| (1) | Carleton | 77 | ||||||||
| (8) | New Brunswick | 94 | New Brunswick | 75 | Carleton | 69 | ||||
| (9) | Brandon | 71 | Carleton | 63 | ||||||
| (4) | Calgary | 74 | Calgary | 67 | ||||||
| (5) | McMaster | 66 | —–CARLETON | |||||||
| (2) | Laval | 52 | ||||||||
| (7) | U.B.C. | 64 | York | 54 | York | 53 | ||||
| (10) | York | 89 | St. F.X. | 59 | ||||||
| (3) | St. F.X. | 77 | St. FX | 68 | ||||||
| (6) | Brock | 61 |
With the CIS having gone to a draw with
10 teams, the national tourney necessitated an opening round pair of games
pairing the 7-10 seeds. The odds were certainly against the quartet. Winning
four games in four days is typically held to be too severe a test of a team’s stamina
and depth.
York earned the chance to test that
proposition by pounding 7th-seeded U.B.C 89-64 after putting the game out of
reach with a 13-8 run down the stretch. York
and U.B.C. staged a long-range shootout and traded mini-runs as the Lions took a
45-42 lead after the run-and-gun first half. Each squad nailed six from beyond
the arc, including three apiece by UBC’s Casey Archibald and York’s Daniel
Eves. Ryan French drilled his third three-pointer and posted-up for a bucket as
York opened the
second half with a 9-0 run. With the Lions continuing to dominate the boards,
attending to their defensive rotations, and finding space for French and Jordan
Foebel to operate in the blocks, the Thunderbirds never came closer than nine
and wilted down the stretch. The Lions were making a statement about being seeded
10th, said French, who scored 21 and grabbed 11 boards. “I don’t consider this
an upset.” French added that he felt comfortable playing in the Halifax Metro
Centre, with the Lions making their second trip to Halifax in three seasons. “I’ve played here
before. I know what it takes to win. It’s a good atmosphere to play in and I
just felt at home.” York coach Bob Bain was delighted with French’s “veteran
leadership” and the Lion’s decision-making. “When there was a double-team or
when they trapped and cheated a little bit, we found the open guy, so we made
some layups. And once they got behind, they started to press a little bit.”
French said “we have five guys who were here two years ago and this is our last
chance. This is a great place to play, a great city and we want to go out on the
right note.” U.B.C. coach Kevin Hanson said his T-Birds failed to defend French
on the perimeter. “We were so focused on trying to rebound and take away the paint.
… But he stepped outside and hit some big shots for them. Give them full
credit. They kicked us and they kicked us hard.” Ryan French paced the Lions
with 21 points on 8-10 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 11
defensive boards, 4 assists, 4 turnovers and 2 steals. Dan Eves scored 15 on 6-8
from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 7 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Chaka
Harris scored 14 on 7-12 from the floor and 4 boards. Tom McChesney scored 13
on 4-9 from the floor, 5-6 from the line, 8 assists, 5 turnovers and 3 blocks.
Jordan Foebel scored 12 on 4-10 from the floor, 4-8 from the line, 8 rebounds,
5 assists, and 3 blocks. Off the bench, Branislav Misovic added 6 points on 2-4
from the arc. Mike Di Claudio scored 4 and Scott McLeod 4. Yago Tascon, Mike Nixon,
Matt Parfitt and Mark Prskalo played but were scoreless. The Lions shot 34-60 (.567)
from the floor, 8-14 (.571) from the arc and 13-19 (.684) from the line. They
had 47 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 10 fouls, 27 assists, 19 turnovers,
8 blocks and 9 steals. The Thunderbirds were led by Casey Archibald’s 18 points
on 5-16 from the floor, 4-10 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. He added 5 assists,
4 boards and 3 turnovers. Pat McKay scored 14 on 6-16 from the floor, 2.5 from
the arc and 6 boards. Karlo Villaneuva scored 6 on 3-8 from the floor and had 6
assists, 4 turnovers and 4 steals. Craig Rollins scored 5 on 2-8 from the floor
before fouling out. Ryder McKeown scored 3 on 1-5 from the floor and 4 boards.
Patrick Sponaski scored 10 off the bench on 5-6 from the floor and 3 boards
before fouling out. Jama Mahlalela scored 3 and Peter Wauthy 3, Jason Birring
2, while Jordan Yu and Neil Morrison played but did not score. U.B.C. shot 25-72
(.347) from the floor, 8-21 (.381) from the arc and 6-9 from the line. They had
32 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 18 assists, 13 turnovers,
3 blocks and 12 steals.
In the other opening round match, eighth-seeded U.N.B. humiliated 9th-seed Brandon 94-71. U.N.B. dominated the boards and thoroughly confused the Bobcats with their shifting defences as they rallied from an early 8-5 deficit with an explosive 18-3 run on a series of penetration dribble-drives by Doug Thompson. Although Brandon’s quickness briefly gave U.N.B. a few fits, their lack of any manner of post or perimeter defence quickly proved their undoing. New Brunswick’s ball movement was breathtaking, with each of the five Reds on the floor often touching the ball on each possession, as they patiently worked for an open layup or an uncontested perimeter jumper and built their lead to a commanding 57-27 at the half. It only got worse for Brandon as the Reds dominated every facet of the game in extending their lead to as many 34 and romping to the win. “We played solid defence and we took good care of the ball,” said Thompson. Coach Thom Gillespie, whose Reds were making their first national appearance since 1967, credited his squad with stellar defence. “We played a very good first half. When you hold a team to 27 points, you’re playing good defence, and our shooting was there, which opened the floor for us.” Gillespie salivated at the prospect of a rematch with top-ranked Carleton. The Reds dropped a narrow 68-67 decision in preseason play. “We’re not intimidated by anybody.” Andrew Munro noted the early lead relaxed the Reds. “It’s always nice when you get a big lead like that. I’m definitely glad we stuck with the game plan.” A teary-eyed interim rookie Brandon coach Reggie Carrick said the Bobcats poor first-half shooting sunk his unit. “We always put ourselves behind the eight ball. But now there’s no more chances.” Andrew Munro led the Varsity Reds with 23 points on 9-12 from the floor and 4-4 from the line, while grabbing 12 boards, including four on the offensive glass. Tom Spink scored 13 on 4-7 from the floor and 4-4 from the line, while grabbing 4 boards and dishing out 3 assists. Dan Goggin scored 11 on 2-8 from the floor and 6-8 from the line while handing out 7 assists, committing 4 turnovers and making 4 steals. Joseph Thompson scored 10 on 4-5 from the floor, while David Myers scored 5 on 2-2 from the floor. Off the bench, Doug Thompson added 16 on 4.9 from the floor and 7-7 from the line and 7 boards. Dylan Lisson scored 7 on 4-6 from the line, Oliver Glencross 5 on 3-4 from the line and Adam Parent 4. Greg Walker, Nathan Bokma and Ben MacLeod played but were scoreless. The Varsity Reds shot 28-52 (.538) from the floor, 6-15 (.400) from the arc and 32-40 (.800) from the line. They had 43 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 17 assists, 16 turnovers, 3 blocks and 8 steals. Brandon, which faces expulsion from the Canada West conference if it fails to add a second sport to its athletic complement by 2005-06, was led by Dido Bunema’s 21 points on 7-18 from the floor, 7-7 from the line and 6 boards. Mario Joseph added 11 on 5-12 from the floor and 8 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass. Yul Michel notched 9 on 2-5 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 4 assists. Starters Scott Lelievre and Brent Ransome were scoreless. Lelievre was 0-6 from the floor, while Ransome was 0-3. O’Neil Gordon added 11 points off the bench on 4-11 from the floor, 5 boards, 5 turnovers and 6 steals. Mustafa Cetin scored 9 on 3-10 from the floor, 5 boards before fouling out. Shawn Corbin scored 4 before fouling out. Robens Josaphat notched 4 on 2-4 from the line and Tyrone Purnell scored 2. Michael Page and Adam Hartman played but were scoreless. The Bobcats shot 25-78 (.321) from the floor, 4-17 (.235) from the arc and 17-24 (.708) from the line. They had 43 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 27 fouls, 11 assists, 16 turnovers, 1 block and 10 steals.
In the quarterfinals, top-seed Carleton survived a severe scare to nip 8th-seed University of New Brunswick 77-75 by relying on their trademark stingy defence and tenacious defensive rebounding. Yet, in a slugfest often resembling a county fair demolition derby, the Ravens almost allowed the Reds to get into their heads and nearly relinquished a late 10-point lead. “They actually outbattled us tonight and there’s no excuse for that,” said guard Robbie Green. “We believe we work so hard and that’s why we’re the number one team in the country. But tonight, we folded.” Well, almost, said guard Matt Ross. “A win is a win and we’ll take it.” The Ravens struggled to find their range as they fell behind 33-27 at the half after shooting a tepid 6-of-22 from the arc and being held scoreless from the field for a six-minute stretch. But they tightened the defensive screws early in the second half, opening with a 10-0 run on a pair of three-pointers by Mike Smart and two low-post buckets by Josh Poirier and then extended their lead to 10 on a pair of tough post-up buckets by Paul Larmand. Still, the Reds refused to fold and the Ravens appeared to lose their wits. U.N.B. began aggressively attacking the Ravens with penetration dribble-drives by Doug Thompson, and the Ravens help defence was nowhere to be found, allowing the Reds to rally to within 62-59 with three minutes to play. Larmand responded with five unanswered points, burying a 12-foot fallaway jumper with Reds all over him and hammering a three-pointer with the shot-clock expiring as Carleton took a 67-59 lead with just over a minute to play. But again, they eased off the pedal and almost found a way to lose. Although Matt Ross drilled six free throws, and Green hit three others, Carleton twice threw the ball away and twice suffered from dubious no-calls as the Reds scrapped back to trim the margin to 76-75 on a three-pointer by Tom Spink with 7.8 seconds to play. But Larmand hit an insurance free throw before Reds guard Oliver Glencross missed a baseline jumper at the buzzer. “It kept feeling we were pulling away but just couldn’t,” said Larmand. Green said “we just crumbled under a little bit of pressure and it wasn’t even that much pressure. I mean, we had them where we wanted them. Those last eight minutes we fell apart. Everybody on our teams made mistakes, except for the coaching staff. They’re the only ones who kept their heads in the game.” Point guard Mike Smart said the Ravens were fortunate to win. “They’re a disciplined team and they play very hard every night. You always know it’s going to be a war and tonight was no different. They made shots. They made plays. They got after the boards and we were lucky we came out on top.” Coach Dave Smart was at a loss to explain the Ravens apparent propensity to throw away late leads. “The first 26 minutes saved us. Most teams who try to give (games) away lose them. We went high school. We didn’t want to foul 50 feet away from the basket and we wanted to play good solid fundamental defence 22-feet in, and we didn’t do that.” Reds coach Thom Gillespie was proud of his team’s work ethic. “We never quit and we gave ourselves a chance. … I think we’re the toughest team in the country. I guess we’re not going to be crowned the best team. I guess Carleton is on its way to doing that, conceivably. But we are the toughest team.” Point guard Dan Goggin said the Reds “knew we’d have a chance to be there at the end. But we just came up a little short. It’s awfully disappointing, but you’ve got to keep your head high. It’s great to see how much support we had, since we’re not from Nova Scotia. Paul Larmand led the Ravens with 19 points on 7-19 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc and 1-3 from the line, while grabbing 15 boards, including 12 on the defensive glass. Robbie Green added 18 points on 4-13 from the arc and 6-8 from the line. Mike Smart scored 12 on 4-11 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 2-4 from the line, while handing out 9 assists, committing 7 turnovers and stealing the ball 3 times. Josh Poirier scored 10 on 4-5 from the floor and grabbed 11 boards, including four on the offensive glass. Ryan Bell scored 2. Matt Ross scored 12 off the bench on 2-3 from the floor and 6-6 from the line, while grabbing 3 boards. Adam Falsetto scored 2 on 1-6 from the floor and grabbed 4 boards. Osvaldo Jeanty scored 2 on 1-5 from the floor and had 3 boards and 3 assists, while Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie played but was scoreless. The Ravens shot 23-63 (.359) from the floor, 12-36 (.333) from the arc and 19-27 (.704) from the line. They had 51 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass. They committed 22 fouls, had 16 assists, 11 turnovers, 3 blocks and 4 steals. The Varsity Reds were led by Dan Goggins’ 23 points on 6-20 from the floor, 1-9 from the arc and 10-10 from the line. Goggin also had 7 boards and 3 steals. Tom Spink scored 9 on 3-13 from the floor and grabbed 9 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass. Andrew Munro scored 7 on 3-4 from the floor and grabbed 6 boards. Joseph Thompson scored 7 on 3-7 from the floor and had 3 assists and 3 steals. David Myers scored 5, while grabbing 6 boards, including 4 on the offensive glass. Off the bench, Doug Thompson notched 13 points on 4-14 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc and 2-2 from the line, while grabbing 7 boards. Dylan Lissan scored 8 on 3-8 from the floor. Oliver Glencross scored 3 and Adam Parent played but was scoreless. New Brunswick shot 24-70 (.343) from the floor, 7-23 (.304) from the arc and 20-28 (.714) from the line. They had 47 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 24 fouls, 13 assists, 4 turnovers, 2 blocks and 6 steals.
Tenth-seed York stunned second-seed Laval 54-52 on pair of free throws by point guard Tom McChesney with 22.6 seconds to play. Both teams slowed the tempo to a crawl, pounded the ball into the post and then slugged it out for the boards as Laval took a 31-24 lead at the half despite having star Charles Fortier break his leg in a fall. York shifted to a zone and gamely scrapped back, finally knotting the score at 50. Although Laval’s Marc-Antoine Horth posted-up for a bucket, Branislav Misovic drilled a 14-footer and McChesney nailed the winning free throws with 22.6 seconds to play despite suffering a sub-par 2-of-16 shooting night as York pulled out the win. It was York’s only lead of the second half. Rouge et Or forward Jean-Phillippe Morin’s attempt to tie it at the other end rimmed out. “It was a dogfight,” said elated forward Ryan French. “I can’t believe this. It’s like a Cinderella story.” The fifth-year forwarded added that the Lions never feel like underdogs. “A lot of people turned their backs on York. We struggled for a good part of the year, but we believe in what we’re capable of. As long as we execute and play hard, we can compete with any team.” Coach Bob Bain called it “ugly.” But the zone proved “kind of an ace in the hole that helped us.” Point guard Tom McChesney noted that “a lot of people turned their backs on York because we didn’t have the best start and we struggled for a good part of the year. But we believe in what we’re capable of, and as long as we execute and play hard we can compete with any team.” Ryan French led the Lions with 13 points on 5-9 from the floor and 3-4 from the line, while grabbing 5 boards and dishing out 3 assists. Tom McChesney added 9 points on 2-16 from the floor, 1-10 from the arc and 4-4 from the line, while dishing out 4 assists, committing 4 turnovers and making 7 steals. Jordan Foebel added 7 points on 3-9 from the floor and grabbing 11 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass. Chaka Harris scored 7 on 2-9 from the floor and grabbed 6 boards. Dan Eves scored 5 on 2-9 from the floor and 0-3 from the arc, while grabbing 8 boards, including 3 on the offensive glass. Off the bench, Branislav Misovic scored 11 on 4-6 from the line and 3-5 from the arc, while grabbing 3 boards. Scott McLeod scored 2, while Mike Di Claudio and Matt Parfitt played but did not score. The Lions hit 18-63 (.286) from the floor, 4-21 (.190) from the arc and 14-17 (.824) from the line. They had 40 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 12 fouls, 12 assists, 11 turnovers, 2 blocks and 9 steals. Laval was paced by Marc-Antoine Horth’s 14 points on 6-18 from the floor and 12 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass. Samuel Audet-Sow added 10 points on 3-12 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 2-4 from the line and 7 boards, including 3 on the offensive glass. Dominique Soucy had 6 points on 2-8 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 4 boards and 2 assists. Charles Fortier had 4 points on 2-4 from the floor, while Philippe Cote-Jacques had 2 points on 1-5 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 6 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Jean-Philippe Morin scored 12 off the bench on 5-15 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc and 2-2 from the line, while grabbing 13 boards, including 11 on the defensive glass. Dgibril Bah scored 4, while Mathieu Bilodeau played but did not score. Laval shot 20-63 (.317) from the floor, 4-20 (.200) from the arc and 8-12 (.667), while grabbing 48 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass. The Rouge et Or had 10 fouls, 21 assists, 15 turnovers, 7 blocks and 8 steals.
Fourth-seed Calgary restored a measure of Canada West honour by dumping 5th-seed McMaster 74-66. Calgary took an early 18-15 lead on savvy ball distribution by Whit Hornsberger and torrid marksmanship by their mid-range shooters. Although the Dinnies shooting cooled, their zone defence picked up the slack, often appearing to confuse the Marauders. The Dinosaurs all but defied McMaster to beat them from the perimeter, collapsing their zone on the entry passes to triple-team Marauder posts. With guard Rob Scully quickly picking up three fouls, McMaster’s perimeter gunners proved incapable of the challenge, as they hit a paltry 3-of-17 from the arc, while the Dinosaurs patiently ripped-off a late 16-2 run, capped by a knifing baseline drive and three-pointer by Surinder Grewal, to take a 36-26 lead after the foul-plagued first half. The mugging continued in the second half as the Dinosaurs kept hammering the Marauders in the blocks, while drilling mid-range jumpers as they extended their lead to 50-33. Scully finally re-ignited McMaster’s stagnant offence, drilling three perimeter jumpers as the Marauders stormed back to trim the margin to five. But Chris Wright tipped-in an offensive rebound and then slam-dunked a John Riad feed to calm Dinosaur nerves. Although Scully pulled McMaster within three with a minute to play on a driving layup, Riad coolly fed Ian Ferguson for a bucket and drilled a pair of free throws as Calgary quelled the last-minute threat. The Dinosaurs were fighting for a measure of Canada West pride, said Riad, who paced Calgary with 20. “We wanted to represent the West a bit better today.” Wright said “we’re a veteran team that’s gone through a lot of adversity and we weren’t going to fold just because the other two Western teams didn’t do well.” Riad said the Dinosaurs were determined to demonstrate that they had a post-game. “They gave us a little bit of motivation in the media and all that, saying we had no post presence. We wanted to show that our posts can play down here and we’re going to be tough this weekend. Even in a game of this magnitude, it’s possible to coast a bit when you’re up by a bunch. We’re definitely going to have to eliminate that the rest of the way because the games don’t get any easier from here on in. We just can’t let teams back in the game like that.” Coach Don Vanhooren was delighted with his Dinosaurs poise under pressure and focus. “We have a couple of kids that get the job done for us and they have all year long. We wanted a lot of close games this year and for our kids to be in that situation really isn’t a new thing and that helped us down the stretch.” McMaster coach Joe Raso said his Marauders just dug themselves too deep of an early hole. “It was one of those games where we went down 10 at the half-time and it felt like 20. We just couldn’t get anything going and every time we did, it was stoppage of play, stoppage of play.” Jon Riad paced Calgary with 20 points on 6-15 from the floor and 8-8 from the line, while grabbing 5 boards, handing out four assists and stealing the ball three times. Chris Wright scored 16 on 6-9 from the floor and 4-6 from the line while grabbing 14 boards, including 12 on the defensive glass, and 3 steals. Aman Heran scored 11 on 3-11 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Whit Hornsberger scored 9 on 4-9 from the floor, while dishing out 6 assists and committing 7 turnovers. Jon Salgado scored 2 and grabbed 8 boards. Surinder Grewal notched 10 points off the bench on 4-7 from the floor and 2-3 from the arc. Ian Ferguson scored 5, Glen Smith 1 and Sean Newland 0. Calgary shot 26-56 (.464) from the floor, 6-14 (.429) from the arc and 16-21 (.762) from the line. They grabbed 48 boards, including 13 offensive rebounds, committed 20 fouls, had 17 assists, 19 turnovers, 2 blocks and 9 steals. The Marauders were paced by 16 points apiece from Adam Guiney and reserve Rob Scully. Guiney hit 4-11 from the floor and 8-11 from the line, while grabbing eight boards. Steiner added 11 after hitting 3-13 from the floor and 5-6 from the line, while grabbed 6 boards. Ben Katz scored 10 on 3-9 from the floor and 1-5 from the arc, while dishing out 3 assists, committing 4 turnovers and having 2 steals. John Obrovac scored 9 on 3-10 from the floor and 1-5 from the arc, while grabbing 10 boards, five on the offensive glass. Justin Gunter scored 5 on 2-7 from the floor and 1-6 from the arc. Off the bench, Scully hit 6-15 from the floor and 3-11 from the arc. Eli Carlone and Steve Martin played but were scoreless. The Marauders shot 21-65 (.323) from the floor, 6-30 (.200) from the arc and 18-23 (.783) from the line. They had 35 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, committed 22 fouls, dished out 8 assists, committed 14 turnovers, had 1 block and 10 steals.
In the last quarterfinal, 3rd-seeded St. FX’s blistering speed proved too much for 6th-seed Brock to handle as the X-Men burnt the Badgers 77-61. Lightning-quick Ottawa-product Jonathan Bell drained a three-pointer and raced for a pair of transition layups as St. FX rallied from a 40-38 deficit with an explosive, decisive 16-1 run to dispatch Brock. Bell started the run with a three-pointer and the X-Men capped it with four transition buckets, including back-to-back Bell layups of outlet passes, one of them a defensive rebound by Ottawa-product and all-star point guard Dion Williams, the other off a steal. Another Ottawa product, rookie Gary Gallimore then stole an in-bounds pass and dunked it. Zach Russell stole the ball on Brock’s next possession and raced for a layup to give St. FX a 54-41 lead with 11 minutes to play. Brock drew no closer than 10. “We knew we were faster than them,” said Bell. “We just had to take advantage of what we had. …Our speed’s only good when we play our defence.” Forward and fellow Ottawa-product Gary Gallimore added that “our speed kept us in it and then broke it open. When we put our full-court press, they just couldn’t keep up.” Coach Steve Konchalski said the X-Men’s defence proved the difference. “We’re a great defensive team. That’s what turned the game around today. Once we get running a little bit, they feed off each other, our defence and our offence. I thought Jonathan game us our only spark in the first half. He’s like a microwave and heats up right away. He got the crowd into the game and put a smile on my face.” Brock rookie Brad Rootes said the Badgers mistake was to try to match the X-Men’s running game. “We just didn’t play smart enough. There was just a three to five-minute period there where we just shut down. The game ended right there. We never got it back.” Jonathan Bell paced the X-Men with 20 points off the bench, hitting 8-11 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 3-4 from the line while stealing the ball four times. Gary Gallimore scored 15 on 5-10 from the floor and 2-5 from the arc, while grabbing 6 boards, handing out 4 assists and making 4 steals. Zach Russell also scored 15 on 4-13 from the floor and 6-7 from the line, while handing out 5 assists. Dion Williams notched 7 points and had 5 steals. Neil MacDonald scored 7 on 3-9 from the floor and had 9 boards, including 3 offensive rebounds. Edwin Reynolds scored 4 on 2-8 from the floor and grabbed 7 boards. Reserve Mike Baxter added 9 points on 2-3 from the floor and 4-8 from the line, while Brandon Gorman played but was scoreless. St. FX hit 26-61 (.426) from the floor, 5-16 (.313) from the arc and 20-32 (.625) from the line. They had 47 rebounds, including 21 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 16 assists, 16 turnovers, 5 blocks and 15 steals. The Badgers were led by Kevin Stienstra’s 17 points. Stienstra hit 7-16 from the floor and 3-4 from the line while grabbing 8 boards and making 3 blocks. Brad Rootes scored 12 on 4-11 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 3-6 from the line, while dishing out 3 assists and making 4 steals. Scott Murray scored 10 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc and 3-4 from the line, making 3 steals and committing 6 turnovers. Morgan Fairweather scored 4 on 1-6 from the floor, while Dusty Bianchin scored 2 and had 7 boards. Kevin McKenna added 9 points off the bench on 2-4 from the floor and 4-5 from the line, while Eric Falk scored 5 and grabbed 7 boards, Rohan Steen scored 2 and Ryan Walker was scoreless. Brock shot 20-57 (.351) from the floor, 4-18 (.222) from the arc and 17-23 (.739) from the line. The Badgers grabbed 42 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass. They had 25 fouls, 6 assists, 20 turnovers, 6 blocks and 11 steals.
In the semi-finals, Carleton edged Calgary 69-67. Champions find a way to win on those nights when the loose balls seem to invariably fall into opponent’s hands, while the shots rim in, and then somehow out. The Carleton Ravens severely tested the limits of that proposition but persevered yesterday to earn the right to defend their Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s basketball crown. It marked the fifth straight time Carleton has won in the CIS tourney by less than four points and once again, they relied heavily on ferocious rebounding and a clever defensive regime that lays traps for foes from sideline-to-sideline and baseline-to-baseline. “That’s what won it for us, again,” said point guard Mike Smart. Guard Osvaldo Jeanty noted that “when it’s close, we just keep fighting.” Hard work can sometimes trump luck, said post Josh Poirier, who registered 16 critical second-half points. “Luck is a funny thing. You can’t really depend on something going one way or the other. You just gotta trust that it’s going to change eventually if you keep working. Once we dug in, we gave ourselves a chance for the luck to change.” Fortune seemed to favour the Dinosaurs early as John Riad aggressively drove the baselines for layups to give Calgary a 13-9 lead. But Riad was forced to the bench when he dislocated his shoulder in a rebounding scramble and the Ravens rallied back to a 36-35 lead despite a raft of weird bounces as Paul Larmand drained four from beyond the arc. Both teams went stone cold early in the second half, in part because both cranked-up their defensive pressure by several factors. Carleton opened the frame by isolating Josh Poirier in the paint for a bucket but didn’t score their second field goal until seven minutes had elapsed, when Poirier dumped in a reverse layup. Yet, they somehow found themselves still leading by two and maintained a slim margin into the final minutes by finding production from unexpected sources, including a pair of three-pointers by Jeanty and another by Adam Falsetto. Calgary cut the margin to 60-59 with minutes to play on a trio of low-post buckets by Jon Salgado and three-pointer by Aman Heran. But Poirier ripped down an enormous offensive rebound and laid it in as Carleton reasserted control and then hit seven free throws –including four by Smart–to pull out the win, despite an off-balance Whit Hornsberger three-pointer at the buzzer. “We managed to grind that one out,” said Robbie Green. “They can flat out shoot the ball and gave us a battle.” Coach Dave Smart said poise and experience proved essential. “They’ve been through it before. They understand that you have to make plays to win a game like this. … Some teams fold; some teams play like a wounded animal and that’s what they (Calgary) did. They just dug back, dug back and made it a game.” Calgary coach Don Vanhooren lamented Riad’s injury and the vagaries of fortune. “If we’d hit a couple of shots, or if a couple of things go our way down the stretch, whether it’s a loose ball or a rebound, it would’ve been our game.” Paul Larmand paced the Ravens with 19 points on 7-17 from the floor, 4-12 from the arc and 1-2 from the line, while grabbing 4 boards. Josh Poirier added 18 on 7-11 from the floor, 4-7 from the line, 11 boards, including four on the offensive glass, 3assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Mike Smart scored 13 on 4-9 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 4 assists and 3 turnovers. Robbie Green scored 7 on 2-8 from the floor. Starter Ryan Bell was scoreless but had 3 steals. Osvaldo Jeanty added 7 off the bench on 2-8 from the floor, including 2-6 from the arc, and 2 assists. Adam Falsetto scored 5 on 2-7 from the floor and 5 boards. Matt Ross and Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie played but were scoreless. The Ravens shot 24-63 (.381) from the floor, 10-35 (.286) from the arc and 11-17 from the line. They had 45 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 14 assists, 9 turnovers, 5 blocks and 8 steals. The Dinosaurs were led by Whit Hornsberger’s 17 points on 5-15 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Jon Salgado added 16 points on 7-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 5 boards. Chris Wright scored 10 on 5-12 from the floor, 16 rebounds, including 11 on the defensive glass, four assists and 2 turnovers before fouling out. Aman Heran scored 9 on 3-11 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 4 boards, 5 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 steals. John Riad was held to 4 points on 2-7 from the floor. Off the bench, Surinder Grewal scored 7 on 3-12 from the floor and 3 boards. Ian Ferguson added 4 on 2-4 from the floor and 4 boards. Sean Newland, Rick Brar and Brendan Groat played but were held scoreless. Calgary shot 27-68 (.397) from the floor, 5-15 (.333) from the arc, 8-13 (.615) from the line, and had 44 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 17 assists, 11 turnovers, 2 blocks and 4 steals.
In the other semi, St. FX ended 10th-seed York’s magical run 68-53. York’s fate was all but sealed when all-star point guard Tom McChesney was sidelined with an ankle injury after a minute of play. Both teams shot the ball like something typically found in a pasture as St. FX crawled to a 20-19 lead at the half. Although the Lions sought to exploit their superior size in the paint, their x turnovers in McChesney’s absence, particularly against St. FX’s full-court pressure, proved their undoing. Defence and ball movement were the key, said guard Zach Russell. “In the first half, we were just standing around watching each other. But we started moving the ball and the looks were just wide open. When we start playing D and our guys start running, we’re a pretty hard team to beat.” The X-Men ripped off a 10-0 run in the second half to seize control. Neil MacDonald hit a pair of buckets in the paint. Garry Gallimore scored on a fast break. MacDonald sank a turnaround jumper and Russell made a double-pump layup in transition to give St. FX a 49-39 lead with nine minutes to play. York never drew closer than eight. X-Men coach credited MacDonald with boosting the turnaround. “He stepped up. I thought he had an awesome second half. He just dominated at both ends of the floor.” Zach Russell paced the X-Men with 20 points on 8-12 from the floor, 4-5 from the arc and 3 boards. Neil MacDonald added 13 on 4-8 from the floor, 5-8 from the line, 13 boards, including 12 on the defensive glass, 3 turnovers and 4 blocks. Gary Gallimore scored 10 on 4-12 from the floor, 4 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 steals. Edwin Reynolds notched 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 3 turnovers, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Dion Williams was scoreless on 0-3 from the floor but had 5 assists. Off the bench, Jonathan Bell scored 12 on 5-11 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 5 assists and 4 steals. Mike Baxter scored 9 on 2-5 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 3 assists and 3 turnovers. Brandon Gorman played but was scoreless. St. FX shot 25-57 (.439) from the floor, 6-12 (.500) from the arc and 12-17 (.706) from the line, while grabbing 31 boards, including 26 on the defensive glass. They had 12 fouls, 14 turnovers, 21 assists, 6 blocks and 16 steals. The Lions were led by Jordan Foebel’s 16 points on 7-9 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 5 boards. Ryan French added 13 on 6-16 from the floor, 13 boards, including 10 on the defensive glass, 2 assists and 2 steals. Chaka Harris scored 10 on 5-13 from the floor, 6 boards, and 2 assists. Dan Eves scored 6 on 2-9 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 7 boards, 4 assists and 5 turnovers. Point guard Tom McChesney was held scoreless in four minutes of play. Scott McLeod added 6 points on 2-6 from the floor, 5boards, 2 assists and 3 turnovers. Mike Di Claudio scored 2 on 1-7 from the floor, 4 assists and 3 turnovers. Yago Tascon and Branislav Misovic played but were scoreless. York shot 23-63 (.365) from the floor, 2-17 (.118) from the arc and 5-7 (.714) from the line, while grabbing 46 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass. They had 16 fouls, 17 assists, 20 turnovers, 3 blocks and 7 steals.
In the final, Carleton defeated St. FX 63-59 to earn its second straight national title. Facing 6,300 maniacal fans screaming their opposition and a trio of Ottawa natives playing a “cause” game against the best from their old hometown, the Ravens mined their reserves of poise, discipline and steely resolve to gut out a win over St. FX. Led by the iron-clad will of sophomore guard Osvaldo Jeanty, who scored 20 while being chosen championship game MVP, the Ravens displayed the requisite hustle and effort to warrant the right to hoist the W.P. McGee Trophy. It was an altogether fitting reward for a (34-1) unit that all season demonstrated the resolve necessary to deal with the extraordinarily high expectations of fans; obstacles like injuries to starters Josh Poirier, Jeanty and Matt Ross; and foes chomping at the bit to make their name by delivering a knockout punch. As with those challenges, they prevailed in the final by simply outworking and outsmarting their foes. And, as always, they found a few predictable, and a few unexpected, heroes along the way. There was freshman post Adam Falsetto, who coolly drilled a pair of free throws with 21 seconds to play to break a 59-59 deadlock. There was transfer Robbie Green, who hit a crucial three-pointer down the stretch, and an ensuing free throw after being fouled on the shot, in what may have been the turning point of the affair, when the Raven’s fortunes looked more than a trifle shaky. There was all-Canadian Paul Larmand, who tipped-in a critical rebound with minutes to play and drained a pair of insurance free throws with 7.6 seconds on the clock. And then there was tournament MVP Mike Smart, who knifed into the paint for a layup to settle the troops after St. FX had taken its first lead with 3:15 to play. Jeanty was elated to have been given a chance to contribute to the Ravens success after missing 17 games because of a fractured foot. “I felt like I owed them, for what they did for me all year.” Smart attributed the win to “toughness. As a team, we pride ourselves on practicing and playing harder than any team in the country. We play 40 minutes of basketball as hard as we possibly can and that’s what got us the win. Tight games are why we play basketball. I don’t like the blowouts. They get boring cause you already know what the outcome is.” Falsetto, meanwhile, didn’t feel a trace of nerves on the winning free throws. “Why should I? I’ve done it a 1,000 times in practice.” Larmand and Poirier fulfilled their mission after deciding to return to Carleton for a fifth year. “That’s the only reason Josh and I came back,” said Larmand. “This is what we worked for all year and we did it. It’s awesome.” Poirier said “I couldn’t have drawn up a better way to finish off my career. We hate these tight games but we always find a way to win them. It says a lot about Carleton basketball. We always figure out some way to do it. Someone is always going to step up. We just have confidence in each other that someone is going to be there.” Ross said “we’re all ecstatic” and credited the X-Men for providing a suitably stern challenge in the final. “That’s the way these games should be.” St. FX coach Steve Konchalski said Carleton’s “experience” in tight games was the difference. “My kids gave it their best. They left it on the court and that’s all you can ask.” Ravens coach Dave Smart was “proud” of his troops resolve. “It was a tough win, in this place, against that team, and that crowd. But as we’ve done for two years, they did it at the defensive end. Guys made foul shots and guys made plays at the end when they had to.” X-Men point guard Dion Williams said the Ravens ability to shut down the transition offence proved the difference. “We knew coming in they were going to stop that. Still, we didn’t do as well on transition as I’d hoped. That might have been the difference in the game. It was a tough game. We both had our chances and I guess they capitalized on theirs more than we did ours.” The Ravens were paced by Osvaldo Jeanty’s 20 points off the bench. Jeanty hit 5-5 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc and 7-8 from the line, while grabbing 7 boards. Mike Smart scored 14 on 6-12 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Paul Larmand scored 10 on 4-9 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc and 6 boards. Josh Poirier added 6 points on 3-12 from the floor, 9 boards, including 3 offensive rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 turnovers before fouling out. Robbie Green scored 6 on 1-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, while starter Ryan Bell was scoreless and had 2 boards. Adam Falsetto scored 4 off the bench, including 4-4 from the line and had 3 rebounds. Matt Ross scored 3 on 1-2 from the arc. The Ravens shot 20-48 (.417) from the floor, 6-17 (.353) from the arc and 17-20 (.850) from the line, while grabbing 36 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass. They had 17 fouls, 9 assists, 15 turnovers, 5 blocks and 3 steals. St. FX was led by centre Neil MacDonald’s 12 points on 4-9 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 8 boards and 2 blocks. Gary Gallimore added 12 on 3-10 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 4-4 from the line, while grabbing 5 boards. Dion Williams scored 10 on 4-12 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Mike Baxter scored 7 on 1-5 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 7 boards and 3 assists. Zach Russell notched 4 points on 2-7 from the floor, 3 boards and 2 assists. Off the bench, Brandon Gorman scored 7 on 2-5 from the floor, while Jonathan Bell scored 5 on 2-6 from the floor and 2 assists. Edwin Reynolds scored 2. St. FX shot 19-59 (.417) from the floor, 5-13 (.385) from the arc and 16-16 (.1000) from the line, while grabbing 35 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass. They had 20 fouls, 12 assists, 9 turnovers, 2 blocks and 6 steals. The Ravens finished (34-1) on the season.
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Mike Smart (Carleton); Josh Poirier (Carleton); Neil MacDonald (St. FX);
Ryan French (York); and Chris Wright (Calgary)
The co-bronze medalist Calgary Dinosaurs: Whit Hornsberger, John Riad, Jon Salgado, Aman Heran, Chris Wright, Surinder Grewal, Sean Newland, Rick Brar, Ian Ferguson, Brendon Groat; Glen Smith; Brad Summers; Lindsay Thouret; coach Don Vanhooren; assistant Wayne Thomas; assistant Rob Cadden; assistant Brad Gallup; therapist Eric Larsen; manager Dean McCord; athletic director Don Wilson; SID Jack Neumann
The co-bronze medalist York Lions: Tom McChesney; Dan Eves; Jordan Foebel; Ryan French; Chaka Harris; Branislav Misovic; Scott McLeod; Mike DiClaudio; Mike Nixon; Matt Parfitt; Yago Tascon; Thad Jayaseelan; Raymond Montaniel; Darko Trifunovic; Mark Prskalo; James Chen; coach Bob Bain; assistant Tom Oliveri; assistant Adam Urbach
The silver medalist St. Francis Xavier X-Men: Dion Williams; Garry Gallimore; Neil MacDonald; Edwin Reynolds; Zach Russell; Jonathan Bell; Mark MacKenzie; D.J. Grant; Michael Baxter; Neil Stephen; Brandon Gorman; Ian Spindler; Devin Bennett; John Bustin; Alex Stephen; coach Steve Konchalski; assistant Ron MacDonald; assistant Augy Jones; athletic therapist Tara Sutherland; student therapist Mark Kolanko; manager Joseph Mensah; SID Pat MacGillivray; athletic director Tom Kendall
The champion Carleton Ravens: Mike Smart; Osvaldo Jeanty; Josh Poirier; Paul Larmand; Robbie Green; Matt Ross; Adam Falsetto; Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie; Pat Ross; Ryan Bell; Andrew Cutler; Bernie Edmunds; James Fleming; coach Dave Smart; assistant Bill Arden; assistant Taffe Charles; assistant Bill Fraser; athletic director Drew Love; therapist Bruce Marshall; manager Paul Blackman; therapist Crissy McPhee; SID David Kent