REGULAR SEASON
| U.B.C. | 22-2 | 34-6 | Kevin Hanson | |||||
| Trinity Western | 21-3 | 27-6 | Scott Allen | |||||
| Saskatchewan | 20-4 | 31-7 | Barry Rawlyk | |||||
| Alberta | 16-8 | 20-12 | Greg Francis | |||||
| Victoria | 15-9 | 17-13 | Craig Beaucamp | |||||
| Regina | 14-10 | 17-19 | James Hillis | |||||
| Fraser Valley | 10-14 | 12-19 | Barnaby Craddock | |||||
| Manitoba | 9-15 | 18-21 | Kirby Schepp | |||||
| Calgary | 8-16 | 10-17 | Dan Vanhooren | |||||
| Lethbridge | 7-17 | 8-25 | Dave Adams | |||||
| Winnipeg | 6-18 | 8-21 | Mike Raimbault | |||||
| Brandon | 4-20 | 6-26 | Gil Cheung | |||||
| Thompson Rivers | 4-20 | 5-23 | Scott Clark | |||||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Brandon Bobcats: O’Brian Wallace, Kyle Vince, Kyrie Coleman, Isaiah James, Jordan Reaves, Donovan Gayle, James Elias, William Caesar, Nathan Grant, Jimi Falana, David Antwi, Kevin Oman, Brody Tegg, coach Gil Cheung
Calgary Dinosaurs: Tyler Fidler, Jarred Obungbemi-Jackson, Andrew McGuinness, Keenan Milburn, Philip Labongo, Matt Letkeman, Dustin Reding, Youri Anissovets, Andy Rochon, Trevor Debolt, Brad Clark, Josh Wolfram, Gregg Farineau, Jordan Flagel, Nebojsa Kuljic, coach Dan Vanhooren, shooting coach Dave Love, strength & conditioning Ken Wong, manager of operations Dean McCord
Lethbridge Pronghorns: Randy David, Danhue Lawrence, Derek Waldner, Zach Humphrey, Julian Spear Chief-Morris, Quinn Van Gaalen, Niko Kovac, Abner Kamps, Brandon Thomas-James, Wes Chapman, Jeremy Stanley, Taner Murray, Ben Osmond, Tim McKinnon, coach Dave Adams
Thompson Rivers Wolfpack: Chas Kok, Justin Riggins, Greg Stewart, Kevin Pribilsky, Brett Parker, Brett Rouault, Matt Pierce, Connor Agnew, Joseph Tubbs, Travis Beck, Tim Unaegbu, Cory Martens, Eric D’Andrea, coach Scott Clark, assistant Curt Dale, assistant Del Komarniski
Winnipeg Wesmen: Nick Lother, Nolin Gooding, Kelvin Smith, Lynden Drayton-Barrow, Benny Iko, Brayden Duff, Kenneth Perry, Craig Sharpe, Pawel Gacon, Benton Athanaze, Joshua Stolar, Justin Phillips, Craig Penniston, David Stephens, Amrit Basi, coach Mike Raimbault
In the quarterfinals, Alberta defeated Victoria 76-59; 79-85; 86-79 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, Alberta dumped Victoria 76-59 after leading 23-16, 44-36 and 67-48 at the quarters. The Vikes held a very brief lead on a Ryan MacKinnon three-pointer, but the Golden Bears responded back immediately with four quick points – a lead they would never relinquish again. Alberta took a 44-36 lead to the locker room at the half and never looked back. That advantage ballooned up to 18 points after the third quarter. Neither side accomplished much in a slow fourth quarter. The Vikes appeared to be rattled at times, turning the ball over 16 times, while Alberta had only eight miscues. Jordan Baker paced Alberta with 18 on 7-17 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 11 boards, 7 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Todd Bergen-Henengouwen added 13 on 5-9 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 4 boards. Kenneth Otienno notched 11 on 4-6 from the floor and 3-4 from the arc. Daniel Ferguson, a two-time NAIA All-American at Berry College in Georgia, scored 11 on 2-13 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 7-7 from the line, 5 boards and 3 steals. Robert Dewar added 10 on 5-5 from the floor and 5 boards. C.B. Morrison scored 8 on 3-6 from the floor an d2-2 from the line. Matthew Cardoza added 5, while Graeme Mitchell and Lyndon Taylor were scoreless. The Golden Bears hit 28-60 (.467) from the floor, 7-19 (.368) from the arc and 13-17 (.765) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 12 steals, 4 blocks, 8 turnovers and 12 fouls.
Pierce Anderson paced Victoria with 16 on 8-11 from the floor and 5 boards. Jeff Spoor added 9 on 2-3 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 3 boards. Ryan Mackinnon scored 8 on 2-8 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Marco Dolcetti notched 7 on 2-6 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Mike Berg scored 6 on 3-6 from the floor and 7 boards. Eric Casey added 4, Jeff Cullen 4, along with 3 boards, Chris McLaughlin 2, Wendell Thomas 2 and Zac Andrus 1, while Reese Pribilsky and Adam Connolly were scoreless. The Vikes hit 22-54 (.407) from the floor, 4-21 (.190) from the arc and 1-20 (.550) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 4 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 16 turnovers and 12 fouls. …………………………………………………… In game two, Victoria evened the series with an 85-79 victory. The Vikes hit 10 treys and dominated the paint to pull out the home win. The Vikes led through most of the contest, but Alberta kept it close early. Daniel Ferguson scored 11 of Alberta’s first 18 points including a ridiculously long three-pointer, but Robert Dewar picked up two quick fouls and was forced to the bench early. The Vikes led 21-20 after the first quarter. UVic stretched the lead to 17 points in the second quarter on a 17-0 run to start the period with three-pointers by Ryan MacKinnon and Jeff Cullen. An effective zone defence with a variety of full- and half-court pressures on the ball held Alberta scoreless for the first 5:21 of the quarter and to just 10 points in the frame to lead 40-30 at the half. The Bears cut the lead to four points after some effective pressure looks of their own, but the Vikes re-established their inside scoring to restore a 10-point lead late in the third quarter. A Jeff Spoor trey late in the third quarter restored a 10-point lead to enter the fourth. A three-pointer from Marco Dolcetti pushed the lead to 15 points again two minutes into the fourth quarter; the outside bomb proved to be a momentum-changer. The Vikes scored in transition and were able to close out the game at the charity stripe to hold on to win. “In the opener, Alberta beat us in all aspects of the game,’’ said Vikes coach Craig Beaucamp. “We weren’t very good and Alberta took it to us. We were lucky to be that close. We had more energy, focus and fight for Game 2. One of the keys for us was the performance of Wendell Thomas. He probably had his best game as a Vikes. He did a good job of guarding Jordan Baker and he also chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds. … The biggest challenge for us is to leave that game behind us and refocus on the next one. We haven’t won anything yet. That was just one step toward winning the series. Game 3 will be another hard-fought battle. We will have to be mentally and physically tough again to win it.” Ryan MacKinnon paced Victoria with 20 on 7-13 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards and 3 assists. Mike Berg added 18 on 8-11 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Wendell Thomas notched 14 on 6-10 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 6 boards. Jeff Spoor scored 11 on 3-5 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Jeff Cullen added 7 on 2-4 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Pierce Anderson scored 7 on 2-3 from the floor, 3-7 from the line and 6 boards. Marco Dolcetti added 6, along with 3 boards, and Eric Casey 2, while Zac Andrus was scoreless. The Vikes hit 30-50 (.600) from the floor, 10-20 (.500) from the arc and 15-21 (.714) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 4 steals, 16 turnovers and 21 fouls. Daniel Ferguson paced Alberta with 29 on 12-23 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 3 steals. Jordan Baker added 22 on 8-15 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 6 boards and 3 steals. Robert Dewar notched 8 on 2-3 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 2 boards. Graeme Mitchell scored 7 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 4 assists. Kenneth Otienno added 7 on 1-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 5-5 from the line and 4 boards. C.G. Morrison added 3, Todd Bergen-Henengouwen 2, along 2 boards and 3 assists, and Matthew Cardoza 1, along with 3 boards, while Lyndon Taylor was scoreless. The Golden Bears hit 28-62 (.452) from the floor, 5-16 (.312) from the arc and 18-21 (.857) from the line, while garnering 22 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 9 steals, 1 block, 11 turnovers and 20 fouls. …………………………………………………… In the decisive third game, Alberta prevailed 86-79 as Daniel Ferguson dominated the floor. Ferguson scored two long-range three-pointers to give host Alberta a 18-15 lead in a back-and-forth thriller in the opening quarter. UVic led 19-18 after the opening 10 minutes. After the Vikes took a 24-20 lead early in the second quarter, the Bears went on a 7-0 run to force a Victoria timeout. But UVic regrouped, outscoring Alberta 16-9 in the rest of the second quarter to take a 40-36 lead into the halftime break. The Bears quickly erased the deficit in the third quarter, though, going on an 11-3 run to make the score 47-43 in their favour, but the Vikes bounced back and equalized things at 51-51. Soon after, Kenneth Otieno put his mark on the game, grabbing the rebound on a missed Ferguson trey and missing, only to grab it a second time and connecting to make the score 56-53. The Edmonton native then became an unstoppable force in the second half, commandingly snaring boards on offence as well as defence, propelling the Bears to 8-2 and 15-6 runs en route to an 11-point lead with 3:24 left on the clock in the fourth quarter. Victoria started to shift the momentum with a small 5-0 run moments later, but Alberta’s Graeme Mitchell stole the ball and made a cross-court pass, yet Vikes’ Ryan Mackinnon offset the steal with his own interception and went in alone for what would have been an easy layup. Hoping to cut the deficit to four with 46 seconds left, Mackinnon ended up stuffed by a hard-charging Baker, making a thunderous block to the ovation of the Main Gym crowd and bringing any Victoria momentum to a complete halt. It was the final game to be played at the U of A’s historic Main Gym, with the Golden Bears heading to the GO Center next season at the U of A’s south campus. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t complete the job,” said Vikes’ coach Craig Beaucamp. “We knew that it wouldn’t be easy as we were playing a very solid team. Today’s third quarter was pivotal. We missed some shots on offence and Alberta made some key hustle plays. We also didn’t have any answers for Daniel Ferguson. He just kept hitting tough shot after tough shot.” Daniel Ferguson paced Alberta with 34 on 13-21 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Jordan Baker added 19 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 7-10 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Kenneth Otienno notched 14 on 7-9 from the floor, 7 boards and 2 steals. Lyndon Taylor added 5, Robert Dewar 4, C.G. Morrison 4, Graeme Mitchell 4 and Todd Bergen-Henengouwen 2, along with 5 boards, while Matthew Cardoza, Colin Mackinnon and Jason Baillie were scoreless. Jeff Cullen paced Victoria with 16 on 7-12 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 3 boards. Wendell Thomas added 15 on 7-13 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 2 steals. Mike Berg scored 14 on 3-4 from the floor, 8-11 from the line and 2 boards. Jeff Spoor notched 9 on 3-4 from the arc and 2 boards. Ryan Mackinnon scored 9 on 3-14 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Eric Casey added 4, Marco Dolcetti 5, along with 3 boards, Pierce Anderson 4, along with 4 boards, and Zac Andrus 2. The Vikes hit 29-59 (.492) from the floor, 7-20 (.350) from the arc and 14-18 (.778) from the line, while garnering 21 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 4 assists, 8 steals, 16 turnovers and 20 fouls. The Vikes (coached by Craig Beaucamp, assisted by Craig Behan and Phil Ohl) also Reese Pribilsky, Adam Connolly, Ted Neilson and Chris McLaughlin
The Trinity Western Spartans defeated the Fraser Valley Cascades 80-81; 86-69; 89-75 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, Fraser Valley stunned Trinity Western 81-80 one the strength of a 15-0 run down the stretch. Trailing 80-66 midway through the fourth quarter the Cascades went on an game-changing and game-ending run that was completed with a long-distance three-ball with 8.4 seconds remaining from UFV’s Sam Freeman. With three seconds to go, TWU had its inbound pass intercepted by Freeman and the Cascades earned their first ever men’s basketball playoff victory. The Spartans had beaten the Cascades by an average 22 ppg during two regular season games. “I think that we just got into a pretty comfortable place and we thought we had the game won,” said Spartans coach Scott Allen. “Then they hit a couple of shots and everyone got a little tighter and we got away from our game plan. It’s a good learning lesson for our guys today about really keeping the pedal to the metal when you get the opportunity. It’s a hurtful loss. The guys are taking it pretty hard right now but we’ll see how they respond. If we are who we think that we are, I think they’ll respond properly tomorrow.” The Cascades got off to a quick start as everything seemed to be clicking for UFV in the opening quarter. Led by Joel Friesen at the offensive end, with nine points, and a rebound savvy Gray on the defensive end, the Cascades dictated the play for much of the opening 10 minutes. The Spartans were forced to settle for tough shots and long-range attempts, while also struggling to stop both the Cascades offensive penetration and outside looks. Fraser Valley also did a good job of forcing Trinity Western into foul trouble. Trinity Western was able to close a 20-12 UFV lead to a 21-17 lead by the end of the first quarter. In the second, the Spartans clawed their way back, turning a four-point deficit into a 41-38 lead at the half on a trey by Daniel Horner in the dying seconds. In the third, the Spartans picked up right where they left off as they roared out to a 61-50 lead midway through the quarter, capped by a Tristan Smith bucket. But the Cascades rallied, with the 3-point shot leading the way, and only trailed 63-58 going into the final 10 minutes. In the fourth quarter, Fraser Valley rallied within 68-66 but the Spartans answered with a 12-0 run that gave TWU an 80-66 lead. The Cascades came back with bucket after bucket until they were behind only by two points at 80-78. And despite Friesen leaving the game late with an injury late, the Cascades kept coming and completed the rally with Freeman’s open 3-ball in the final seconds. Zeon Gray paced Fraser Valley with 26 on 11-17 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 0-2 from the line, 9 boards and 3 assists. Joel Friesen added 23 on 6-9 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc and 8-9 from the line. Sam Freeman notched 18 on 5-13 from the floor, 3-9 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 6 boards and 3 steals. Ryan Fahandeg added 7 on 2-8 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Sheldon Bjorgaard added 7 on 3-6 from the floor and 2 boards, while Josh Kufske, James Elliott, Nathan Kendall and Connor Oldman were scoreless. Kufske nabbed 2 boards and Elliott 6. The Cascades hit 27-60 (.450) from the floor, 13-32 (.406) from the arc and 14-19 (.737) from the line, while garnering 28 boards, including 3 on the offensive glass, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 11 turnovers and 17 fouls. Jacob Doerksen paced Trinity Western with 24 on 8-19 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 7-9 from the line, 9 boards and 2 steals. Tristan Smith added 15 on 6-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 6 assists. Tyrell Mara scored 13 on 6-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 0-3 from the line and 5 boards. Daniel Horner added 9 on 3-4 from the arc. Calvin Westbrook scored 7 on 2-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 10 boards. Tonner Jackson added 5 on 2-9 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 2 assists. Kyle Coston scored 4, along with 3 boards, and Eli Mara 3, while Lance Verhoeff and Clint Wickham were scoreless. The Spartans hit 30-69 (.435) from the floor, 10-31 (.323) from the arc and 10-17 (.588) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 4 steals, 11 turnovers and 16 fouls. …………………………………………………… In game two, Trinity Western evened the series with an 86-69 victory, by outscoring the Cascades 27-8 in the final quarter. Fraser Valley led for most of the affair before the late Spartans rally. The Spartans switched into a zone defence for the latter stages of the third quarter and all of the fourth quarter to stave off playoff elimination. “There’s no doubt the difference tonight was learning to play at an intense level and learning to dial up our style of play,” said Trinity Western coach Scott Allen. “Going into the zone defence also allowed us to stop their dribble penetration. I’m pretty stubborn about not playing zone but we’ve been working on it and I think it paid huge dividends today and caused them problems by pushing them out further than they were comfortable shooting from. It was sort of a chess match at the end and we got the upper hand tonight and yesterday we didn’t so tomorrow the fight goes on.” Fraser Valley got their first six points from James Elliot via a pair of 3-pointers. Then Cascade guard Joel Friesen got going from beyond the arc, while the Spartans struggled from the perimeter and trailed 20-17 after one quarter. In the second frame, Fraser Valley nearly ran away with it. The Cascades got exceptionally hot from the 3-point line as they were five for nine in the second quarter alone and at one point had a 12-point lead before the Spartans rallied within 43-39 at the half. In the third quarter, the game didn’t change all that much as the Cascades hit another six 3-point shots and kept the Spartans at bay. But near the end of the quarter, TWU reverted to a zone defence and suddenly the momentum shifted. They rallied to within 61-59 after three quarters and completely confused the UFV attack as they held the Cascades to just eight points in the final 10 minutes. “I thought we did a great job tonight for 3 quarters, we controlled the game and put ourselves in position to win. But the hardest part of a playoff series is finishing a team off, and (Jacob) Doerksen made sure that wasn’t going to happen tonight. Our foul trouble definitely hurt us during those moments as well. We will regroup and look forward to another battle tomorrow evening,” said Fraser Valley coach Barnaby Craddock. Jacob Doerksen paced Trinity Western with 32 on 12-19 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 6-8 from the line and 6 boards. Kyle Coston added 17 on 5-13 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 7-9 from the line, 8 boards and 4 assists. Tristan Smith notched 11 on 5-14 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc and 5 assists. Calvin Westbrook added 10 on 4-9 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 22 from the line and 3 boards. Eli Mara added 5, Daniel Horner 5, Tyrell Mara 4 on 2-7 from the floor, 12 boards, 3 assists and 4 steals, and Tonner Jackson 2, while Jesse Jeffers and Lance Verhoeff were scoreless. The Spartans hit 32-67 (.478) from the floor, 4-19 (.211) from the arc and 18-23 (.783) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 9 steals, 2 blocks, 10 turnovers and 14 fouls. Joel Friesen paced Fraser Valley with 24 on 8-12 from the floor, 6-10 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 2 boards, 5 assists and 2 blocks. James Elliott added 14 on 5-10 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc and 3 boards. Zeon Gray notched 11 on 4-12 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 3 boards and 4 assists. Josh Kufske added 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 assists. Ryan Fahandeg added 8 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 2 boards. Sam Freeman scored 4 on 2-11 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc and 6 boards, while Sheldon Bjorgaard, Nathan Kendall, Connor Oldman and Dean Kmyta were scoreless. The Cascades hit 25-62 (.403) from the floor, 17-42 (.405) from the arc and 2-6 (.333) from the line, while garnering 21 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 15 turnovers and 23 fouls. …………………………………………………… Trinity Western took the series with an 89-75 win in game three. The Spartans used a strong second half – one in which they outscored their local rival 55-42 – to turn a one point halftime lead into a 14-point victory, which was aided by a game-ending 14-4 run that ended the Cascades season. The Spartans dominated on the glass, including earning 20 offensive boards and proved to be simply too much for a Cascades team that seemed to run out of steam down the stretch. “Our offensive rebounding was consistent and that was the key,” said Trinity Western coach Scott Allen. “Every time we took a shot all three guys went to the boards. And especially it was obvious that getting on the offensive boards mattered to Jake and he had to rise to the challenge and he sure did. … We’re constantly growing as a team and learning how to compete harder. The guys are growing as a team and some of our players who have been inconsistent this year are really showing up. I think there’s so much experience behind players like Jake [Doerksen], Tyrell [Mara] and Calvin [Westbrook] that when we get in certain situations we’re pretty blessed to have them. Fraser Valley is a little bit younger and I think in the end that pushed us through and gave us that extra fight at the end.” The Spartans got off to a quick start, racing to 12-7 lead and were putting the pressure on down low while also limiting the Cascades 3-point shooting. But the Cascades long-range shooting eventually got going and after a Ryan Fahandeg lay-up late in the first quarter, UFV had the game tied 15-15 and only trailed by two points, 17-15, after 10 minutes. In the second frame, UFV continued their long shooting, going five for 10 from distance and kept with a TWU team that was winning nearly every battle down low. Trinity Western led 34-33 at the break. In the third quarter, the Spartans started pulling away. After Tristan Smith made a big lay-up midway through the frame, TWU found itself ahead 47-37, having started the second half on a 13-4 run. The Cascades cut the margin to 54-52 but that was as close as UFV would get. In the final quarter, the Cascades did keep it close for the better part of the frame and after a Friesen lay-in, UFV trailed only by three points, 71-68. But from there the Spartans pulled away. For the second night in a row, Doerksen had a 14-point fourth quarter to help TWU snuff out any Cascades thoughts of an upset. Fraser Valley coach Barnaby Craddock said “I feel like we took them to the limit in this series, winning the first night and having them on the ropes at times on the weekend. I think some respect should go to the young men in our program, and I don’t think there has been a lot of respect. Coming into this series, most people felt like it wasn’t going to be particularly close.” The game was physical and emotions reached a boiling point late in the third quarter. Off a UFV defensive rebound, Cascades forward Josh Kufske was trying to join the fast break when Trinity’s Kyle Coston, who had fallen to the floor, grabbed Kufske’s ankle. Kufske turned around and stomped on Coston’s head, earning an ejection. “I lost my cool a little bit,” Kufske said. “It’s frustrating.” Craddock lavished praise on Doerksen. “I’ll be happy that he’s not back next year. He’s a phenomenal basketball player. He’s a class act as well, and I think he carried them through this weekend.” Doerksen said “the fifth-year guys, we knew after the opener, this was it. We knew it was kind of a wake-up call. We know we’ve got to take things a little more seriously in practice the next couple of days. During the year, [coach] Scott [Allen] wanted to use some of the young guys … but when it comes down to the wire and crunch time, the more experienced guys are going to play. I think on any given night we can be the best team in Canada. We can also crumble. It’s just about getting everybody’s heads right.” Jacob Doerksen paced Trinity Western with 32 on 10-16 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 12-16 from the line, 18 boards and 5 assists. Calvin Westbrook scored 16 on 5-8 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 3-6 from the line and 2 steals. Kyle Coston added 13 on 4-15 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 8 boards. Tristan Smith added 10 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards, 6 assists and 3 steals. Tyrell Mara notched 9 on 3-6 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 11 boards and 3 assists. Tonner Jackson added 4, Daniel Horner 3 and Lance Verhoeff 2, while Eli Mara, Kurtis Osborne and Clint Wickham were scoreless. The Spartans hit 29-62 (.468) from the floor, 6-20 (.300) from the arc and 25-36 (.694) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 16 assists, 12 turnovers, 1 block and 9 steals. Joel Friesen led Fraser Valley with 20 on 6-14 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 5-7 from the line and 3 boards. Samuel Freeman added 19 on 7-16 from the floor, 5-10 from the arc and 3 boards. Zeon Gray scored 17 on 5-10 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 7 boards and 9 assists. Sheldon Bjorgaard notched 8 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc and 0-2 from the line. James Elliott scored 5 on 2-6 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 3 boards. Josh Kufske scored 4, along with 3 boards, and Ryan Fahandeg 2, while Dean Kmyta, Nathan Kendall and Connor Oldham were scoreless. The Cascades hit 26-64 (.406) from the floor, 14-37 (.378) from the arc and 9-16 (.563) from the line, while garnering 26 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 25 fouls, 13 assists, 11 turnovers, 1 block and 1 steal. The Cascades (coached by Barnaby Craddock) also include Hardeep Braich, Jovenal Loewen, Craig Bauslaugh, Kyle Grewal, Jasper Moedt, Wade Leatham, redshirt Kody Kishi and redshirt Jon Loewen.
The Saskatchewan Huskies defeated the Regina Cougars 98-75; 92-75 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Saskatchewan defeated Regina 98-75 after leading 25-17, 47-28 and 73-57 at the quarters. Rejean Chabot opened the scoring in the game to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead but quickly Regina answered with a layup. Paul Gareau foul shots, a Darius Mole jumper, and two Jeff Lukomski treys pulled Regina ahead 12-5. But Regina couldn’t hold the Huskies off too much longer. Rejean Chabot, Trevor Nerdahl and Michael Lieffers each scored for the Huskies to pull the game back to a tie. Chabot gave the Huskies the lead and from there never looked back. The Huskies led 25-17 at the end of the first and 47-28 at the half. Regina outscored the Huskies 29-26 in the third quarter but the Huskies, who had the top offence in the Canada West throughout the regular season, bounced back in the fourth outscoring the Cougars 25-18. Rejean Chabot paced Saskatchewan with 29 on 13-28 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 3 steals. Jamelle Barrett added 23 on 9-19 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 4 boards, 11 assists and 3 steals. Michael Lieffers notched 15 on 7-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 12 boards and 2 assists. Trevor Nerdahl scored 9 on 3-4 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc and 2 steals. Duncan Jones added 8 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 5 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Chris Unsworth added 7 on 3-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Nolan Brudehl scored 6 on 2-11 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 2-8 from the line, 22 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Dave Neufeld added 1, while Patrick Burns, Andrew Henry, Ben Baker and Tim Hollman were scoreless. The Huskies hit 40-87 (.460) from the floor, 9-26 (.346) from the arc and 9-21 (.429) from the line, while garnering 56 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 21 assist, 13 steals, 2 blocks, 9 turnovers and 19 fouls. Jeff Lukomski paced Regina with 23 on 8-18 from the floor, 5-13 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Paul Gareau added 20 on 7-11 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 6-7 from the line, 9 boards and 2 assists. Kris Heshka notched 11 on 4-8 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 7 boards and 2 blocks. Darius Mole scored 9 on 4-9 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-5 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Jared Janotta added 5 on 2-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 assists. Marek Downarowicz notched 4 on 2-6 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 4 boards. Sterling Nostedt added 2, along with boards, and Connor Burns 1, while Lynn Gee, Addison Docherty and Brendan Hebert were scoreless. The Cougars hit 28-71 (.394) from the floor, 6-28 (.214) from the arc and 13-24 (.542) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks, 15 turnovers and 21 fouls. …………………………………………………… In game two, Saskatchewan completed the series sweep with a 92-75 win. Saskatchewan opened the scoring in the game and had a 6-2 lead on the strength of baskets by Nolan Brudehl, Jamelle Barrett and Duncan Jones. Marek Downarowicz sunk a three-pointer from the top of the arc and a Paul Gareau jumper put the Cougars ahead. Trading points for the next few minutes, Regina took a small four-point lead. It didn’t last long, Barrett led the Huskies back to the lead with five straight points. Although the Cougars tied the game twice after that, they couldn’t retake the lead and Saskatchewan finished the quarter ahead 24-21 after three-points by Rejean Chabot. The Huskies opened up the margin quickly and had a double-digit lead in the game four times throughout the second quarter and then led 42-35 at the half. Saskatchewan’s high-powered offence doubled the Cougars 31-15 in the third quarter. Regina was able to outscore the Huskies 25-19 in the final frame but it was too late to make a bid for the comeback. Sporting a black eye from a game against Regina two weeks earlier, in which he’d been inadvertently elbowed by Kris Heshka, Nolan Brudehl noted “you’ve always got war wounds from here and there. A game’s a game. You play on. No worries. Two (straight) is nice to avoid that extra game. Regina’s a really good team. They were fighting for it, too. It’s a good rivalry.” Saskatchewan coach Barry Rawlyk said “you don’t want to drag these things out to a third game where anything can happen. I give them (Cougars) credit. They hustled and really worked the glass, ran up and down the floor really effectively. They played hard. They didn’t roll over, for sure.” Cougar forward Paul Gareau said “we were fortunate to get some rebounds and that’s why the game was closer. We got some energy from the rebounds and more transition baskets our way. The emphasis going into the game was to box out. Brudehl had 22 rebounds (Friday), so we knew we had to cut that number down. … It would have been nice (to go three games). but they’re a good team. We competed well tonight and I thought we had a chance of winning. We just missed too many shots down the stretch. There’s only one team every year that’s a happy team.” Rawlyk said easy buckets off turnovers proved the difference. “That was important to us because it was a sort of a weird night. Offensively, we were sort of discombobulated. We couldn’t seem to get any flow or rhythm to our offence. It’s important for us to create some turnovers on defence and get some buckets in transition.” Regina coach James Hillis noted “we only scored 15 in that (third) quarter and it just led to too many easy run-outs. They’ve done that all season to everybody, not just us, where they make you pay any time you take maybe a little bit of a shaky shot offensively or cough the ball up. I thought we finished with our best game against them this season and pushed them a little bit. Today, we just didn’t shoot the ball well enough.” Jamelle Barrett paced Saskatchewan with 30 on 11-19 from the floor, 5-11 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 2 boards and 9 assists. Rejean Chabot added 24 on 8-17 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 7-8 from the line, 2 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Nolan Brudehl added 10 on 3-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 8 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Michael Lieffers added 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 10 boards and 2 steals. Chris Unsworth added 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Duncan Jones scored 5 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 6 boards and 4 steals. Patrick Burns added 4, Trevor Nerdhal 3 and Tim Hollman 3, while Ben Baker, Dave Neufeld and Andrew Henry were scoreless. The Huskies hit 33-70 (.471) from the floor, 9-23 (.391) from the arc and 17-21 (.810) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 21 assists, 16 steals, 4 blocks, 20 turnovers and 24 fouls.
Paul Gareau paced Regina with 20 on 9-12 from the floor, 2-5 from the line and 9 boards. Marek Downarowicz added 15 on 5-16 from the floor, 4-13 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 12 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Kris Heshka scored 14 on 5-10 from the floor, 4-10 from the line and 2 steals. Brendan Hebert notched 9 on 3-3 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 boards. Jeff Lukomski scored 7 on 1-8 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 8 boards, 8 assists and 2 steals. Sterling Nostedt scored 4 on 2-5 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 3 assists. Darius Mole scored 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the line and 3 boards. Connor Burns added 2, while Jared Janotta, Lynne Gee and Addison Docherty were scoreless. Janotta nabbed 4 boards. The Cougars hit 28-64 (.438) from the floor, 7-27 (.259) from the arc and 12-28 (.429) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 8 steals, 2 blocks, 22 turnovers and 17 fouls. The Cougars (coached by James Hillis, assisted by Steve Burrows, Mick Panko and Darcy McKeown, manager Kerri Ludvigsen, trainer Janet Schwitzer) also included Jesus Mora, Matt Campbell, Neil Olukoya and redshirts Joel Holmes, Daniel Osiowy and Michael Smith.
In the last quarterfinal series, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds defeated the Manitoba Bisons 106-75; 103-85 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, U.B.C. crushed Manitoba 106-75 after leading 25-19, 62-39 and 86-63 at the quarters. Former T-Bird Sean Maxwell nearly shot the Bisons back into the game single-handedly. He was 4-for-5 from three-point range in the third quarter, scoring 14 points in the frame to help cut the UBC lead almost in half. But with the score 73-61 UBC, Josh Whyte triggered a big response from the T-Birds with one of his many and-one plays on the night. That began a 13-2 run for the home side that inflated their lead up above 20 points once again. The ‘Birds led by 23 heading into the final frame, and held the Bisons to just 12 points in the fourth. UBC coach Kevin Hanson worried that his side was too content to let Whyte shoulder the load. “For a stretch there we started worrying too much about offence and stopped worrying about defence. Josh was getting a lot of touches and a lot of scores, and then everyone else sort of forgets to play. It’s always dangerous when one guy takes over a game that way, so we really want to share the basketball a little bit more. I thought we had a lot of mental mistakes tonight and didn’t adjust well to the things they did, but overall it’s a playoff game and a playoff win, so you have to be happy with that.” Josh Whyte paced U.B.C. with 29 on 10-18 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 8-10 from the line, 8 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Doug Plumb added 17 on 6-11 from the floor, 5-5 from the line and 3 boards. Alex Murphy notched 15 on 5-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 3 boards and 6 assists. Brent Malish scored 13 on 5-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. Kamar Burke notched 8 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 7 boards and 2 steals. Melvyn Mayott added 4, along with 4 boards, Graham Bath 4, along with 4 boards, Nathan Yu 4, Tommy Nixon 4, along with 2 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals, Balraj Bains 4, along with 4 boards and 2 steals, and Jas Gill 3. The Thunderbirds hit 37-77 (.481) from the floor, 5-19 (.263) from the arc and 27-32 (.844) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 14 steals, 2 blocks, 14 turnovers and 24 fouls. Jonar Huertas paced Manitoba with 22 on 8-10 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 4 assists and 3 steals. Sean Maxwell added 18 on 6-12 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Kevin Oliver scored 10 on 4-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 3 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Keith Omoerah added 8 on 2-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Eric Garcia notched 8 on 3-11 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 2-5 from the line, 3 boards and 3 assists. Richard Reimer scored 6on 3-6 from the floor, 10 boards, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Tanner Draward added 2 and Ian Dickey 1, while Braedon Speer, Nick Miller and Marko Milosevic were scoreless. The Bisons hit 26-59 (.441) from the floor, 8-24 (.333) from the arc and 15-22 (.682) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 9 steals, 5 blocks, 25 turnovers and 22 fouls. …………………………………………………… In game two, U.B.C. completed the sweep by crushing Manitoba 103-85. The Thunderbirds led from start to finish but coach Kevin Hanson wasn’t particularly impressed. “Obviously I’m happy that we won, but I wasn’t happy with the way we executed today. Nathan Yu and Melvyn Mayott came off the bench and sparked us from a defensive standpoint and that led to some scores for us in transition, but I thought Manitoba just got way too many easy baskets. We made too many slip-ups for this time of year. … We’re not too concerned with where our scoring comes from because we have weapons in a lot of different places,” said Hanson. “We did want to get more scoring in the paint and we did a good job of that, but really it’s defence and knowing our roles and schemes. We need to focus on the little things that we work on in practice and translate them over to the game.” U.B.C. led 26-17, 56-47 and 86-64 at the quarters. Nathan Yu paced UBC with 19 on 7-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 3 steals. Melvyn Mayott added 17 on 6-9 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Doug Plumb scored 15 on 6-13 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 7 boards, 6 assists and 4 steals. Brent Malish notched 15 on 6-14 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 10 boards and 2 assists. Josh Whyte notched 14 on 4-7 from the floor, 6-7 from the line and 4 boards. Alex Murphy added 8 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 5 assists. Tommy Nixon scored 8 on 2-6 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2 blocks. Kamar Burke added 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 0-2 from the line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Jas Gill scored 3, while Graham Bath and Balraj Bains were scoreless. The Thunderbirds hit 37-75 (.493) from the floor, 8-22 (.364) from the arc and 21-33 (.636) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 23 assists, 10 steals, 5 blocks, 7 turnovers and 28 fouls. Eric Garcia paced Manitoba with 25 on 7-18 from the floor, 5-11 from the arc, 6-8 from the line, 3 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Jonar Huertas added 18 on 7-12 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 3-5 from the line and 3 boards. Richard Reimer notched 12 on 5-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 7 boards. Sean Maxwell scored 12 on 4-12 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 3-7 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Kevin Oliver added 12 on 3-8 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 4-8 from the line, 10 boards and 4 assists. Braedon Speer scored 6 on 1-1 from the floor, 4-5 from the line and 3 boards. Keith Omoerah collected 2 boards and 2 assists while going scoreless, as did Tanner Draward, Marko Milosevic, Nick Miller and Ian Dickey. The Bisons hit 27-63 (.429) from the floor, 9-25 (.360) from the arc and 22-37 (.595) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, 14 turnovers and 23 fouls. The Bisons (coached by Kirby Schepp) also included Josh Ogden, Braedon Speer and Amir Ali.
In the final four semis, the U.B.C.
Thunderbirds thrashed the University of Alberta Golden Bears 91-73. The Bears
battled UBC closely throughout the first half, trailing just 39-38 at the break
with neither team able to hit its stride offensively. Early in the third
quarter Kamar Burke took a charge against Daniel Ferguson, who had been
providing the bulk of the Alberta offence. In addition to putting Ferguson in
foul trouble, it ignited UBC’s three-point shooters, who went 5-for-8 in the
quarter to lead the team on a 16-5 run. “In a game of basketball when there’s a
bunch of runs and peaks and valleys, a play like that can change the game. I
thought that really sparked us,” said UBC coach Kevin Hanson. By the end of
that run, UBC led 65-49, and the Bears never came closer than nine points
behind the lead the rest of the way. After a slow first half, UBC sharpshooter
Melvyn Mayott provided two of those three-pointers in the third quarter, and
was a big factor in getting the dangerous T-Bird offence rolling. “In the first
half we were 1-for-11 from three and every shot was short. Melvyn had four good
looks and missed them,” said Hanson. “We just talked about breathing. We were a
little over roused to start the game and once we settled down at halftime the
guys relaxed a little more. Melvyn subbed into the game and bang – hit his
first shot in the first five seconds. I thought that was a play that really
turned us and gave the guys confidence.” UBC led 22-15, 39-38 and 71-60 at the
quarters. Josh Whyte paced U.B.C. with 21 on 8-17 from the floor, 1-3 from the
arc, 4-6 from the line, 11 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Alex Murphy added 17
on 5-9 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 3 boards, 7 assists
and 2 steals. Brent Malish scored 17 on 6-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc,
3-4 from the line and 4 boards. Melvyn Mayott notched 13 on 5-11 from the
floor, 2-7 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 4 boards. Nathan Yu scored 10 on
3-8 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 3 assists and 2
steals. Kamar Burke scored 5o n 1-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-6 from
the line, 13 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Doug Plumb added 4, Graham Bath 2,
along with 2 boards and 3 steals, and Balraj Bains 2, while Jas Gill, Tommy
Nixon and Geoff Pippus were scoreless. The Thunderbirds hit 31-73 (.425) from
the floor, 7-24 (.292) from the arc and 22-30 (.733) from the line, while
garnering 47 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 14
steals, 16 turnovers and 25 fouls. Daniel Ferguson paced Alberta with 30 on
11-20 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 5-8 from the line and 3 boards. Kenneth
Otienno added 12 on 4-9 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and
7 boards. Jordan Baker scored 8 on 3-12 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-4 from
the line, 11 boards and 3 assists. Lyndon Taylor added 7 on 0-1 from the floor,
7-9 from the line and 6 boards. C.G. Morrison scored 7 on 1-4 from the floor,
1-2 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. Graeme Mitchell scored 6 on 2-4 from
the arc. Todd Bergen-Henengouwen notched 3 on 0-3 from the floor, 3-4 from the
line and 3 boards, while Matthew Cardoza, Robert Dewar, Colin Mackinnon and
Jason Baillie were scoreless. The Golden Bears hit 21-57 (.368) from the floor,
8-22 (.364) from the arc and 23-31 (.742) from the line, while garnering 39
boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 23
turnovers and 24 fouls.
In the other semi, the Saskatchewan
Huskies nipped the Trinity Western Spartans 80-78 as Canada West player of the
year Jamelle Barrett hit a 13-foot runner with 1.8 seconds to play to cap a
stunning comeback victory as they rebounded from a 77-67 with 4:22 left in the
game. “Jamelle Barrett was Player of the Year and that is what it was,” said
Trinity Western coach Scott Allen, whose team scored just one point over the
final 5:30 of the game. “He took the game over and made some big shots, got to
the foul line, and made some key steals. It was the undisciplined play of us.
But this will make us better for tomorrow, make us realize that we have to
stick to the plan.” Barrett and Rejean Chabot struggled offensively for much of
the game, but they found their offence when it mattered most. Down 10 points
with a little over four minutes remaining, the two combined for eight of the
Huskies’ final 10 points. Chabot tied the game up at 78 with one minute left,
and then helped set up Barrett’s winner. He gathered a defensive rebound and
pushed the ball up court quickly before slowing things down to give his side a
chance at the last shot. Barrett took the ball from the top of the arc with the
shot clock running down and drove inside, finding nothing but net with his
13-foot running floater from the elbow as the buzzer sounded. Huskies interim
head coach Barry Rawlyk said the comeback was just a matter of tightening up
defensively and making the Spartans work for their offence. “We just had to
bear down and get some stops. They got some easy scores on us early in the
second half, and we said we gotta eliminate some of those,” Rawlyk said. “I
thought our guys did a great job rebounding the ball and not giving them a lot
of second chances down the stretch there, which was really critical. …
(Barrett’s) the key for a lot of aspects of our game. He creates a lot of space
for other players simply by drawing focus to himself, and obviously they spend
a lot of time planning on trying to stop him.” Jamelle Barrett paced
Saskatchewan with 20 on 6-23 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 7-8 from the
line, 2 boards, 16 assists and 3 steals. Nolan Brudehl added 19 on 8-10 from
the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 1-3 from the line, 11 boards and 2 steals. Michael
Lieffers notched 19 on 9-10 from the floor, 1-6 from the line, 14 boards and 3
steals. Rejean Chabot scored 8 on 4-19 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 4
boards. Chris Unsworth added 6 on 3-3 from the floor and 3 boards. Duncan Jones
scored 5 on 2-8 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 5
boards. Dave Neufeld added 2 and Trevor Nerdahl 1, while Andrew Henry, Ben
Baker, Patrick Burns and Tim Hollman were scoreless. The Huskies hit 32-75
(.427) from the floor, 4-21 (.190) from the arc and 12-25 (.480) from the line,
while garnering 47 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 18
assists, 9 turnovers, 1 block and 8 steals. Jacob Doerksen paced Trinity
Western with 29 on 10-21 from the floor, 6-9 from the arc, 3-4 from the line,
12 boards and 2 assists. Tyrell Mara added 13 on 6-12 from the floor, 1-3 from
the arc, 11 boards and 2 assists. Tristan Smith notched 12 on 6-17 from the
floor, 0-5 from the arc, 7 boards and 9 assists. Calvin Westbrook added 11 on
4-11 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2
assists. Kyle Coston scored 7 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 0-1 from
the line, 2 boards and 2 blocks. Lance Verhooef notched 4 on 1-2 from the
floor, 2-3 from the line and 5 boards. Tonner Jackson added 2, along with 6
boards and 2 assists, while Daniel Horner and Eli Mara were scoreless. The
Spartans hit 31-74 (.419) from the floor, 9-24 (.375) from the arc and 7-14
from the line, while garnering 51 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass,
23 fouls, 21 assists, 13 turnovers, 4 blocks and 3 steals.
In the bronze medal match, the Trinity
Western Spartans downed the Alberta Golden Bears 82-74. A 12-point third
quarter from Kyle Coston helped the Spartans erase an 11-point deficit and get
back to even terms with Alberta heading into the fourth. The Spartans held
Alberta to just one point in the final 3.5 minutes. Trailing 63-62, 6’6” Jacob
Doerksen started a 7-0 run with a pair of free throws that gave Trinity the
lead for good and later 6’3” Calvin Westbrook had 5 straight points in the run.
The Bears got it to 1 at 74-73 before Doerksen answered again, this time with a
three with 2 1/2 minutes remaining that gave TWU some breathing room, leading
by 4 and then Spartans clinched it primarily on the foul line. Alberta
twice had 10 point leads, the last time at 46-36 before 6’6” Kyle Coston keyed
a 14-2 run with a three pointer and a slam dunk. The Spartans trailed for most
of the first three quarters before their offence came alive and got them back
in the game. “I don’t think we responded all that well in the first half. I
think we were really tired. The guys laid it all on the line yesterday and had
a couple bad breaks,” said Trinity Western coach Scott Allen. “Today was a
gut-check, and they found their second wind and realized they had to win that
game. … The role players stepped up today. They had to have bigger games. So
much attention goes to Jake and Tyrell [Mara] on the double teams, so it was
great to see Danny (Horner) o((out
there contributing. He’s a warrior.” Jacob Doerksen paced Trinity Western with
21 on 8-16 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 11 boards, 2
assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Kyle Coston scored 14 on 6-16 from the floor,
2-5 from the arc and 9 boards. Daniel Horner added 13 on 4-5 from the floor,
3-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 7 assists. Calvin Westbrook
scored 12 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 4 assists.
Tonner Jackson added 9 on 2-10 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 3-4 from the
line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Tyrell Mara notched 8 on 4-11 from the floor, 0-4
from the arc, 8 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Tristan Smith scored 5 on 2-14
from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2 assists and 2 steals, while Eli Mara was
scoreless. The Spartans hit 30-70 (.429) from the floor, 12-31 (.387) from the
arc and 10-17 (.588) from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 15 on
the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 22 assists, 14 turnovers, 4 blocks and 9 steals.
Jordan Baker paced Alberta with 23 on 7-15 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc,
8-8 from the line, 12 boards and 4 assists. Daniel Ferguson added 15 on 6-19
from the floor, 3-9 from the arc, 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Robert Dewar notched 10 on 5-6 from the floor, 3 boards and 2 blocks. Graeme
Mitchell scored 6 on 2-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-3 from the line
and 2 assists. Kenneth Otienno scored 5 on 2-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc
and 3 boards. Lyndon Taylor added 5 on 1-1 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 6
boards, 2 assists and 2 blocks. C.G. Morrison scored 4 on 2-5 from the floor.
Todd Bergen-Henengouwen notched 3, along with 4 boards, and Matthew Cardoza 3.
The Golden Bears hit 27-65 (.415) from the floor, 7-22 (.318) from the arc and
13-17 (.765) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 9 on the
offensive glass, 18 fouls, 13 assists, 13 turnovers, 7 blocks and 6 steals. The
Golden Bears (coached by Greg Francis, assisted by Eric Magdanz and Jonathan
Verhesen) also included Colin MacKinnon, Jason Baillie, Taylor Riar, Nikola
Manojlovic and redshirts Khalilou Diakite and Sahr Saffa.
In the final, the host University of British Columbia Thunderbirds defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies 107-100 at War Memorial Gym. A 9-2 UBC run put the ‘Birds up 83-74 early in the fourth, and near-immaculate free throw shooting from Alex Murphy was the difference down the stretch. Every time the T-Birds appeared to be pulling away, Saskatchewan’s dangerous guard duo of Rejean Chabot and Jamelle Barrett seemed to have an answer to keep the Huskies in the game, but they were unable to close the gap entirely thanks to Murphy’s 21-22 effort from the charity stripe. “What an unbelievable performance,” UBC coach Kevin Hanson said of Murphy’s effort in his last home game as a T-Bird. “I was going to see if we could sub a sixth guy on to stop [Barrett’s] penetration. He was single-handedly keeping them in the game. We tried to double team him but he got through double teams and he got through triple teams. I was running out of ideas as a coach for what to do with him.” Both sides ended up shorthanded due to foul trouble late in the game. Trevor Nerdahl and Nolan Brudehl both fouled out for the Huskies, while UBC was without big men Balraj Bains and Kamar Burke down the stretch, forcing them to go with an all-guard lineup. “We ended up going small ball at the end with five guards playing out there. We adjusted quite well and I thought it was a sign of our depth that guys just adapted to their new roles,” Hanson said. The T-Birds outscored the Huskies 23-9 in the first quarter before the visitors shot their way back into contention in the middle quarters. They got to within a point of the ‘Birds late in the third, and were as close as two points several times in the fourth, but never held a lead all night. “This year, it’s a home-court advantage with our crowd,” said Hanson. “And for our fifth-year guys, Josh (Whyte) and Brent (Malish) and especially Alex Murphy, what an unbelievable performance. … I asked him if he wanted it to be renamed Alex Murphy Court.” It was the 22nd win in a row against CIS competition for the ‘Birds, who won the last 18 games of a 22-2 season before sweeping Calgary 2-0 in a quarter-final series and beating Alberta in the Canada West semifinal. “We’ve been tapering a little bit at practice, maybe that has something to do with it,” said Murphy. “We still go very intense, but it’s not for the full two hours. We’re really focused right now, but we still have to keep pushing.” Saskatchewan coach Barry Rawlyk said “we played, as their record indicated, one of the top teams in the country all season, so the fact that we’re going to be at the Final 8 is something I think the guys are deserving of. Obviously, we’re disappointed with the results from the weekend, but we’re not disappointed in the efforts of the guys. They really dug in and played hard. Through some adversity this weekend, their character really showed through. I’m very proud of them. Basically, they took full advantage of home-court advantage, let’s put it that way.” After UBC jumped out to a 23-6 lead, Saskatchewan slowly clawed its way back and came within one, 67-66, late in the third quarter. They trailed by four points with under a minute to play. “We dug ourselves in a hole early,” said Rawlyk. “The guys could have pulled it (the tent) early, but they stayed with it. It just seemed like we could never quite get over the hump. Even in the dying minutes I thought we had a chance to win the game.” UBC jumped out to a 17-point lead late in the first quarter but Jamelle Barrett, Rejean Chabot and Michael Lieffers led a 22-8 Saskatchewan run that got the game back within three. A Lieffers dunk late in the third quarter pulled the Huskies to within one. A chance to take the lead for the first time was denied by a Duncan Jones turnover and steal by Josh Whyte. Alex Murphy paced U.B.C. with 34 on 6-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 21-22 from the line, 8 assists and 4 steals. Josh Whyte added 19 on 8-14 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 5 boards and 5 steals. Doug Plumb scored 18 on 7-12 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 2 boards and 3 assists. Brent Malish added 14 on 4-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 5-7 from the line and 9 boards. Kamar Burke scored 9 on 4-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 8 boards, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Nathan Yu scored 9 on 4-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4 assists and 2 steals. Graham Bath added 4, along with 4 boards, while Balraj Bains, Melvyn Mayott and Tommy Nixon were scoreless. The Thunderbirds hit 35-70 (.500) from the floor, 3-15 (.200) from the arc and 34-40 (.850) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 23 assists, 15 steals, 4 blocks, 15 turnovers and 31 fouls. Jamelle Barrett paced Saskatchewan with 35 on 12-26 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 9-14 from the line, 6 boards and 7 assists. Rejean Chabot notched 29 on 11-20 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 5 boards. Michael Lieffers scored 15 on 5-6 from the floor, 5-9 from the line, 16 boards and 3 steals. Nolan Brudehl scored 6 on 2-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-5 from the line, 9 boards and 2 assists. Trevor Nerdahl scored 6 on 2-4 from the arc. Chris Unsworth added 4, Tim Hollman 3 and Duncan Jones 2, while Ben Baker and Patrick Burns were scoreless. The Huskies hit 34-69 (.493) from the floor, 8-19 (.421) from the arc and 24-38 (.632) from the line, while garnering 45 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 9 steals, 2 blocks, 21 turnovers and 23 fouls.
In May, Canada West announces that it has awarded probationary membership to Calgary’s Mount Royal College Cougars, commencing in September 2011. The Cougars will begin competing in the 2012-13 season. Mount Royal’s was one of two membership applications under consideration at the association’s annual general meeting in Saskatoon. MRU received the required 75%, A decision on the application from the University of Northern British Columbia, located in Prince George, B.C., was deferred until June following a request for further information.
The University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna, was granted probationary membership status effective September 2010. It would start to compete in Canada West basketball in 2011-12.
The bronze medalist Trinity Western Spartans: Jacob Doerksen; Kyle Coston; Daniel Horner; Calvin Westbrook; Tonner Jackson; Tyrell Mara; Tristan Smith; Eli Mara; Lance Verhoeff; Kurtis Osborne; Nil Nortey Engmann; Clint Wickham; Jesse Jeffers; Lucian Sauciuc; Lucas Nugteren; Tyler Linttell; Niko Monachini; coach Scott Allen; assistant Matthew Boulton; assistant Cal Wirch; assistant Ron Walker; program coordinator Livia Munro; manager/stats Trevor Klassen; manager/stats Morgan Hayduk; therapist Natali Ghobrial; therapist Philippe Saucier; student therapist Zach Hogan; SID Scott Stewart
The runner-up Saskatchewan Huskies: Jamelle Barrett; Rejean Chabot; Nolan Brudehl; Michael Lieffers; Duncan Jones; Chris Unsworth; Dave Neufeld; Ben Baker; Trevor Nerdahl; Patrick Burns; Andrew Henry; Tim Hollman; Jeremy Svenkeson; Sam Derksen; Evan Ostertag; Jon Harding; Temidayo Jabagun; Jonathan Karwacki; interim coach Barry Rawlyk; assistant Rob Lovelace; assistant Nathan Schellenberg; student trainer Ashley Wilk; student trainer Kayla Mack; therapist Rhonda Shishkin; therapist Adrienne Stinson; team doctor Dr. Marlys Misfeldt; team doctor Dr. David Kim; strength & conditioning Bruce Craven; athletic director Basil Hughton; SID Nicole Betker
The champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds: Josh Whyte; Alex Murphy; Kamar Burke; Brent Malish; Doug Plumb; Nathan Yu; Graham Bath; Melvyn Mayott; Balraj Bains; Tommy Nixon; Jas Gill; Geoff Pippus; Mike Lewandowski; Akeem Pierre; Chad Posthumus; coach Kevin Hanson; assistant Vern Knopp; assistant Dahman Boudraa; assistant Jamie Oei; trainer Jayne Blank; trainer Sinead Beynon; nutritionist Harinder Ghuman; athletic director Bob Philip; SID Ben Schach