimes. They were very, very good and we just were not as good as we needed to be.” Alberta coach Don Horwood said that Lethbridge deserved credit. “We had them down 15 or 16 and they came back to within one. I am really proud of my guys because we could have folded right there and walked away from it. But we hung tough and made the shots down the stretch. It was a great victory for us.” Lethbridge committed 30 turnovers, Alberta 24. Alberta shot .600 from the floor, Lethbridge .450. There were 35 fouls called against Lethbridge, 27 against the Bears. Phil Scherer led Alberta with 25 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, including 12-12 from the line. Maglisceau added 21 points. Stephen Parker added 18 and Pat Crevolin 8 points and 9 rebounds. “Stephen Parker had his finest game of the year for us. Stephen obviously got mentally prepared and decided that tonight he was going to take it to the next level. We need him. He is a valuable part of this team, as is everybody else on the team,” said Horwood. Balderson led Lethbridge with 25 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, hitting 13-17 from the line. Spencer Holt hit 21 points and 7 boards. Chris Wilde added 9 points and 4 assists. “I think the difference was our effort. I don’t think that we were necessarily (much better). It was just effort,” said Horwood. “We were a better team because we worked harder. Last night, Lethbridge outworked us and I am so proud of our guys because we answered that call. My plea to them tonight was to play like men, not boys who were afraid to play. … It was a tough, physical game. A few times, bodies were flying all over the place. I thought our guys were just sensational. Tremendous character.”
In the deciding contest, Alberta took the series with an 82-71 win. Lethbridge took an early 14-7 lead in the tight, defensive affair. Alberta rallied to back to within three as both teams were plagued by fouls. Alberta took a 34-31 lead into the lockers as the Horns shot 6-15 from the line. Lethbridge took a 43-42 lead in the second half as Spencer Holt stole the ball and fed Danny Balderson for a layup. But Alberta ripped off a 10-0 run to take a 52-46 lead midway through the half. They stretched their margin to 61-48 with six minutes to play. Lethbridge cut it to six but then Max Darrah drilled a three to give Alberta a comfort zone. Lethbridge cut it back to seven with 30 seconds to play but Alberta held on for the win. The Horns shot poorly, coach Dave Crook noted. “I don’t know what was going on. It was frustrating as a coach and player.” Lethbridge shot .440 from the floor. Horwood noted that ‘both teams played very hard. They were very intense. I thought they were a bit tired. Their game was run, run, run and it tired them out. We tried to keep the ball away from Danny and make someone else beat us.” Crook noted it was a tough loss for seniors Balderson, Holt, Tschritter and Hall. “It was tough game to lose anywhere, but certainly a tough one to lose at home. I thought they played some solid defence. They made the most of their chances; sometimes we didn’t and that was the problem. They played hard and put us in some hard spots at times. They deserved to win.” Holt led Lethbridge with 28 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals. “He played hard and really showed what he was. He did what he needed to do,” said Crook. Wilde added 15 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals. Balderson scored 13 with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. “We could not find a way to get the ball into the basket. It was frustrating. I thought the Bears played well. The Bears played good. We were able to break them down but we were not able to do what we wanted to do and that was frustrating,” said Crook. Maglisceau led Alberta with 19 points and 9 boards. Phil Scherer added 15 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Max Darrah scored 14, with 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Pat Crevolin scored 11 and 10 boards. “When we played Lethbridge in our gym, we had over 50 turnovers and both the games were decided in the last minute. We wanted to change that,” said Horwood. “They are quick defensively and that’s why they are so good. We worked hard to try to stop them from doing it.”
After the season, Kevin Hanson becomes coach at UBC after Bruce Enns resigned. Enns had led the T-Birds to a 12-8, third-place regular season and a spot in the Canada West semifinals. “This is not an unhappy day,” he said. “It’s a very happy day. It’s going to be good for me, personally. I have to change some priorities in my life. And I’m very, very happy about the basketball team. They need a little bit of new energy and I think a new coach coming in will help them pick up the program even more. For me, it’s a positive step and it’s a positive step for the program.” Enns had just completed his 14th season at UBC and his 26th as a coach in the CIAU. “Basketball was not bringing out the best in me,” said Enns, refusing to elaborate. Athletic director Bob Philip opted for 1980s star guard Hanson, a Regina native who was also coach at Langara and serving at the helm of the provincial under-19 teams. Hanson won two national community college titles and five provincial titles at Langara. “It’s a job I’ve wanted ever since I played at UBC,” said an ecstatic Hanson. “It’s a great program, a great opportunity and I’m looking forward to being involved.”
Dave Crook resigned from Lethbridge to assume the helm at Winnipeg. Crook had spent 12 years at the helm of the Pronghorns but wanted to move back to his hometown. “It’s a sad and a happy day in my life,” Crook told the Lethbridge Herald. “(Going to Winnipeg) is a great opportunity for me, but at the same time I’m leaving this place and it hurts. I’m going to miss the players and the guys who have played for me in the past.” Dave Adams assumed the Pronghorn helm. He was a Canadian Colleges Athletic Association coach of the year while with the LCC Kodiaks and has coached high school and provincial teams, as well as an assistant to Crook. “I look at this as a flattering and yet humbling opportunity,” Adams said. “I carry the torch for all the Pronghorn alumni. There’s a lot of terrific coaches in the area and all of them had their start with the Pronghorns.”
Calgary announced that it wasn’t renewing the contract of 49-year-old Cory Russell, who’d coached the Dinosaurs for five years and posted a 31-89 league record. “Decisions like this are very difficult,” said athletic director Don Wilson. Russell, a native of Mountain View, California, had been an assistant at San Francisco, Stanford and Cal State-Santa Barbara before joining the Dinosaurs. Wilson replaced Russell with Dan Vanhooren from Medicine Hat College.
In June 2000, the CIAU approves the addition of Simon Fraser University to the organization. It is announced that the Clan will commence competing in the Canada West conference in both men’s and women’s basketball in 2001. The Clan had left the CIAU on March 16-1964 while announcing that they would offer full athletic scholarships. They often culled the cream of Canadian talent to play in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Through the years, the Clan had variable success in the NAIA ranks. In 1973, Alex Devlin was NAIA District I all-district. Jay Triano led the NAIA in scoring in 1979 as a sophomore, playing in 30 games and scoring 733 points for a 24.4 ppg average. In 1998, Jay Triano is Honorable Mention (after three teams of ten) NAIA All-American. The Clan had recently applied for NCAA Division II membership but was unsuccessful, so opted to rejoin the Canadian brethren. SFU was then playing in the Pac West Division 2 conference, whose members were moving, en masse, to the NCAA. “Pac West scheduled us in for 1998-2000,” said Mike Dinning, athletic director at SFU. “They made it quite clear, if we couldn’t get into the NCAA, we’d be out of their conference.” Dinning said the NCAA is not about to make exceptions to its rules that would open its borders to Canada, or possibly Mexico. “A group that large (1,250 schools) does not need another school. Why would they jump through hoops to do it,” he said. “We’ve come to the conclusion, to get the best available competition, where we could find similar philosophies, was to apply to the CIAU and Canada West.”
The co-bronze Victoria Vikes: Allister Wilmott; Etienne Orr-Ewing; Keith Bustard; Aaron Buckham; Joshua Elsdon; Reagan Daly; Jason Crawford; Mark Luttrell; Stephen MacDonald; Lucky Walia; James Blake; Sandy Bisaro; coach Guy Vetrie
The co-bronze medalist British Columbia Thunderbirds: Courtenay Kolla; Jama Mahlalela; Alex Filion; Ben Sansburn; Nino Sose; Jason Bristow; Mike Burak; Kevin Keeler; Jon Fast; Brian Host; Aaron Frampton; coach Bruce Enns
The runner-up Lethbridge Pronghorns: Ryan Reed; Spencer Holt; James Spiess; Robert Slavich; Jason Harrison; Ryan Hall; Michael Meyers; Danny Balderson; John Tschritter; Denis Bekkering; Darryl Mimick; Aaron Edlund; Kevin McBeath; Chris Wilde; Gerald Marcoux; coach Dave Crook; assistant Rick Pawlak; assistant Dave Adams; trainer Lucas Ferguson; trainer Dawn Patrick
The champion Alberta Golden Bears: Nick Maglisceau; Brad Berikoff; Pat Crevolin; Max Darrah; Phil Scherer; Reuben Hall; Chris Trydal; Ryan Baldry; Stephen Parker; Jason Maher; Chris Horwood; Alex Michalas; Scott Plesuk; coach Don Horwood