2007-08 CanWest – men

REGULAR SEASON

	PLAINS				CENTRAL
	Brandon	20-2	28-8	Mike Raimbault	Calgary	18-4	31-10	Don Vanhooren
	Regina	10-12	15-15	James Hillis	Alberta	16-6	24-13	Don Horwood
	Winnipeg	9-13	12-16	Dave Crook	Saskatchewan	12-10	22-19	Greg Jockims
	Manitoba	6-16	8-21	Rick Suffield	Lethbridge	3-19	3-21	Mike Connolly
	PACIFIC
	U.B.C.	18-5	27-6	Kevin Hanson
	Victoria	14-9	17-16	Craig Beaucamp
	Simon Fraser	12-11	13-16	Scott Clark
	Fraser Valley	12-11	12-16	Barnaby Craddock
	Trinity Western	4-19	7-22	S.Peters/Pat Lee
	Thompson Rivers	2-21	2-21	Nevin Gleddie

        Midway through the season, Trinity Western forfeits three games. Trinity Western University, through Director of Athletics Murray Hall, recently disclosed voluntarily to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), the governing body of university sports across Canada that, through an administrative error, student-athlete Lucas Goltz took part in eight contests this season, three of which resulted in wins by Trinity Western against Lethbridge (Nov. 9, 2007), Thompson Rivers (Nov. 17) and Fraser Valley (Dec. 1). The Canada West Executive has accepted Trinity Western’s offer to forfeit games won with an ineligible player, with the understanding that further sanctions could be applied once the CIS completes its investigation. Six points will be deducted from Trinity Western in the official Canada West standings and two-point victories instead awarded to Lethbridge, Thompson Rivers and Fraser Valley, respectively.

        Playoff non-qualifiers:

        Lethbridge Pronghorns: Danhue Lawrence, Ryan Anderson, Quinn Van Gaalen, Shawn Nelson, Richard Steed, Courtney Clawsen, Sephton Spence, Allen Kadima, Brandon Thomas-James, Remington Stemler, Chris Giles, Greg Jobagy, Rob Isza, Darren Adams, coach Mike Connolly

        Manitoba Bisons: Isaac Ansah, Darcy Coss, Brian Crowe, Christopher Pereira, Sean Landry, Clarence Smith, Myron Dean, Joel Pankewich, Graeme Mitchell, Dan Purvis-Collins, Grant Rayner, Eric Garcia, Trevor Assels, Richard Reimer, coach Rick Suffield, assistant Greg Daniels, assistant Darren Johnson, strength & conditioning Alex Villafranca, therapist Kevin Coates, therapist Jordan Miller

        Thompson Rivers Wolfpack: Kamar Burke, Brian Smith, Drew Bleth, Brent Traxel, Geoff Matthews, George Aramide, Connor Agnew, Chris Vanderweide, Lucian Sauciuc, Simon Doty, Matt Pierce, Alex Roth, Lee Johnson, Matt Perry, Kyle McMurray, redshirt Jesse Brown, redshirt Daniel Struthers, coach Nevin Gleddie, assistant Sean Garvey

        Trinity Western Spartans: Luke Robinson, Jon Loewen, Joe Vroom, Matt Myers, Jason Keegstra, Lance Verhoeff, Michael Brouwer, Daniel Demian, Michael Erickson, Drew Slaght, Billy Glowacki, Ryan Froese, Matt Myers, Lucas Goltz, Jamie Vaughan, Jon Schmidt, coach Stan Peters, coach Pat Lee, assistant Malcolm Campbell, assistant Dave Klassen, assistant Matt Weeda

        In the Central semis, Alberta d’d Saskatchewan 82-74; 64-66; 76-61 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, Alberta prevailed 82-74 by dominating the glass. The Golden Bears hit four consecutive 3’s at the beginning of the fourth quarter including a pair by 6’1” C.G. Morrison to take the lead for good and survived a late Huskies comeback. Alberta dominated the glass including 3 offensive rebounds that led directly to three 3’s in the early fourth-quarter flurry. 6’7” Andrew Spagrud was virtually unstoppable inside as he led Huskies within 2 at 74-72 with about 2 1-2 minutes remaining but then both teams struggled offensively until Alberta’s 6’2” Alex Steele hit the final dagger, a deep three with virtually no time left on the shot clock and only 1:01 remaining in the game to give the Bears a five point lead and clinch the win. Alberta jumped out to a 17-4 lead off the start of the game but the Huskies hung in behind Spagrud, who gave Alberta fits all night regardless of whether the Bears doubled him or played zone. Saskatchewan got the game back to within 5 by halftime and then took off on 14-2 run to start the second half to lead by 7 in the third quarter. The Huskies led by 3 after three quarters before the Bears gapped them with the flurry of threes early in the fourth. The Bears dominated the glass on both ends of the floor. It was the Spagrud and Alex Steele story in the first half as they lit the court on fire in the opening half. Steele led Alberta to a half-time lead of 41-36 by scoring 15 points, while shooting six of 10 from the field and dishing out four assists. Spagrud poured in 17 first half points, shooting 7-12 from the field and a perfect 3-3 from outside. The dominant 6’7” forward got off to a slow start under the glass, picking up just one offensive board in twenty minutes. Alberta’s first half lead quickly evaporated in the second, when Spagrud ignited a 13-2 Saskatchewan scoring run and put the Huskies up 62-59 after three quarters. Steele and fifth year guard Andrew Parker started the fourth quarter off right for Alberta, when they combined for a steal in the Saskatchewan zone, with Steele ending the play by dishing to C.G. Morrison who buried in a three-pointer to tie the game. Morrison would connect on two more treys in the fourth. Although the Bears managed to take back the lead, it was in question midway through the fourth as they stalled at 74-64, with the Huskies fighting back to within two. Alberta eventually fought through the Saskatchewan defence and cemented the game with an Andrew Parker breakaway dunk with 2.4 seconds in the contest. Alex Steele paced Alberta with 23 on 9-19 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 7 boards and 5 assists. Andrew Parker added 17 on 5-11 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 5 boards. C.G. Morrison added 14 on 4-9 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 2 steals. Justin Vanloo scored 9 on 4-9 from the floor, 6 boards and 3 steals. Harvey Bradford notched 8 on 4-5 from the floor and 3 boards. Richard Bates scored 6 on 3-10 from the floor and 13 boards. Neb Aleksic added 4 and Patrick Unger 2 while Scott Leigh was scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 31-71 (.437) from the floor, 8-21 (.381) from the arc and 12-14 (.857) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 17 fouls, 14 turnovers, 7 steals and 2 blocks. Andrew Spagrud paced Saskatchewan with 36 on 12-21 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 10-12 from the line, 10 boards and 2 steals. Rob Lovelace added 12 on 4-8 from the floor, 4-5 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Troy Gottselig notched 10 on 5-11 from the floor. Kyle Grant scored 8 on 3-5 from the floor, 6 boards and 3 assists. Jordan Harbidge notched 5 on 2-5 from the floor. Mac Fairbairn scored 3, while Clint Unsworth, Chris Bodnar, Tim Hollman and Mark Lynch were scoreless. The Huskies shot 27-55 (.491) from the floor, 5-17 (.294) from the arc and 15-19 (.789) from the line, while garnering 27 boards, including 4 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 20 fouls, 16 turnovers, 6 steals and 1 block. …………………………………………………… Saskatchewan evened the series with a 66-64 win as Andrew Spagrud scored a turnaround jumper inside the paint with seven seconds on the clock. Alberta came out strong under the glass and shooting hot, staking out a half-time lead of 32-21. The Huskies actually scored the first four points of the game, but from there the Bears posted a 13-0 run and walked away with a 15-9 first quarter. A dominant third quarter by the Huskies put them in front 47-40, thanks to a 26-8 run and 16 points from Spagrud. Kyle Grant was a major thorn in the Alberta side, draining two big treys. The Huskies made clutch shot after clutch shot to stay ahead of the Alberta surge. A gigantic deep ball from Alex Steele kept the Bears on pace and another three from sophomore C.G. Morrison brought Alberta to within two late in the game. As the Huskies in-bounded the ball, the Bear press forced Saskatchewan into a turnover under their own glass where Harvey Bradford turned it into a deuce and a tie score with 31.2 seconds to go. Rob Lovelace moved the ball up court for Saskatchewan, dishing to Spagrud who was covered deep by Justin VanLoo. With the seconds draining away, Spagrud took a quick step, jumped and spun in the air, setting his sights on the hoop and nailing the 180 jumper for 66-64 lead. Steele knifed through the Huskie defence and with two seconds to go attempted a running three ball from just outside the arc, falling just short and watching the ball hit the rim and fall into the arms of Lovelace who held on for the win. Golden Bears point guard Alex Steele said “I didn’t get up on Kyle Grant and I didn’t get my hands up in his face and that’s my fault and coach is right, I definitely let the team down.” Steele also didn’t hear Bears coach Don Horwood call a timeout on the final play as he tried to go end to end for the game winner. “It was close there, I could have pulled up. I could have gone to the hoop and the shot was close … I just don’t want to think about it right now,” said Steele. “I am just really disappointed with the way we played the third quarter. This has been a pattern every second game we’ve played Saskatchewan,” said Horwood. “We came out with a lack of energy and Alex (Steele) didn’t give us anything on defence and he hurt us. He gave up wide open threes.” Andrew Spagrud paced Saskatchewan with 20 on 9-18 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 11 boards and 4 blocks. Kyle Grant added 17 on 6-8 from the floor and 5-6 from the arc. Rob Lovelace added 12 on 4-10 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 5 boards and 5 assists. Troy Gottselig added 7 on 3-5 from the floor and 5 boards. Mac Fairbairn added 6 on 1-3 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. Chris Bodnar added 2 and Mark Lynch 2, while Jordan Harbidge, Tim Hollman and Clint Unsworth were scoreless. The Huskies shot 24-56 (.429) from the floor, 6-15 (.400) from the arc and 12-19 (.632) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 13 fouls, 23 turnovers, 5 steals and 5 blocks. Alex Steele paced Alberta with 11 on 3-15 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Harvey Bradford added 10 on 5-9 from the floor, 6 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. C.G. Morrison added 10 on 4-10 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 2 seals. Justin Vanloo scored 8 on 3-9 from the floor and 6 boards. Richard Bates scored 8 on 4-6 from the floor, 4 boards and 4 blocks. Andrew Parker notched 6 on 2-3 from the floor and 8 boards. Scott Leigh added 5, Neb Aleksic 4 and Patrick Unger 2 while Braydon Janzen was scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 25-63 (.397) from the floor, 4-17 (.235) from the arc and 10-12 (.833) from the line, while garnering 35 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 21 fouls, 18 turnovers, 11 steals and 8 blocks. …………………………………………………… Alberta took the series with a 76-61 win in game three as fifth year guards Andrew Parker and Alex Steele dominated the floor. Parker was a high wire, jumping over scoring tables and staff to keep the ball in play, scored two breakaway monster dunks late in the fourth and generally making life difficult for the Huskies, especially when he was defending the in-bound. Although all impact plays, at the end of the day, head coach Don Horwood will be most pleased with Parker’s sound defence, efficient shooting and lack of fouls. Steele started the scoring with a baseline trey in the early going, but Spagrud cut into the lead with a turnaround jumper from the top of the key and the game was underway. The Bears staked out a 19-12 first quarter lead and fought tooth and nail in the second to keep it. Although the Huskies did own the advantage at one point, Alberta wrestled it back for a 36-27 half-time lead. The third quarter, Alberta’s undoing in game two and near undoing in game one, certainly wasn’t perfect but thanks to a 17-14 difference on the backs of Justin VanLoo and Harvey Bradford, the Bears still owned a 53-41 lead after 30 minutes of play. Desperation sunk in on the Saskatchewan side of half as the Huskies pulled out all the stops to save their playoff lives. With the Huskies working the full press and attempting to run the game at full speed, Horwood continued to reach into his bench to utilize his depth, keeping fresh legs on the court and slowing the pace. Junior guard C.G. Morrison came off the bench to score an important eight points and five assists and was a key cog late in the game as his ball handling and passing skills became critical as the seconds drained away. Andrew Parker paced the Bears with 16 on 6-10 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 9 boards. Alex Steele added 13 on 5-7 from the floor, 2-3 from the line, 3 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Richard Bates notched 13 on 4-7 from the floor, 5-12 from the line, 7 boards and 4 blocks. Justin Vanloo scored 11 on 5-7 from the floor. C.G. Morrison scored 8 on 2-8 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 4 boards and 5 assists. Harvey Bradford scored 6 on 2-4 from the floor and 2-3 from the line. Scott Leigh notched 6 on 2-3 from the arc. Neb Aleksic added 3, while Braydon Janzen was scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 27-49 (.551) from the floor, 4-8 from the arc and 18-27 (.667) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 20 fouls, 23 turnovers, 10 steals and 5 blocks. Andrew Spagrud paced Saskatchewan with 18 on 5-12 from the floor, 8-10 from the line and 6 boards. Troy Gottselig added 17 on 6-9 from the floor, 5-5 from the line and 3 boards. Rob Lovelace notched 14 on 4-12 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 5 boards. Kyle Grant added 12 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Jordan Harbidge, Chris Bodnar, Tim Hollman, Mark Lynch, Mac Fairbairn, Clint Unsworth and Lane Manson were scoreless. The Huskies shot 18-47 (.383) from the floor, 5-17 (.294) from the arc and 20-23 (.870) from the line, while garnering 21 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 25 fouls, 25 turnovers, 4 steals and 3 blocks. The Huskies (coached by Greg Jockims) also included Rejean Chabot, Brennan Jarrett, David Neufeld, Mark Thompson and Nairen Duncan.

        In the Pacific semis, Victoria defeated Simon Fraser 82-69; 77-69 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Victoria defeated Simon Fraser 82-69. The Vikes finished the first half on an 8-1 run to lead by 10 at the break and then quickly extended their lead in the second half, leading by as many as 20 and never allowing the Clan closer than 8. Tyler Hass helped stave off the Clan’s comeback bid by scoring 10 points in the final frame, but it was his generous play in the second quarter that put this game in check. With the game already tied for its fifth instance, the 6-foot-6 Victoria native assisted on three consecutive three-pointers, which saw a tie-game turn into a 39-29 halftime lead. The Vikes would coast through the final two quarters of action, with Mitch Gudgeon’s dunk early in the fourth giving the Vikes their largest lead of the game at 20 points. Gudgeon also ended the game with a wicked two-handed jam, capitalizing off the half-court theft. In total, the Vikes managed to score 25 points off of 15 Simon Fraser turnovers. The Clan led early 17-14 but the Vikes defence proved the difference. Gudgeon finished with 25 points on 9-16 from the floor, 7-10 from the line and 10 boards. Hass added 18 on 7-13 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 5 assists. Mike Hull scored 15 on 5-9 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 assists. Ryan Mackinnon notched 10 on 3-8 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards and 4 steals. Robbie Kinnear scored 6, Brandon Dunlop 5 and Cyril Indome 3, while Mike Berg, Jeff Cullen and Rob Bergen were scoreless. The Vikes shot 30-63 (.476) from the floor, 8-17 (.471) from the arc and 14-18 (.778) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 17 fouls, 10 turnovers, 7 steals and 1 block. Greg Wallis led the Clan with 18 on 7-12 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 7 boards. Nolan Holmes notched 13 on 5-6 from the floor, 3-5 from the line and 4 boards. Matt Kuzminski scored 13 on 5-11 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 4 boards and 3 assists. Kevin Shaw scored 9 on 3-6 from the arc. Sean Burke added 6, Eric Burrell 4, Jordan Nostedt 3, Vladimir Ruzic 2 and Gregory Gillies 1, while Ben Gutowski, Grant Fedorak and Jean-Paul Kamand were scoreless. Simon Fraser shot 27-55 (.491) from the floor, 6-19 (.316) from the arc and 9-16 (.563) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 14 fouls, 15 turnovers, 5 steals and 2 blocks. …………………………………………………… Victoria completed the series sweep by rallying to defeat Simon Fraser 77-69 in overtime. Trailing by as many as 12 points, the Vikes needed a second-half comeback, which ended with seven unanswered points to force the overtime period. Vikes forward Mitch Gudgeon tied the game at 64-64 with nearly three minutes remaining, and the two sides combined for 10 scoreless possessions to necessitate the extra frame. Greg Wallis opened the scoring in the overtime period, but Brandon Dunlop answered back with a three-pointer for the Vikes first lead since the six-minute mark of the first quarter. Shortly afterward a Ryan MacKinnon three-pointer had the Clan staring at a six-point deficit, and allowed the Vikes to close out the series on free-throws. Negating an early Vikes 7-2 lead, Simon Fraser led throughout the regulation. Guards Grant Fedorak and Jordan Nostedt teamed up to closed out the first quarter with nine unanswered points, and three minutes into the second the Clan held their largest lead of the game at 12 points. By halftime the Vikes trailed 39-32. With Simon Fraser bigs Wallis and Nolan Holmes both battling foul trouble, the Vikes were able to get the ball inside and chip away at the deficit in the second half. Entering the final frame the Vikes trailed by just three points, and Tyler Hass opened the quarter by scoring seven straight for the Vikes. The rest was left up to the defence, as the league’s top-ranked defensive unit held the Clan scoreless over the final five minutes of regulation. In total, Simon Fraser was held to just three field goals over the game’s final 10 minutes. Brandon Dunlop paced the Vikings with 23 on 7-12 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 4 boards and 3 steals. Tyler Hass added 15 on 6-8 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 4 boards. Mitch Gudgeon notched 13 on 5-9 from the floor, 3-9 from the line and 10 boards. Ryan Mackinnon scored 10 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-3 from the line and 3 boards. Cyril Indome scored 8 on 3-8 from the floor and 1-6 from the arc. Mike Hull added 4 on 4-4 from the line and 9 boards. Julian Spear Chief-Morris notched 2 and Robbie Kinnear 2, while Jeff Cullen and Rob Bergen were scoreless. Victoria shot 25-57 (.439) from the floor, 6-24 from the arc and 21-30 (.700) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 14 turnovers and 10 steals. Matt Kuzminski paced Simon Fraser with 20 on 8-17 from the floor, 4-5 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Greg Wallis added 15 on 6-12 from the floor and 7 boards. Kevin Shaw scored 12 on 4-8 from the arc and 3 boards. Grant Fedorak added 7 on 3-3 from the floor and 1-4 from the arc. Sean Burke added 4 and Nolan Holmes 5, along with 10 boards. Jordan Nostedt scored 4 and Eric Burrell 2, while Gregory Gillies was scoreless. The Clan shot 25-57 (.439) from the floor, 5-15 from the arc and 14-17 (.824) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 20 fouls, 21 turnovers and 5 steals. The Clan (coached by Scott Clark) also included Jean-Paul Kamand, Ben Gutowski, Vladimir Ruzic, J.P. Philistin and John-Edward Bengtson.

In the other Pacific semi, U.B.C. defeated Fraser Valley 82-63; 72-66. …………………………………………………… In the opener, UBC thrashed Fraser Valley 82-63. The T-Birds took control after trailing by double digits in the third quarter led by 6’0” Alex Murphy, who orchestrated a 38-8 run. The Cascades had their way for the first 26 minutes of play, taking UBC out of the offense to lead 55-44 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter. But then Murphy and 6’4” Blaine Labranche sparked the T-Birds culminated by Murphy’s long three pointer with 4 minutes left to give UBC a 71-59 lead . 6’3” Chris Dyck kept the Birds in the game early. Ravi Athwal’s shot midway through the third quarter put the Cascades up 55-44, and they seemed poised to upset the fifth-ranked T-Birds, but it would be 13 minutes before Fraser Valley hit another field-goal, as UBC came storming back. Alex Murphy got things started for UBC, cutting the deficit back to single digits with a layup with just over four minutes to play in the third quarter, and Matt Rachar capped off a 14-1 run to end the third by rebounding Brent Malish’s missed free-throw and hitting a shot at the buzzer to give UBC its first lead of the half. But the ‘Birds were far from finished, as they outscored Fraser Valley 24-7 in the final frame. UBC coach Kevin Hanson credited his team’s defence for turning things around. “I think we were able to get our stops. They were getting a lot of dribble penetration on us. We were really focusing on a couple of their perimeter guys and it really extended our defence, which allowed them to get that penetration against us, and that’s what really hurt us. So we gave them a little bit more of a defensive cushion and tried to play a little bit more of a team-style defence instead of trying to stop one guy.” UBC seemed to be in the driver’s seat early on as well. The Cascades had just two points on the board with six minutes gone in the first quarter, but the T-Birds’ offense couldn’t seem to get in rhythm and take advantage of the opportunity to build a lead. “We try to find that right mix of guys, and at any time on a given night it seems to be different guys,” said Hanson. “In the first half, Malish, Rachar and Bryson Kool combined for three points and two of them only took two shots. We wanted to pound it inside and score inside the paint, but we weren’t able to do that. We didn’t finish our lay-ups early on.” The T-Birds finally hit their stride at the beginning of their big third quarter run, just moments after Balraj Bains excited the crowd with his second block of the game. “Getting those stops enabled us to score in transition,” said Hanson. “Fraser Valley did a very good job defensively in the first half, and that took us out of our sets a little bit. During that run we were able to score in transition and get some easier hoops and that was a big difference.” Cascades coach Barnaby Craddock said “I thought we played well for a large portion of the game, but we didn’t come out of the gate well and we didn’t close well. We had some bad stretches and we’re going to have to play better basketball if we want to be on the winning end of the scoresheet.” BC had the first run of the night as the home side jumped out to an early 10-2 lead. Trailing by eight with less than four minutes left in the opening quarter, the Cascades suddenly found their shot. First-year guard Ravi Athwal parked an 8-2 run with a three-pointer as the visitors closed the gap to just two points (12-10). UBC added a free throw before Athwal tied the game 13-13 with another long ball. Rookie Tristan Smith (Gardena, Calif.) gave UCFV its first lead of the night (15-13) with 51 seconds left, but UBC’s Chris Dyck hit two of three free throws late to knot the game at 15-15 after the first 10 minutes. The Cascades opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run and led by seven with 6:56 to go in the first half. That’s when UBC, and Dyck, got hot. Dyck scored eight points in the next three minutes to tie the game, 32-32. The Thunderbirds added back-to-back buckets to take the lead, 36-32. The Cascades responded with another 8-2 run and went into the locker room at halftime up by two, 40-38. UCFV continued to add to its lead in the third. The Cascades out-scored the Thunderbirds 15-6 in the opening five minutes of the second half to take a 55-44 lead midway through the third quarter. If the Thunderbirds were nervous, they didn’t show it down the stretch. The top-ranked team in the Pacific division responded with a 14-1 run to close out the third quarter and take a 58-56 lead into the fourth and final quarter. With the lead in hand, UBC continued to pour in the points. Chris Dyck paced UBC with 20 on 6-13 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 5-7 from the line and 4 assists. Alex Murphy added 17 on 6-9 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 assists and 4 steals. Blaine Labranche notched 15 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 5-6 from the line. Brent Malish added 6 on 2-6 from the floor and 7 boards. Matt Rachar scored 5, Brett Leversage 4, Graham Bath 4, Balraj Bains 4, Bryson Kool 3, Kyle Watson 2 and Nathan Yu 2. The Thunderbirds shot 26-57 (.456) from the floor, 9-17 (.529) from the arc and 21-30 (.700) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 20 fouls, 20 turnovers, 14 steals and 5 blocks. Mike Mckay paced Fraser Valley with 13 on 2-3 from the floor, 9-11 from the line and 3 boards. Dwayne Harrison scored 12 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 6 boards. Tristan Smith notched 9 on 4-11 from the floor. Ravi Athwal scored 8 on 3-8 from the floor. Kyle Graves added 6, Doug Plumb 5, Joel Haviland 3, Anthony Lao 3, Kyle Grewal 2 and Dylan Gatner 2, while Darren Johnson was scoreless. The Cascades shot 20-54 (.370) from the floor, 6-18 (.333) from the arc and 17-21 (.810) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 23 fouls, 25 turnovers and 4 steals. …………………………………………………… UBC completed the series sweep by defeating Fraser Valley 72-66 in game two. Down by as much as 15 points in the second half, the Cascades never gave up and fought back to close UBC’s lead to just two points before the top-ranked Thunderbirds pulled out the victory. “I’m proud of the way we fought and scrapped tonight,” said UCFV coach Barnaby Craddock. “I think we learned from the previous night how we need to come out and play 40 minutes and we got a little bit closer to that tonight. We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well and that really hurt us, but we fought hard enough to be in the game at the end.” UBC jumped out to an early lead thanks to its strong shooting. Trailing 19-13 with just over two minutes to play in the first quarter, the Cascades went on a 6-3 run to tie the game at 19-19 before UBC hit a late three-pointer to take a 22-19 lead after the first 10 minutes. The hot-handed Thunderbirds continued to pour it on in the second quarter as the home side out-scored the Cascades 20-13 in the second frame to take a 42-32 lead into the lockers. UBC extended its lead to 49-34 midway through the third quarter before the Cascades started to find their rhythm. The visitors went on a 9-0 run to close the gap to 49-43 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. UBC battled back, however, with a 7-0 run of its own before settling for a 10-point lead after three quarters, 60-50. The final frame was all Cascades, or more specifically, fifth-year centre Kyle Graves. The Sardis-grad went down swinging in his final game in a Cascades uniform. Graves scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the final 10 minutes to pull UCFV to within a bucket of the Thunderbirds at 68-66 with just over two minutes to play in the game. That was as close as the Cascades and Graves would get as UBC hit a jumper and two free throws to end the game on a 4-0 run. “I’m proud of what we accomplished this year,” said Craddock. “This weekend was a good step for our program. I thought we gave UBC a real test both nights and showed that we deserved to be in the Canada West playoffs. We’ll learn from our experience and be back in future years.” Kyle Graves brought his side to within two points of the T-Birds midway through the fourth quarter, and on the Cascades’ next possession, he put up what could have been the game-tying shot, if it wasn’t for 6-foot-9 Balraj Bains coming up with the big block to preserve the UBC lead. Blaine LaBranche’s layup on the ensuing play put the T-Birds up by three, and a nice feed from Chris Dyck to Bryson Kool with time winding down sealed Fraser Valley’s fate. “I thought Barnaby (Craddock, UCFV head coach) did an incredible job preparing his guys to play us,” said UBC coach Kevin Hanson. “Some people are happy taking a week off if they win the division but I think this is probably the best thing for us to play against that tough defence that we saw last night and again tonight. We felt that their perimeter defence was really solid and we wanted to take advantage of the inside play. The strategy going in was to pound the ball inside and get a lot of touches in the paint. Even if we didn’t score we could draw a lot of fouls on them, and we definitely wanted the majority of our shots taken from inside the key.” Bryson Kool paced UBC with 20 on 9-11 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 7 boards. Blain Labranche notched 13 on 4-4 from the floor, 3-3 from the line and 2 boards. Matt Rachar scored 11 on 4-10 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 8 boards and 2 steals. Chris Dyck scored 11 on 4-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 7 boards. Alex Murphy scored 7, Brent Malish 6, along with 5 boards, and Brett Leversage 4, while Kyle Watson, Nathan Yu, Graham Bath and Balraj Bains were scoreless. The Thunderbirds shot 27-53 (.509) from the floor, 5-10 from the arc and 13-20 (.650) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 21 assists, 227 fouls, 23 turnovers, 4 steals and 6 blocks. Kyle Graves led Fraser Valley with 15 on 6-14 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 6 boards. Mike Mckay added 9 on 2-6 from the floor and 5-6 from the line. Ravi Athwal scored 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Dwayne Harrison added 9 on 2-9 from the floor and 3-6 from the line. Dylan Gatner notched 7 on 3-3 from the floor. Doug Plumb scored 6 on 2-12 from the floor and 6 boards. Joel Haviland scored 5 on 2-10 from the floor and 4 boards. Kyle Grewal scored 4 on 2-2 from the line and 8 boards. Tristan Smith notched 3 and Anthony Lao 2. The Cascades shot 21-70 (.300) from the floor, 5-14 (.208) from the arc and 19-28 (.679) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 13 turnovers, 8 steals and 1 block. The Cascades (coached by Barnaby Craddock) also included Lee Jackson, Darren Johnson, Dylan Gatner, Nick Alderliesten and Jay Valeri.

        In the Plains semis, Regina defeated Winnipeg 64-57; 83-49 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In the opener, Regina defeated Winnipeg 64-57. The two teams were even throughout the first half of play. Winnipeg played a solid first quarter to take a 20-19 lead. The Cougars outscored Winnipeg by a slim margin of 12-11 in the second quarter to make the score tied at 31-31 at halftime. The Cougars took the lead in the third quarter outscoring the Wesmen 19-14 to grab a 50-45 lead after three quarters of play. Both teams continued their defensive play in the fourth quarter but Regina held their ground for the game one victory. ‘We played a great game defensive game, so it is frustrating”, said Wesmen Head Coach Dave Crook. Winnipeg was playing without Erfan Nasajpour, Dan Shynkaryk and Michael Passley who are all out with injuries. Bryden Wright paced Regina with 20 on 6-16 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 7-10 from the line and 8 boards. Kris Heshka notched 11 on 4-5 from the floor, 3-5 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 seals and 3 blocks. Paul Schubach added 9 on 2-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 3 assists. Jamal Williams notched 6 on 1-8 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 15 boards and 2 steals. Jeff Lukomski scored 6 on 2-7 from the floor, 2-3 from the line, 4 boards and 4 steals. Adam Huffman scored 6 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 7 boards. Jordan McFarlen scored 4 on 1-4 from the floor. Paul Gareau added 2, while Jayes Tarka was scoreless. The Cougars shot 19-49 (.388) from the floor, 2-12 (.167) from the arc and 24-36 (.667) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 18 fouls, 21 turnovers, 10 steals and 7 blocks. Peter Lomuro paced Winnipeg with 16 on 6-15 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 5 boards and 4 steals. Mike James notched 12 on 5-10 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 10 boards. Matt Opalko scored 10 on 4-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. James Horaska notched 7 on 3-7 from the floor, 8 boards and 3 steals. Nick Lother scored 7 on 2-15 from the floor and 3-3 from the line. Cam Hornby scored 3 on 3-4 from the line and 3 boards. Jeff Shynkaryk added 2, while Randy Kezie and Ben Kingdon were scoreless. The Wesmen shot 21-70 (.300) from the floor, 2-18 (.111) from the arc and 13-20 (.650) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 5 assists, 28 fouls, 19 turnovers, 11 steals and 1 block. …………………………………………………… Regina completed the sweep by clubbing Winnipeg 83-49. Regina took full control of the game in the first half building a 53-32 lead at halftime. The Cougars shot an amazing 58% from the field in the first half and were almost perfect from the free throw line connecting on 13-of-14 free throws in the first half. The struggles continued for the Wesmen in the second half as Winnipeg could only muster 17 points in the half. Winnipeg was without fifth year guard Erfan Nasajpour who sat at the series with a groin injury. Fifth year post Dan Shynkaryk played 11 minutes scoring six points despite a painful back injury. The Cougars blew the game wide open late in the first quarter, going on a 13-0 run to seize control of the contest. At one time in the second, Winnipeg trailed by just four points but Regina went on a 16-4 run late in the quarter and went into the half with a 21-point lead. With several players in foul trouble in the second half, the Wesmen never threatened to get back in the ball game. Bryden Wright paced Regina with 22 on 9-18 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 12 boards and 4 assists. Kris Heshka notched 12 on 5-8 from the floor, 2-3 from the line, 8 boards and 2 steals. Jamal Williams scored 12 on 4-8 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Paul Gareau notched 11 on 3-3 from the floor, 5-7 from the line and 2 steals. Jordan McFarlen scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Adam Huffman scored 8 on 3-5 from the floor and 2-3 from the line. Paul Schubach added 5, Jeff Lukomski 3 and Jayes Tarka 2, while Steve Christie and Kevin Tamaki were scoreless. The Cougars shot 30-63 (.476) from the floor, 4-15 (.267) from the arc and 19-24 (.792) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 24 fouls, 10 turnovers, 10 steals and 2 blocks. Matt Opalko paced Winnipeg with 11 points on 4-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Mike James added 9 on 4-12 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 8 boards. Nick Lother notched 9 on 2-13 from the floor and 5-6 from the line. Dan Shynkaryk added 6 on 2-4 from the floor and 2-2 from the line. Peter Lomuro added 5 on 2-13 from the floor and 8 boards. Cam Hornby scored 5 on 3-3 from the line and 2 boards. James Horaska added 3 and Jeff Shynkaryk 1, while Randy Kezie, Ben Kingdon, Erfan Nasajpour and Ryan Willerton were scoreless. The Wesmen shot 16-66 (.242) from the floor, 2-18 (.111) from the arc and 15-20 from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 22 fouls, 17 turnovers, 4 steals and 2 blocks. The Wesmen (coached by Dave Crook) also included Michael Passley and Justin Majok.

        In the Central division finals, Calgary defeated Alberta 87-78; 90-66 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Calgary clipped Alberta 87-78 after exploding for 30 points in the third quarter. “We came out and met the challenge very well,” said Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren. “The fear coming in was the (13-day) layoff and that we wouldn’t come out hard, but I thought we did a good job of that. The only problem in the first half was our rebounding. We didn’t rebound the ball in our own end very well and we gave up 11 offensive boards, and that was the difference in that halftime score.” A 6-0 Alberta run in the last 55 seconds of the second quarter turned a narrow Calgary lead into a 44-39 halftime advantage for the visitors, capped off by C.G. Morrison’s long-distance three that beat the buzzer. A five-point Calgary lead after the first disappeared as the Alberta bench scored 22 points in the second frame. A different Dinos team returned to the court in the second half, however. Calgary tied it up in the first minute of the third quarter, then went on an impressive 13-3 run led by nine points from Henry Bekkering and suddenly it was 52-45 for the Dinos. A two-handed Bekkering dunk made it 66-55 Calgary, and Ross Bekkering closed out the quarter with the hoop and the harm at the buzzer, completing the traditional three-point play as the Dinos took a 69-60 lead into the fourth. Vanhooren was impressed with his team’s third quarter. “It shows the kind of character our team has and what kind of guts we have. The guys played with a good deal of controlled emotion. We obviously cleaned up our rebounding and made some shots finally.” Calgary extended the lead to as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter before Vanhooren began to play his bench and, though Alberta finished the game on a 7-2 run, it was too little too late. “We hadn’t played for a while and everyone was so excited . . . maybe a little too excited,” smiled Dinos’ Henry Bekkering. Alberta coach Don Horwood said “I think we got beaten by their big posts, the Bekkerings and Robbie Sihota. They kept going to them and we were too soft on them.” The three big men, in fact, accounted for more than half Calgary’s points. “I thought our kids came out with more energy in the second half,” said Vanhooren. “They got three or four offensive rebounds and that gave us a lift.” Sihota said he didn’t think the Dinos were suffering from a case of the nerves in the first half. “A lot of us have been here before. The biggest thing, I think, was our defence. It came together in the second half and we were able to shut them down.” At the start of the second half, in fact, Calgary outgunned the Bears 13-3 and never looked back. At one point, the home team led by 15. The Bears were hurt by a number of giveaways, much to Horwood’s chagrin. “We’ve struggled against most teams in the third quarter and I have no idea why. We just don’t come out with the same intensity.” Henry Bekkering paced Calgary with 27 on 9-20 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 8-10 from the line and 10 boards. Robbie Sihota added 17 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 6-12 from the line, 10 boards and 3 steals. Ross Bekkering added 15 on 4-10 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 6-7 from the line, 6 boards and 5 blocks. Jeff Price scored 10 on 5-11 from the floor, 5 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals. Cody Darrah notched 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 4 boards and 2 steals. Tyler Fidler scored 8 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 3 steals. Jeremy Odland added 2 while Josh Lovestone was scoreless. The Dinos shot 30-70 (.429) from the floor, 6-16 (.375) from the arc and 21-32 (.656) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 15 fouls, 15 turnovers, 15 steals and 7 blocks. Alex Steele led Alberta with 20 on 8-24 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 8 boards, 6 assists and 3 steals. Neb Aleksic added 20 on 7-14 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 8 boards. C.G. Morrison notched 13 on 5-10 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc and 3 boards. Braydon Janzen added 6 on 3-7 from the floor, 5 boards and 3 steals. Richard Bates scored 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 5 boards, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Harvey Bradford scored 4 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Andrew Parker scored 4 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 2 steals. James Suderman added 3, Scott Leigh 2 and Justin Vanloo 2, while Patrick Unger and Eric Casey were scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 30-75 (.400) from the floor, 9-21 (.429) from the arc and 9-14 (.643) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 20 fouls, 24 turnovers, 10 steals and 5 blocks. …………………………………………………… In game two, Calgary completed the sweep by stomping Alberta 90-66. “’Wow’ is probably a good explanation of it,” said Calgary coach Dan Vanhooren. “That was the best basketball game we’ve played all year. It shows we’re peaking at the right time.” The Dinos broke open a tight game late in the opening quarter with a 7-0 run and never looked back, taking a 23-16 lead into the first break. The run was highlighted by a block from Ross Bekkering, turning the ball over to Calgary. Cody Darrah then found Henry Bekkering with a spectacular alley-oop dunk that brought the near-capacity crowd of 2804 to its feet in the Jack Simpson Gym. Ross Bekkering then sealed the run with a long three at the buzzer. Alberta began to press in the second and kept it close, thanks in large part to Richard Bates, who made several tough shots in traffic in the quarter. Calgary was totally dominant on the glass, however, out-rebounding the Bears 26-12 in the first 20 minutes and taking a 45-34 lead into the half. Foul trouble loomed for the Dinos early in the third, with six team fouls called in the first 3:45 of the period. Alberta was able to close the gap to seven points, but the Dinos bench performed very well in limiting the Bears’ success – and even built on the lead. “I think the difference in the game was in the third quarter when we got in a little foul trouble, and our bench comes on, and they play well,” said Vanhooren. “Not only did they maintain our lead, but they increased it. I’m really proud of our team right now.” The fourth quarter was all Henry Bekkering, who scored 13 including two more brilliant dunks as the Dinos ran away with it. Alberta coach Don Horwood said “we got beat by a great basketball team. “They’re big and athletic up front, they’re quick to the boards, they shoot the ball very well . . . they have all the parts.” Vanhooren said “we knew it was going to be a physical battle and that we would have to take everything they gave us.” In the third quarter, the Dinos became their own worst enemies, running into foul trouble and giving Alberta that window of opportunity to get back into the game. Up by 11 at the half, Calgary’s lead dwindled to six and starters Robbie Sihota and Ross Bekkering, each with three fouls, sat out most of that quarter. But their replacements, people like Joe Schow and Josh Lovestone, seamlessly took a turn on the floor and by the end of the third, the advantage was back up to 17. “We had Henry (Bekkering) and Lovestone and Henry and Schow,” pointed out Vanhooren. “Henry knew he had to elevate his game and he did a great job.” Ross Bekkering said “energy definitely wasn’t a problem today,” suggested Ross Bekkering. “We talked about having no lapses. Mistakes are going to happen, but we played consistent basketball.” Former Golden Bear Cody Darrah said “yeah, this is big, being my fifth year and coming from the U of A,” said Darrah, who made a nifty pass on the alley oop by Henry Bekkering near the end of the first quarter. “We tried to focus on turnovers and offensive rebounds from the get-go.” Henry Bekkering paced Alberta with 31 on 12-21 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 6-6 from the line, 11 boards, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Robbie Sihota notched 17 on 6-10 from the floor, 5-6 from the line and 8 boards. Ross Bekkering scored 17 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 10-10 from the line, 12 boards and 2 blocks. Josh Lovestone scored 8 on 3-3 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Tyler Fidler scored 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 6 boards and 3 blocks. Joe Schow added 4, Andrew Champagnie 3, Jeremy Odland 3 and Jeff Price 2, while nabbed 4 boards and dishing 7 assists. Cody Darrah, Brennen Fule and Chris Unsworth were scoreless. The Dinos shot 29-60 (.483) from the floor, 5-14 (.357) from the arc and 27-30 (.900) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 19 fouls, 19 turnovers, 10 steals and 8 blocks. C.G. Morrison paced Alberta with 21 on 8-15 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 4 assists. Alex Steele added 12 on 5-15 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Richard Bates scored 11 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the line, 3 boards and 2 blocks. Harvey Bradford scored 7 on 2-5 from the floor, 3-7 from the line and 6 boards. Neb Aleksic notched 5 on 2-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Justin Vanloo scored 5 on 2-10 from the floor. Andrew Parker notched 3 on 1-2 from the floor and 4 boards. Braydon Janzen added 2, while Scott Leigh, Patrick Unger, Eric Casey and James Suderman were scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 26-72 (.361) from the floor, 7-16 (.438) from the arc and 7-17 (.412) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 27 fouls, 14 turnovers, 9 steals and 3 blocks.

In the Plains division final, Brandon defeated Regina 85-87; 105-70; 89-67 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In the opener, Regina nipped Brandon 87-85 as Paul Gareau hit a layup with 10.4 seconds to play. Brandon had rallied back from a 29 point second half deficit to nearly pull out the win. The Cougars took a 22-point lead into halftime after outscoring the hometown Bobcats by a 30-7 margin in the second quarter. Regina led by 23 after three quarters, but a 35-9 run by the Bobcats that spanned the third and fourth quarters brought Brandon right back into the contest. Brandon never led after the first quarter, but they did tie the game in the final minute of the fourth quarter after Nathan Grant’s three-point play drew the score even at 85, setting the stage for Gareau’s layup. “We showed a lot of heart to come back,” said Brandon coach Mike Raimbault. “I don’t think it was a matter of us not playing well. I liked our intensity in the first quarter; we just hit a dry spell in the second, and they were hitting easy buckets, and it was just too much to overcome.” The Bobcats led 18-13 in the first quarter before the Cougars exploded on an 18-0 run to take a sizable lead. Regina outscored the Bobcats 30-7 in the second quarter and led by 22 at the half. They stretched the lead to as many as 29 in the third quarter, before BU finally came to life in the fourth period. “We couldn’t hit a shot when we got good looks,” noted Raimbault. “I thought their zone was effective at times, but we had good opportunities to score and they just didn’t fall.” Nathan Grant’s three-point play with 33 seconds left tied the game at 85, but Gareau’s second-chance basket on the ensuing trip down the floor proved to be the difference. The Bobcats had a bevy of chances to tie it on their final possession, missing three shots from inside 15 feet. “We just let them back into the game and that’s why they’re number two in the country,” said Regina coach James Hillis. “That wouldn’t have been the first time they’d won a game like that. They’re good, they have guys that can hit big shots; I’m just happy that Paul was able to stick one at the end.” Paul Gareau paced Regina with 31 points on 15-19 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Jamal Williams added 15 on 6-14 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 7 boards and 6 assists. Bryden Wright scored 14 on 6-16 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 6 boards. Paul Schubach notched 11 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 7 boards. Kris Heshka notched 7 on 3-10 from the floor and 10 boards. Adam Huffman scored 4 on 1-2 from the floor and 4 boards. Jeff Lukomski notched 3 and Jordan McFarlen 2, while Jayes Tarka was scoreless. The Cougars shot 36-80 (.450) from the floor, 5-18 (.278) from the arc and 10-16 (.625) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 17 fouls, 17 turnovers, 9 steals and 3 blocks. David Yul Michel paced Brandon with 21 on 7-19 from the floor, 7-8 from the line, 5 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Yuri Whyms added 16 on 8-11 from the floor, 12 boards, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Dany Charlery notched 16 on 6-25 from the floor, 1-11 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Adam Hartman scored 11 on 4-12 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 1 assist. Nathan Grant scored 9 on 4-9 from the floor, 1-1 from the line and 8 boards. Tarik Tokar notched 5 on 2-7 from the floor. Kevin Oliver added 3, Erik Holm and Stevens Marcelin 2, while Kyle Vince was scoreless. The Bobcats shot 34-91 (.374) from the floor, 3-23 (.130) from the arc and 14-16 (.875) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 25 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 18 fouls, 15 turnovers, 12 steals and 5 blocks. …………………………………………………… In game two, Brandon evened the series by clocking Regina 105-70. “It was the type of intensity, especially on the defensive end, that we needed to put together,” said Brandon coach Mike Raimbault. “I was really happy with the way we played. Our defensive rotations were better, our energy level was higher, and that resulted in a few more stops. I guess sometimes it’s easier to defend when the ball’s going in at the other end also.” Yuri Whyms was dominant in the blocks. “For me, yesterday was tough,” said Whyms. “I don’t like losing to Regina, so that bothered the hell out of me. I took it really personal, and I’m going to take it personal tomorrow until they’re gone and back home. We started talking more, we started hedging, we started bring help side defensive,” noted Whyms. “We just played better and with more intensity all game long.” The Cougars employed a zone defence on Friday which frustrated the Brandon attack at times, but the powerful Bobcats offence churned out at least 25 points in all four quarters on Saturday. Regina was within striking distance of Brandon after one quarter, trailing 26-21, but the Bobcats went on a 20-2 run that spanned most of the second to seize control of the contest. Yuri Whyms paced Brandon with 22 on 9-15 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 14 boards and 4 steals. Dany Charlery added 19 on 7-17 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Adam Hartman scored 17 on 5-7 from the floor, 4-5 from the arc, 3 boards and 6 assists. Tarik Tokar added 16 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc and 7-8 from the line. David Yul Michel notched 12 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 4 boards, 6 assists and 3 steals. Stevens Marcelin added 8 on 4-7 from the floor, 3 boards and 2 blocks. Kevin Oliver notched 6 on 2-5 from the arc. Martin Lawrence added 2, Erik Holm 2 and Nathan Grant 1, while Kyle Vince was scoreless. The Bobcats shot 36-73 (.493) from the floor, 13-25 (.520) from the arc and 20-24 (.833) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 30 assists, 18 fouls, 17 turnovers, 12 steals and 4 blocks. Jeff Lukomski paced Regina with 16 on 5-12 from the floor, 5-10 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards and 3 assists. Kris Heshka added 12 on 5-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 6 boards and 2 steals. Jamal Williams notched 12 on 5-12 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 5 boards and 3 assists. Paul Schubach scored 7 on 2-8 from the floor and 3-4 from the line. Bryden Wright scored 6 on 2-11 from the floor, 9 boards, 6 assists and 3 steals. Adam Huffman scored 5, Jordan McFarlen 4 and Paul Gareau 4 on 2-2 from the floor, 6 boards and 2 steals. Steven Christie added 2 and Kevin Tamaki 2, while Jayes Tarka was scoreless. The Cougars shot 25-66 (.379) from the floor, 8-20 (.400) from the arc and 12-17 (.706) from the arc, while garnering 35 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 21 fouls, 26 turnovers, 11 steals and 1 block. …………………………………………………… In the deciding contest, Brandon prevailed 89-67. “We came out Friday and dug ourselves a hole, but we battled back,” said Brandon coach Mike Raimbault. “I thought the guys did a great job at digging deep and bringing the type of intensity you need in a game like this.” With Brandon leading 59-56 early in the period, Adam Hartman scored eight straight points on a pair of three-pointers sandwiched around a deep two-point field goal. “It was a good feeling,” said Hartman. “I’ve had a lot of great moments in this gym, so if the quarter hadn’t worked out and I’d been held to four points, it wouldn’t have been a big deal to me. But tonight was definitely memorable.” Raimbault said “it was a real physical game. We did a great job of battling through and hitting shots down the stretch.” After trailing by 12 at the half, the Cougars outscored the Bobcats by a 25-18 margin during the third quarter and cut the lead to as little as three in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but fifth-year Brandon forward Adam Hartman scored 14 fourth-quarter points – including four three-pointers – to spark a Bobcat charge that put the game out of reach. Adam Hartman paced Brandon with 20 on 7-13 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Tarik Tokar added 19 on 6-12 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 4-5 from the line and 4 boards. Dany Charlery added 15 on 6-11 from the floor, 3-3 from the line, 6 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Yuri Whyms added 14 on 6-9 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 13 boards and 2 steals. David Yul Michel notched 12 on 4-11 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 9 assists and 7 steals. Kyle Vince added 3, Nathan Grant 2, Erik Holm 2 and Stevens Marcelin 2, while Kevin Oliver and Martin Lawrence were scoreless. The Bobcats shot 33-64 (.516) from the floor, 8-19 (.421) from the arc and 15-18 (.833) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 23 assists, 19 fouls, 20 turnovers, 18 steals and 2 blocks. Paul Gareau paced Regina with 17 on 6-10 from the floor, 5-6 from the line and 11 boards. Bryden Wright notched 14 on 6-17 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 3 boards. Jamal Williams added 12 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 assists and 3 steals. Paul Schubach notched 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 5 boards. Jeff Lukomski scored 8 on 2-11 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 4 boards and 4 steals. Adam Huffman added 5 and Kris Heshka 3, while Jordan McFarlen and Jayes Tarka were scoreless. The Cougars shot 24-63 (.381) from the floor, 3-18 (.167) from the arc and 16-21 (.762) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 17 fouls, 20 turnovers and 9 steals. The Cougars (coached by James Hillis, assisted by Steve Burrows, Glen Fekula and Mick Panko) also included Nebojsa Kostic, Reid Quest, Steven Christie, Kevin Tamaki, Brett Weese, Lance Aldcorn and Jordan Kozey.

        In the Pacific division final, U.B.C. defeated Victoria 70-67; 86-77 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, U.B.C. prevailed 70-67 as Chris Dyck scored 7 in the final minutes to help the Thunderbirds rally from an 8 point fourth quarter deficit. The Vikes missed 5 free and committed 6 turnovers down the stretch. Blaine LaBranche hit one of his two free-throws with 13 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to make it a three point game, and the Vikes failed to convert on a pair of desperation three-pointers as time expired. The T-Birds found themselves down 53-46 entering the fourth quarter after a Victoria-dominated third frame in which they were outscored 26-7. “For the most part I was pretty happy with our rotations,” said UBC coach Kevin Hanson. “I thought that they did a good job with that 19 point swing in the third quarter. They hit a lot of shots. I didn’t think our defence was that bad but they made some plays and they got some offensive rebounds.” The third wasn’t the only major momentum swing of the game however. The T-Birds took a 39-27 lead into halftime after holding Victoria off the boards entirely for more than half of the second quarter. Chris Dyck was responsible for restoring the UBC lead midway through the fourth quarter, following up a short range bucket with a three-pointer on the next possession to put his side up 61-59. Dyck was in foul trouble in the first half. “We had a gut feeling and we let him play for about four or five minutes in the second quarter,” said Hanson, “But he just couldn’t get into the rhythm, worrying about fouling out or getting into foul trouble. As the game went on, he had some fresh legs and he wanted to win, and I think he wasn’t worried anymore about fouling out so he got the opportunity to play. He got some great penetration and he made some huge hoops for us there in the fourth.” Victoria coach Craig Beaucamp said “we can’t play like we did in the first 20 minutes and expect to come back against a good team like UBC. In the second quarter, we dug ourselves into a hole and in that situation you have to be perfect to come back for the win. With our team, we just can’t afford to spot them a 12-point lead before we start coming back. In the second quarter, we got outworked at times and we gave them far too many second-chance opportunities. We’ll need our best effort of the year to stay alive. We’ll have to play aggressive and smart basketball.” The Vikes trailed 25-22 after the first quarter and then the offence was limited to five points in the second 10 minutes, all scored by Hass. Hanson noted that “basketball is a game of runs. We got up by 12 and then we got lulled to sleep in the third quarter. We had some mental letdowns in the third quarter and we just couldn’t hit a shot as the Vikes turned up the heat on defence. I thought we had a solid defensive effort in the first half and then again in the fourth quarter. . . . Without a doubt, Alex was our best player tonight. He brought us the energy that we needed and controlled the tempo of the game. He pushed the basketball when we needed to and did some great things defensively.” Murphy said “we started off the second half kind of poor, with a lack of energy. We’ve got to start addressing that because it’s been happening fairly regularly to us for the last month or so. The key to our success all season is to play up-tempo and push the ball as much as we can. That’s been our success, and we’re not going to get away from it.” Matt Rachar noted that “the third quarter was tough on us. We still got good looks on layups and jumpers, but they weren’t falling. But give Victoria credit. They did a good job on offence in the quarter and came back into it.” Matt Rachar paced U.B.C. with 13 on 3-7 from the floor, 7-8 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Chris Dyck added 11 on 4-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 4 steals. Bryson Kool notched 11 on 5-11 from the floor and 5 boards. Alex Murphy scored 11 on 3-5 from the floor and 5-5 from the line. Kyle Watson scored 9 on 2-4 from the floor, 5-8 from the line and 5 boards. Brent Malish scored 6 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Blain Labranche notched 5 on 1-4 from the floor and 3-4 from the line. Brett Leversage added 4, while Graham Bath and Balraj Bains were scoreless. The Thunderbirds shot 22-50 (.440) from the floor, 1-8 (.125) from the arc and 25-31 (.806) from the line, while garnering 27 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 15 fouls, 13 turnovers, 8 steals and 2 blocks. Tyler Hass led Victoria with 19 on 8-17 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-5 from the line and 6 boards. Mitch Gudgeon notched 11 on 5-9 from the floor, 1-3 from the line and 9 boards. Brandon Dunlop added 11 on 4-9 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 3 boards. Rob Kinnear added 6 on 3-6 from the floor, 5 boards and 4 assists. Ryan Mackinnon scored 6 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 4 boards. Jeff Cullen scored 5 and Mike Hull 5, while nabbing 6 boards and pilfering 2 balls. Mike Berg added 2 and Cyril Indome 2, while Julian Spear Chief-Morris and Rob Bergen were scoreless. The Vikings shot 27-61 (.443) from the floor, 4-19 (.211) from the arc and 9-17 (.529) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 24 fouls, 19 turnovers, 7 steals and 1 block. …………………………………………………… UBC completed the series sweep by dumping Victoria 86-77. Bryson Kool led a second half push for the T-Birds, after going scoreless in the first half. “Bryson had a great third quarter and start of the fourth,” said coach Kevin Hanson. “He got some big rebounds for us and he had a couple of great takes to the basket. We’ve got to get some scoring inside and I thought we did that really well this weekend.” The Vikes trailed 21-12 after the first quarter and 36-32 at half-time. UBC got off to a hot start with a 21-12 lead in the opening quarter. Shortly into the second stanza, the T-birds saw their lead grow to 12 before the Vikes began to claw back. With a 12-2 run, ending with a Cyril Indome three-pointer, the Vikes entered the half down 36-32. They never led in the game. Kool and guard Chris Dyck created some chemistry in the third quarter, no more obvious than when Dyck found a cutting Kool on the baseline for a layup that put UBC up 51-43 with four minutes to go in the frame. Kool’s follow off a Dyck miss with six minutes remaining in the game was also an important hoop, putting UBC up 72-62. Kool was a presence on the glass with six rebounds in the final quarter. Dyck also had a number of key baskets for the ‘Birds, including back-to-back three-pointers early in the third quarter to restore a six point UBC lead after Victoria had tied the game up for the first time since early in the first frame. The Vikes closed the gap to just three points late in the fourth after a quick 7-0 run. Shortly after the Vikes cut the lead to three, Brent Malish turned an offensive rebound into two points for the first scores of a decisive 5-0 run. UBC would find themselves up by 10 with just over four minutes remaining, and the Vikes missed their last five three-point attempts. The Birds defence also got a big block from Chris Dyck on Tyler Hass with 1:39 to play. The Vikes were able to keep themselves within striking distance in the dying moments of the game, but the T-Birds were able to hit their free-throws down the stretch to maintain the lead and clinch their fifth Pacific Division Championship in six years. “It was a really good feeling,” said Kool. “In the first half they were playing a really tight zone. I was really trying to get myself going and in the second half it just came to me.” Dyck said that “Bryson is really starting to play well. He was a little inconsistent early in the year but a big part of that was his injured knee. He’s starting to finish well and play up to his potential and he’s going to be one of our most important guys. That was one of our best games of the season. It was great to see us spread around the offence like that. In this series, I thought we played some good defence, except for last night’s third quarter.” Vikes coach Craig Beaucamp said “our biggest trouble all weekend was trying to guard the ball. We were giving up dribble penetration consistently and then that led to trouble on the boards. Overall, I’m very proud of this team. We had a fantastic year and we made a lot of progress since training camp. All year this team battled hard and I’m proud of their efforts. When you look at tonight’s game, there was no quit in them. We had to be very resilient because at times it looked like we were out of it, but we just kept battling back. We just couldn’t get over the hump to retake the lead from them.” Bryson Kool paced UBC with 18 points on 5-9 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 8-10 from the line and 11 boards. Chris Dyck added 18 on 7-17 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 3 steals. Matt Rachar notched 15 on 6-10 from the floor, 3-6 from the line and 5 boards. Brent Malish scored 14 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 4 boards. Blain Labranche added 10 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Alex Murphy scored 5 on 2-5 from the floor and 5 assists. Graham Bath added 4 and Kyle Watson 2, while Brett Leversage was scoreless while dishing 5 assists. The Thunderbirds hit 31-61 (.508) from the floor, 7-18 (.654) from the arc and 17-26 (.654) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 18 fouls, 9 turnovers, 7 steals and 3 blocks. Tyler Hass paced Victoria with 23 points on 9-20 from the floor, 5-10 from the line and 9 boards. Mitch Gudgeon added 12 on 5-14 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Ryan Mackinnon scored 9 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Mike Hull scored 7 on 4-7 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 9 boards and 3 assists. Cyril Indome scored 9 on 3-5 from the arc. Brandon Dunlop notched 8 on 2-7 from the floor, 4 boards and 3 assists. Julian Spear Chief-Morris added 2, while Mike Berg, Jeff Cullen and Rob Bergen were scoreless. The Vikes shot 29-67 (.433) from the floor, 8-20 (.400) from the arc and 11-19 (.579) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 21 fouls, 11 turnovers, 6 steals and 3 blocks. The Vikes (coached by Craig Beaucamp, assisted by Denis Beausoleil) also included Robbie Kinnear, Isiah Pasquale and Pierce Anderson.

        Alberta received the wild card selection to the Final four.

        In the Final Four semis, held in Calgary, Alberta stunned Brandon 85-79. Canada West MVP Alex Steele put the Bears on his back with 16 second half points as Alberta advanced to the CIS Nationals with a come-from-behind victory. With Alberta up 41-39, Brandon’s 6’5” Adam Hartman hit back-to-back 3’s early in the third quarter to give the Cats a four point lead which Brandon maintained through the end of the third quarter. But Steele began to heat up and 6’3” Justin Vanloo and 6’1” point guard C.G. Morrison also had big second halves as the Bears outscored Brandon by 11 in the final quarter. The Bears entered the four team tournament as the Wild Card team while the Bobcats were Great Plains Conference champions and were CIS national finalists last year. The Bears overcame an 11 point deficit in the third quarter. Alberta led 20-13 after ten minutes thanks to strong inside play from Richard Bates who came off the bench and made several key baskets. The Bobcats slowly clawed their way back into the contest and tied the game at 37-37 at the half thanks to strong outside shooting and taking advantage of several Alberta turnovers. Steele had a chance to put the Bears in front in final second but his desperation shot at the buzzer was well off the mark. Brandon outscored Alberta 24-19 in the third quarter as the Bears were plagued by foul trouble and the Bobcats hit their free throw attempts and led 63-61 with ten minutes remaining. The lead changed hands several times with no team being able to take control. Steele and C.G. Morrison then proceeded to take control with key treys and Alberta went ahead 77-71 with 2:43 remaining in the contest. The Bobcats cut the margin to 77-74 with just over 90 seconds left but Harvey Bradford’s basket with 76 left staked the Bears to a 79-74 lead that Brandon could not overcome. Alex Steele paced Alberta with 21 on 7-19 from the floor, 7-8 from the line, 10 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. C.G. Morrison notched 15 on 5-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Justin Vanloo scored 14 on 5-11 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 5 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Richard Bates added 12 on 6-8 from the floor. Patrick Unger scored 6 on 4-6 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Harvey Bradford notched 6 on 3-6 from the floor and 8 boards. Scott Leigh scored 6 on 2-3 from the arc. Neb Aleksic added 2 and Braydon Janzen 2, along with 5 boards. Andrew Parker scored 1. The Golden Bears shot 31-71 (.437) from the floor, 4-14 (.286) from the arc and 19-28 (.679) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 21 fouls, 20 turnovers, 7 steals and 2 blocks. Yuri Whyms paced Brandon with 27 on 10-21 from the floor, 7-7 from the line, 15 boards and 2 blocks. Adam Hartman added 24 on 7-21 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 7-10 from the line and 4 boards. Dany Charlery notched 11 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 7 boards. David Yul Michel notched 9 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 4 assists. Tarik Tokar added 3, Nathan Grant 3 and Stevens Marcelin 2, while Kevin Oliver, Martin Lawrence and Kyle Vince were scoreless. The Bobcats (coached by Mike Raimbault) shot 27-68 (.397) from the floor, 4-14 (.286) from the arc and 21-26 (.808) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 21 fouls, 19 turnovers, 7 steals and 4 blocks.

        In the other semi, U.B.C. stunned Calgary 77-69. The T-Birds blew the game open in the third quarter by continually getting scores in transition after doing a solid job inside and typically limiting Calgary to one shot. In the third quarter, the T-Birds outscored the Dinos 32-24 and led by as many as 16. They went on a 10-2 run led by 6’6” Brent Malish, who had 4 consecutive points including a dunk and then later hit a 3 from the corner when the Dinos went to a 1-3-1 zone to try to slow the Birds. The first half was a defensive struggle which UBC led 28-23 but UBC got going immediately at the start of the third. Calgary’s 6’8” Henry Bekkering ignited the Dinos and the crowd with an early slam but for the most part UBC defended well inside, aiding by the Dinos settling for perimeter jumpers. “It’s disappointing. We didn’t play well, we didn’t shoot the ball well, and we beat ourselves in so many areas,” said Calgary coach Dan Vanhooren. “You’ve got to give it to UBC for playing as physical as they did and really taking us out of our game and away from the things that work well for us.” A two-handed dunk by Henry Bekkering opened the scoring for Calgary, but the Thunderbirds went on a 12-2 run from there and never looked back. A long three by Ross Bekkering made it 14-13 Calgary, but that was as close as they would get for the rest of the night. U.B.C. took a 28-23 lead into the break. Calgary got off to a disastrous start in the third quarter as UBC extended the lead to nine points in the first 24 seconds. “In the second half we were scoring well, but we gave up 32 points in the third quarter,” said Vanhooren. “We really have a better club than played tonight, and it’s disappointing to see that our fate, win or lose tomorrow, is
going to come down to a committee to see if we go to nationals.” Henry Bekkering said “we didn’t play like we should. We just came out slow. We’ve been doing that all year, and it came back and bit us in the butt. That’s the main thing – we just didn’t come out today. We had all the opportunity to, but it just didn’t click.” The Dinos faithful jeered the officials, but Bekkering says the team will shoulder the blame. “You can blame everything on the refs – you’ve gotta come out and win,” Bekkering said. “You’ve gotta play through adversity. We’ve been coming out slow all year. When we came out and I got that first dunk, I thought, let’s go. But we were stagnant on the offensive end. We couldn’t reply to their physical toughness.” Dyck noted that the win “feels really good. Our motto is ‘us against everyone else’. We knew that Calgary supports their team really well and we knew it would be a crazy environment. It’s hard to explain how good this feels.” Vanhooren said the Dinos may have suffered a case of the jitters. “Maybe. Maybe a few. Maybe our young team played young to start the game. We played hard. The kids battled right to the end. But a lot of time our energy was misplaced. Give UBC credit. They played exceptionally hard. But I thought we just gave away too much. … We had five fouls in the first half, and four of them were to our two best players. That hurts. But I thought our bench did a good job of keeping us in the game. As many errors as there were, we were only down five points. I thought we were in great position.” He thought wrong. If the first two quarters were unsettling, the third was downright nightmarish. UBC increased its advantage from five points to 13 over those 10 murderous minutes, as the Dinos’ defence stood around like a group of rubes gawking at all the pretty lights in Times Square. UBC scored four points in the first 24 seconds, and the mad scramble was on. “Our third-quarter defence . . . ,” sighed Vanhooren. “That was the ball game. We gave them far too many uncontested baskets. We gave up 32 points. That’s just not right. All game, we got away from the things that made us a good basketball team. We were shooting jump shot after jump shot instead of trying to work the ball inside. It’s tough, emotionally.” Hanson said “we really wanted to be physical and they are thicker and stronger than us in general. We wanted to initiate the contact, to make sure there was contact on every single shot. It was probably our best defensive rebounding effort of the year. … Malish did an incredible job because Bekkering had to earn his 19 points. We just didn’t make mistakes defensively and when we had to switch a few times on their pick-and-roll game, Chris guarded bigger players and did a great job rebounding.” Chris Dyck paced U.B.C. with 26 on 9-18 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 6-8 from the line, 10 boards and 2 steals. Matt Rachar added 17 on 8-15 from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 6 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Brent Malish notched 14 on 5-10 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 11 boards. Blain LaBranche added 8 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 1-3 from the line and 7 boards. Brett Leversage added 4 on 2-3 from the floor and 4 assists. Bryson Kool scored 5 on 2-7 from the floor and 5 boards. Alex Murphy scored 4 on 1-3 from the floor and 5 boards. Kyle Watson, Graham Bath and Balraj Bains were scoreless. The Thunderbirds hit 30-66 (.455) from the floor, 5-20 from the arc and 12-20 (.600) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 20 fouls, 20 turnovers, 8 steals and 4 blocks. Henry Bekkering paced Calgary with 19 on 8-18 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-7 from the line and 3 steals. Ross Bekkering added 16 on 5-9 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 9 boards and 2 blocks. Jeff Price notched 11 on 1-6 from the floor, 8-8 from the line, 3 assists and 5 steals. Jeremy Odland scored 9 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-5 from the line and 2 boards. Robbie Sihota scored 8 on 3-11 from the floor and 4 boards. Cody Darrah scored 6 on 2-5 from the floor. Tyler Fidler was scoreless on 0-10 from the floor, 9 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Josh Lovestone and Joe Schow were scoreless. The Dinos hit 22-68 (.324) from the floor, 8-26 (.308) from the arc and 17-26 (.654) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 17 fouls, 15 turnovers, 13 steals and 5 blocks.

        In the bronze medal match, the Brandon Bobcats defeated the host Calgary Dinosaurs 97-83. The Dinos couldn’t shoot, couldn’t rebound, and couldn’t stop Brandon senior Adam Hartman. In a game long on fouls and short on flow, the Bobcats were able to overcome significant foul trouble in the third quarter, largely due to cold Calgary free throw shooting. The third quarter featured 23 fouls, nearly half of the54 called on the night, but the Dinos left the period with a 12-point deficit after missing nine of their 24 attempts from the charity stripe. The Dinos’ struggles at the line only exacerbated their shooting woes. “I really can’t explain it,” said a frustrated Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren. “Honestly, I can’t. We got shots last night, we got shots tonight, we didn’t hit anything. It was our worst shooting performance of the year, and of any weekend to have it, it came at the Final Four. The only thing I can say is that we were tight last night, and we were disheartened tonight.” Point guard Jeff Price minced few words. “In sport, there’s quicksand, and this is what it feels like. It feels like you’re sinking.” Henry Bekkering surmised the Dinos were still shell-shocked from the semi-final loss to U.B.C. “It was hard losing (on Friday), emotionally and physically. We had to win. Mentally, it was taxing. There were so many expectations. Everyone expected us to do good.” Vanhooren said “a third-place game is tough. We didn’t play well. The issue was offensive rebounding. The other issue was Henry Bekkering who sits out most of the game because of foul trouble. I’ve never seen a game of basketball that lasted that long. And we suffered from that; there was no flow.” For a team that had reaped such success in its home gym, going unbeaten in 14 straight, the two games this weekend were a rude awakening. Nerves got the better of the Dinos, never having been in this position before, and it was manifested in passes going astray, abysmal free-throw shooting and in an overall panic that set in in the fourth quarter. “It takes a lot out of you, mentally,” said Price of trying to overcome the dismay felt after Friday night’s loss to UBC. “It’s another disappointment for us. To be swept at home . . . one loss leads to another. It’s a shock. We came into this weekend with a lot of confidence and we come away extremely empty-handed.” Trailing by 12 heading into the fourth quarter, the Dinos hurried their game, all in an effort to get back into the thick of it. All that accomplished, however, was to put more ammunition in the Bobcats’ run-and-gun offence. Adam Hartman paced Brandon with 29 on 11-20 from the floor, 3-9 from the arc, 4-7 from the line and 7 boards. Dany Charlery added 20 on 6-18 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 6-8 from the line, 11 boards and 3 assists. David Yul Michel notched 18 on 4-19 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 9-10 from the line, 5 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Yuri Whyms notched 10 on 5-7 from the floor and 5 boards. Kevin Oliver scored 8 on 3-4 from the floor and 2-3 from the arc. Stevens Marcelin scored 6 on 3-8 from the floor and 6 boards. Tarik Tokar scored 4 on 1-8 from the field, 2-6 from the line, 6 boards and 6 assists. Martin Lawrence added 2, while Nathan Grant and Erik Holm were scoreless. The Bobcats shot 34-90 (.378) from the field, 8-26 (.308) from the arc and 21-31 (.677) from the line, while garnering 55 boards, including 24 on the offensive glass, 31 fouls, 16 assists, 13 turnovers and 10 steals. The Bobcats also included Nikosey Quick, Kyle Vince and Adam Philpott. Henry Bekkering paced Calgary with 23 on 8-21 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 8 boards and 2 blocks. Robbie Sihota notched 16 on 4-14 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 7-10 from the line and 7 boards. Jeff Price scored 13 on 2-5 from the floor, 9-12 from the line, 6 boards and 6 assists. Tyler Fidler scored 11 on 3-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 blocks. Ross Bekkering notched 10 on 10-14 from the floor, 7 boards and 3 blocks. Jeremy Odland scored 8 on 2-9 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 5 boards. Josh Lovestone added 2 while Cody Darrah, Andrew Champagnie and Joe Schow were scoreless. The Dinos shot 19-66 (.288) from the floor, 9-27 (.333) from the arc and 36-48 (.750) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 24 fouls, 12 assists, 20 turnovers, 8 blocks and 4 steals. The Dinos (coached by Dan Vanhooren, assisted by Matthew Skinn) also included Jeremy Odland, Brennen Fule, Chris Unsworth, Logan Armstrong and Joel Bancroft.

        In the final, the U.B.C. Thunderbirds nipped the Alberta Golden Bears 92-90 to capture their second consecutive Canada West crown. “Coaching is an exhausting profession,” sighed UBC head man Kevin Hanson. “You can’t do it yourself and you just hope that they can take care of business. A couple of weeks ago, I didn’t think we’d be in this position. … Chris (Dyck) did a lot at both ends of the floor. He hit some three-pointers. We rely on him and he had a wonderful weekend.” Alberta coach Don Horwood said Dyck “put on a shooting display. We couldn’t slow him down. What’s amazing is that when we walked out of here last Saturday night (in the Central division final), I thought Calgary was the best team in Canada. “It’s inexplicable. And that’s why sport is so much fun. You get the upsets . . . I feel badly for Dan (Dinos’ coach Vanhooren). I’ve been there myself. Then you get these turnarounds. It’s what drives coaches to insanity.” Hanson said “we tried to make sure we came out and were big again in the rebounding department. We really wanted to be physical, and they are thicker and stronger than us in general. We wanted to initiate the contact, to make sure there was contact on every single shot. It was probably our best defensive rebounding effort of the year.” Led by Chris Dyck and his 27 points, the T-Birds fended off a pesky Bears squad that made it close until the very end and had multiple opportunities to extend the evening, but a fourth quarter comeback fell just short. “We saw some pretty explosive, offensive basketball tonight,” said Hanson. “Both teams were pretty excited from last night, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from either team tonight. I think the intensity defensively for both teams will have to pick up in the next two weeks. In the end I thought we went to Chris too much. He got on a bit of a roll again, and he had a great weekend for us defensively as well as offensively. He was able to use his athleticism tonight to score some threes as well as score inside, and we’re obviously going to need him to play pretty big for us in two weeks’ time.” UBC blew the game open late in the third quarter after a tight first half that saw the squads separated by only two points. Alberta did take a brief lead midway through the third after a conventional three-point play from Justin VanLoo but the Thunderbirds responded right back and went on an 11-3 run to end the period, capped off by a long-distance three from Dyck, and took a 75-66 lead into the final 10. The Bears slowly chipped away the Thunderbird lead in the fourth. A 20-foot jumper from Andrew Parker made the deficit just four. A backcourt violation gave the Bears the ball right back, and it looked as if momentum was swinging toward Alberta. VanLoo cut the lead to two at 86-84, and an offensive foul was charged to UBC’s Bryson Kool with 1:13 left on the clock. The inbound passer found a streaking Alex Steele alone inside UBC territory, and the Alberta bench rose to its feet in anticipation of the tying points. Steele, the Canada West player of the year, saw his right handed lay-up attempt bounce strong off the left rim and into the arms of the Thunderbirds, and Brent Malish responded immediately with a long jumper to extend the T-Bird lead to four. Alberta began to foul and got the opportunities it needed, and Scott Leigh made it a two-point game once again with a long trey. Three more UBC free throws made it a five-point cushion, however, and VanLoo’s three-ball from the parking lot at the buzzer wasn’t enough. Chris Dyck paced U.B.C. with 27 on 10-26 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 6 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Brent Malish added 15 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 17 boards and 3 assists. Matt Rachar scored 14 on 5-12 from the floor, 4-8 from the line and 9 boards. Blaine LaBranche notched 12 on 4-7 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3-5 from the line and 4 assists. Bryson Kool added 8 on 2-5 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 3 boards. Brett Leversage added 6 on 2-3 from the arc and 3 assists. Alex Murphy scored 5 on 3-4 from the line and 4 assists. Kyle Watson scored 5 on 5-6 from the line and 7 boards. Graham Bath and Balraj Bains were scoreless. The Thunderbirds hit 29-69 (.420) from the floor, 8-17 (.471) from the arc and 26-36 (.722) from the line, while garnering 48 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 13 turnovers, 2 blocks and 4 steals. Justin Vanloo paced Alberta with 25 on 10-16 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 4-5 from the line and 4 boards. Alex Steele added 20 on 5-18 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 8-10 from the line, 3 boards and 3 steals. Andrew Parker notched 14 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 4-5 from the line and 8 boards. C.G. Morrison scored 11 on 4-9 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc and 6 assists. Scott Leigh scored 6 on 2-5 from the arc. Harvey Bradford added 5 on 2-7 from the floor and 11 boards. Neb Aleksic scored 5 on 1-2 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Richard Bates added 2 and Braydon Janzen 2, while Patrick Unger and Patrick Maloney were scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 30-69 (.435) from the floor, 11-23 (.478) from the arc and 19-25 (.760) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 26 fouls, 17 assists, 13 turnovers, 5 blocks and 3 steals.

        In December, 2007, Trinity Western director of athletics Murray Hall announced that Stan Peters was being relieved of his coaching duties. “We are moving in a new direction with a change in leadership and are committed to bringing the men’s basketball program into the realm of being a perennial contender. Today announcement signals that intent,” said Hall. “We are grateful to Stan who pioneered our move into the CIS and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”
Peters took over the Spartans in 1999 and guided TWU into the CIS. During his eight and a half years with the Spartans Peters established a record of 107-168. He replaced Tim Teer who had coached the Spartans for 16 seasons from 1983-1999.
        After the season, Trinity Western announced that Scott Allen would be appointed head coach of the Spartans. “Scott has successfully come through a rigorous and thorough hiring process, and we are looking forward to his tenure with the
Spartans,” commented provost Dr. Dennis Jameson. For the previous 15 years, Allen was coach of South Surrey’s White Rock Christian Academy, where he earned three provincial titles, in 2005, 2003 and 1999. “I feel very privileged to begin working here at TWU with its rich tradition in sport, and to carry on what TWU has been doing but take it to the highest level possible. The Complete Champion Approach is something I believe in very strongly,” Allen said. Allen was (503-117) in the high school ranks. He also coached Basketball BC’s U17, U16 and U15 Provincial Teams.

        After the season, former New Brunswick coach Thom Gillespie is appointed interim coach of Thompson Rivers, replacing Nevin Gleddie, who has been reassigned within the WolfPack Athletic Organization to concentrate on teaching. “It’s a great opportunity to bring the TRU basketball program through the initial steps to becoming one of the schools at the forefront of the CIS,” said Gillespie, who spent the previous 12 years with the UNB Varsity Reds men’s program, first as an assistant and then the last nine seasons as head coach. He was named the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) coach of the year in 2002 and 2004. Gillespie announced last March that he was leaving UNB. “I pride myself on having teams which have great work ethic,” said Gillespie, who has also had stints with Basketball New Brunswick as head coach of Provincial U16, U17 and U19 boys teams and has been a guest coach and assistant coach with Canada Basketball’s Senior National and Developmental teams. “I believe I’m a fundamentally oriented coach. I’m hoping to touch base with the WolfPack’s returning players and recruits as soon as possible. We are starting fresh and I want them to be excited about the rebuilding program at TRU.” When asked why he would want to leave a full-time position for one with only a 12-month window, Gillespie agreed there are no guarantees. “But what better way to show TRU what I can do and what I can bring to the program rather than just submitting my resume and hoping for the best if this job does become permanent.”

        The bronze medalist Brandon Bobcats: Adam Hartman; Dany Charlery; David Yul Michel; Yuri Whyms; Kevin Oliver; Stevens Marcelin; Tarik Tokar; Martin Lawrence; Nathan Grant; Erik Holm; Nikosey Quick; Kyle Vince; Adam Philpott; coach Mike Raimbault

        The runner-up Alberta Golden Bears: Alex Steele; C.G. Morrison; Scott Leigh; Andrew Parker; Patrick Unger; Harvey Bradford; Neb Aleksic; Richard Bates; Eric Casey; Patrick Maloney; James Suderman; Justin Vanloo; Braydon Janzen; Matthew Clark; Jeff Stork; coach Don Horwood; assistant Cliff Rowein; assistant Murray Scambler; assistant Ryan Dunkley; assistant Clayton Pottinger; trainer Samantha Balbar; trainer Lisa Burrows; athletic director Dale Schulha; SID Matt Gutsch

        The champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds: Chris Dyck; Matt Rachar; Brent Malish; Kyle Watson; Brett Leversage; Bryson Kool; Alex Murphy; Blaine LaBranche; Nathan Yu; Graham Bath; Balraj Bains; Sean Maxwell; coach Kevin Hanson; assistant Randy Nohr; assistant Les Brown; assistant Vern Knopp; assistant Jordan Yu; manager-trainer Bram Newman; manager Janahan Sri; athletic director Bob Philip