| Acadia | 84 | |||||||
| McGill | 67 | Acadia | 80 | |||||
| Windsor | 84 | U.B.C. | 87 | —–BRITISH COLUMBIA | ||||
| U.B.C. | 111 |
In the semis, Acadia, which entered the tourney 11-1 in AUAA play and 20-5 overall, defeated McGill 84-67 as Steve Pound took control of the contest in the second half. Pound, who’d shot 3-18 in the first half, finished with 28 points, including 13-35 from the floor. In a closely called contest, the tide swung towards Acadia after they shifted to a zone when they got in foul trouble. Acadia coach Big Chapman noted the referees called it “a little close. They call things insignificant to the play.” McGill coach Sam Wimsner noted that “we try to play a slow, deliberate game. But we just weren’t ready to play. And this guy Pound killed us in the second half.” Jon Beausang added 16 for Acadia, George Beattie 12; Joey Wells 11, Gary Folker 8, Talbot 6 and Godden 3. McGill was led by 6-10 John Naponick, who scored 25 and grabbed 15 boards. Howie Roseman added 18, Chad Gaffield 17, Joe Prah 5 and Kit Kennard 2, while Wylie was scoreless. Acadia was up 18-10 at the quarter, 35-26 at the half and 53-44 at the three-quarter mark. McGill was resurrecting its basketball program after budget cuts in 1971 had forced discontinuation of basketball. Dressed in Kentucky Fried Chicken sweatshirts and pajama tops, the Redmen were anything but professional and looked amateurish in repeatedly turning over the ball against the Axemen. Although Acadia was cold from the floor, they still managed to leap ahead by 15. McGill trimmed the margin to 11 at the half, 36-25. The Redmen opened the second half with a 6-0 run and the teams traded baskets for the next 10 minutes. Steve Pound caught fire and the Acadia defence forced a number of turnovers as the Axemen took a 12-point lead with three minutes to go. McGill coach Sam Wimisner told the McGill Daily that he was disappointed in his troops. “They’re nothing but a no-good crop of free-loaders. We brought them all the way out to Vancouver and look at their gratitude.” The Daily reported that Wimisner refused to take the same flight home with his team because he was so disgusted with their performance. “For Christ’s sake, how much can a guy take? We could have won the whole goddamn tournament if not for gross irresponsibility and blatant insubordination by the players. You’d expect a grown bunch of guys to have a little more control. Bathing in beer the night before the game – ridiculous! … I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen. I’m not one to spoil anyone’s fun – in fact I like to see guys enjoy themselves – but they didn’t have to get the stuff all over the carpet.” During the game, the Daily reported, “on more than one occasion, opponents complained of a ‘pungent odour’ emanating from the Redmen bench that ‘smelled like beer or something’.” The Daily added that “after the game Wimisner said he gave the players a “severe reprimanding, hoping they would get up for the consolation game and save themselves from complete shame.” But that evening, said Wimisner, the boys raided the hotel of the Acadia cheerleaders, perhaps with revenge in mind, and carried on “in a disorderly manner”. This behavior allegedly proceeded into the early hours of the morning. “We couldn’t play ball, the next day,” Wimisner lamented. “We were so bloody exhausted that they ran us off the court.”
In the other semi, U.B.C. thrashed Windsor 111-84 as Ron Thorsen scored 43, including 22 in the first half. U.B.C. burst in front after four minutes of play and were never headed. They led 13-8; 31-22; 41-35 and three field goals by Thorsen put them up 57-41 at the half, having scored 23 points from the line in the first half, compared to Windsor’s five. The closely called game later prompted Windsor coach Paul Thomas to say that referees Harold Cronk and Mike Woods “should stay down in junior high school and YMCA basketball. …this is a national championship and officials just aren’t ready for it. …It’s disgraceful to have that kind of officiating in the national championships. Even some of their players apologized to me about the officiating at the end of the game.” Thomas added that his team “just didn’t adjust to refereeing.” Windsor was hit for 35 fouls, as compared to 15 against UBC. Four Lancers fouled out, including Gerry Sovran; Ward Conway, Denis Smith and Jim Chase. By contrast, U.B.C. had no complaints about the officiating. Thorsen noted that “It doesn’t matter how close they call it as long as you know how they’re going to do it. It makes better basketball if they call everything.” John Mills added 18 for U.B.C. before fouling out. The T’Birds led by as many as 30 in the second half and nearly everyone on the team hit the scoring sheet. Thunderbirds coach Peter Mullins told the Windsor Star “I don’t have the big guys to slow us down. We’ve been running all this season with great success. I thought both clubs played quite well tonight. Windsor certainly didn’t give up at any time.” Jack Hoy scored 12, Bob Dickson and Bob Phillips each scored 10, while Rod Matheson, Darryl Gjernes, Peter Herd and Stan Callegari each scored 6. U.B.C. shot 17-33 in the first half and 24-45 in the second. Windsor, which shot 17-34 in the second half, was led by Peter Mingay 30; Norbert Rammler 12, Jerry Sovran 11, Jim Chase 11, Tino Laeti 5, Jim McFarlane 4, Greg Horocky 4, Denis Smith 4 and Ward Conway 2.
In the bronze medal match, Windsor defeated McGill 87-83 as Peter Mingay scored 25, Jim Chase 21, Dennis Smith 11, Jerry Sovran 10, Bill Horocky 10, Ward Conway 4, Charles Robinson 4 and Jim MacFarlane 2. The Lancers hit 34-71 from the floor. John Naponick led the Redmen with 34. Chad Gaffield added 16, Howie Roseman 12, Kit Kennard 9, Wylie 8 and Joe Prah 4. The Redmen hit 34-70 from the floor. Windsor coach Paul Thomas told the Windsor Star “we didn’t play too well in the second half but give them some credit for battling back the way they did (after trailing 50-29 at the half). I’m afraid our fellows regarded them too lightly in the second half. It was the type of game with very little at stake, that looked like nothing more than a good scrimmage.”
In the final, U.B.C. defeated Acadia as centre John Mills scored 27 and grabbed 14 rebounds while forward Stan Callegari added 22, including 11-20 from the floor and 17 points in the first half, Darryl Gjernes 13, Ron Thorsen 9, including 1-9 from the floor and 4-6 from the line, Bob Dickson 7, Rod Matheson 5, Peter Herd 2 and Jack Hoy 2. Acadia was paced by Steve Pound 29, including 13-36 from the floor, Gary Folker 18, George Beattie 19, Jon Beausang 6 and Casey 2. U.B.C. led 27-20 at the quarter, 48-47 at the half and by as many as 11 in the second half but had difficulty controlling Steve Pound. The T’Birds led 68-67 at the three-quarter mark. The Axemen rallied to within four with a minute and a half to go but had four starters foul out and simply ran out of gas. Acadia had focused its efforts on closing down 6-2 All-Canadian guard Ron Thorsen, who noted he didn’t play his best game. “They (teammates) are the ones who won it.” Acadia coach Gib Chapman noted “Thorsen should be congratulated. He wasn’t having a good day but he kept his cool. He didn’t force his shots.” Acadia tried a box-and-one on Thorsen and held him to nine points. U.B.C.’s centre John Mills noted that the T’Birds “press didn’t work as well today as it has. But everyone was scratching the boards and our defence picked up in the second half.” That defence didn’t contain first team all-Canadian Steve Pound, who was defended by Thorsen. Chapman noted that Pound “is not like Thorsen. Thorsen can go one-one-one and beat you but Pound can’t do that. He needs help. He’s shorter.” Thorsen noted his team’s defence was only ‘passable:” in the first half. “We weren’t switching in the first half.” Axemen George Beattie pounded U.B.C. for 14 points in the first half. Chapman told the Windsor Star that “we asked only one concession before this game. …that Harold Cronk not work it. Everybody in Western Canada regards this referee as a ‘homer’. But U.B.C. officials turned a deaf ear to this request. As far as I know, every other tournament ever held has allowed each of the finalists a choice of officials. I know that Manitoba was given that right when we hosted the tournament a year ago. I mentioned this to Peter (Mullins) after Thursday’s game and he agreed this should be done. Then today, he casually told me he forgot about it.” Acadia saw four of its players disqualified in the last four minutes of play. John Mills paced U.B.C. with 27 points. Stan Callegari added 22, Darryl Gjernes 13, Ron Thorsen 9, Bob Dickson 7, Rod Matheson 5, Peter Herd 2 and Jack Hoy 2. U.B.C. shot 32-71 from the floor and 23-30 from the line, while nabbing 40 boards. Steve Pound scored 29 before fouling out for St. Mary’s. George Beattie added 19 points, Gary Folker 18, Jon Beausang 6, Joey Wells 6 and Talbot 0. St. Mary’s hit 36-79 from the floor and 8-12 from the line while grabbing 41 rebounds. U.B.C. finished (22-10) on the season.
The bronze medalist Windsor Lancers: Denis Smith; Peter Mingay; Ward Conway; Jim Chase; Norbert Rammler; Tino Lenti; Jim McFarlane; Jerry Sovran; Charles Robinson; Greg Horocky; Jack Moore; Joe Artiss; coach Paul Thomas; assistant Nick Grabowski; manager Sam Drouillard; trainer Bill Mitchell; trainer Jerry Wachowicz; statistician John Bernik
The silver medalist Acadia Axemen: George Beattie; Gary Folker; Steve Pound; Paul Talbot; John McGrattan; Tom Farrington; Jon Beausang; Sean Casey; John Godden; Joey Wells; Glenn Taylor; Larry Kennedy; Roy Mercer; George Beattie; coach Gilbert Chapman; assistant James Logue; manager Willis Porter; trainer Allen Stephen
The champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds: Ron Thorsen; Stan Callegari; John Mills; Darryl Gjernes; Jack Hoy; Rod Matheson; Peter Herd; Bob Dickson; Tom Allison; Bob Phillips; Doug Cripps; coach Dr. Peter Mullins; manager Derek Swain; trainer Al Larson