2004-05 Halifax – uSports men

(1)			Carleton	69
(8)	Brandon	44	Ottawa	47	Carleton	67
(9)	Ottawa	54					Carleton	68
(4)			St. F.X.	80	St. F.X.	65
(5)			Alberta	73
									—–CARLETON
(2)			Concordia	87
(7)	Waterloo	58	St. Mary’s	58	Concordia	59
(10)	St. Mary’s	87					Concordia	48
(3)			Brock	62	Brock	46
(6)			Victoria	60

The draw left Carleton and Ottawa coaches and athletic directors were left totally perplexed. Although a CIS rule states that two teams from the same conference shouldn’t meet until the semi-finals, the two-time defending champ Carleton Ravens could potentially face their Ontario University Athletics East division arch-rival University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in the quarterfinals. Equally mysterious is the extraordinarily tough draw that the Ravens face. Three of the nation’s four conference champions are on Carleton’s half of the draw, while Concordia is the only conference titlist on the other side of the draw, even though the Quebec league is widely perceived to be the nation’s weakest. CIS executive-director Marg McGregor declined comment, referring all inquiries to seeding committee chairman Dave Crook. But the University of Winnipeg coach was unavailable for comment. Committee member and Bishop’s University coach Eddie Pomykala, however, said in an interview that the rule prohibiting two teams from the same conference from meeting until the semi-finals contains a “wherever possible” proviso that the seeding committee opted to use. “There was no agenda here,” Pomykala stressed. Concordia’s 2nd seed was justified even though Brock is ranked higher in the national polls; no Quebec team has made the CIS final since 1998; St. FX whacked the Gaiters by a phenomenal 30 points earlier this season, while Alberta spanked the Stingers by eight, Pomykala said. The Quebec conference “may have been the toughest in the country,” Pomykala argued. (Concordia finished with an overall record of 23-4. Laval was 22-6. The U of Quebec at Montreal was 13-12, Bishop’s 6-19 and McGill 8-20. Quebec teams were 5-6 against others in the CIS draw. Concordia was 1-2, only beating Ottawa 80-71). Ottawa coach David DeAveiro was mystified by the draw. “I don’t understand Brock being dropped down. I don’t understand Uvic being switched with Waterloo. And I don’t understand, if we get by Brandon, having to play Carleton for a fifth time this season. That makes no sense to me.” Carleton athletic director Drew Love was struck by the “imbalance” in recognizing relative conference strength, particularly “the fact that there are three conference champions on the same side of the draw.”

       In the opening round, it took a little while for the 10th-seeded St. Mary’s to find a bit of traction Thursday night. But when the Huskies dug in – at one point going on a critical 11-2 run over six minutes of play in the second half, they brushed aside the 7th-seeded Waterloo Warriors 78-66. The Huskies patience and defensive intensity proved decisive in upsetting Waterloo as they did a masterful job of dictating the tempo and using excellent ball movement to create the open shot opportunities. “We just wanted to take each possession, take our time and try to get a good shot,” said 30-year-old point guard Damon Cole. “We wanted to try to get a good shot each time we went up the floor, not just any quick shot, while holding them to just one chance at the other end.” The Huskies are hoping to accomplish the difficult task of capturing a title by winning games in four nights, which many say is nigh on improbable because of exhaustion. But centre Jerome Goodman, who notched 21 for St. Mary’s, dismissed that notion. “Tired is a state of mind,” he said. “If we can get that in our heads, then I think we’ll be alright.” Waterloo’s post defence was all but non-existent as St. Mary’s built a 20-11 midway through the first half off several clever inside feeds by 30-year-old point guard Damon Cole and the agility of 6-6 Baltimore native Jerome Goodman in the low blocks. Although Waterloo did a stellar job on their defensive rebounding box-outs as they rallied back to within five on jumpers by Dave Munkley and Graham Jarman, they continued to have little in the way in the response to Goodman’s post moves, allowing St. Mary’s to take a 31-23 lead into the lockers. Both teams slowed the tempo to an absolute crawl in the chippy second half, working deep into the shot clock on each possession as St. Mary’s painstakingly extended its lead to 47-32 while capitalizing on a decisive 11-2 run, which featured a trey and a pair of tough, fallaway baseline jumpers by forward Nelson Carvery. The shell-shocked Warriors never recovered and soon trailed by 20 as Goodman hit a pair of putback rebounds and Carvery and Jonathan Thibault drained treys. Although Waterloo trimmed the margin to nine as Dave Munkley got hot from the perimeter and Huskies coach Ross Quackenbush explored the depths and dimensions of his bench, the Warriors never seriously threatened as St. Mary’s iced it with 16 free throws down the stretch, including six by Thibeault and four by Geoff Williams.      St. Mary’s coach Ross Quackenbush said the Huskies defensive intensity proved the difference, particularly as they built an early lead. “And then, in the second half, we just sort of seemed to get comfortable. A couple of key things went our way. Nelson hit some shots and that just seemed to break it open for us.” Waterloo coach Tom Kieswetter said his troops were guilty of altogether hasty shot selection. “It may have been wanting it too much and being a little tight because you’re trying too hard. I don’t think it was nerves.” Carvery said that “I thought I took a lot of shots in the first half. But my teammates told me to keep shooting and eventually they’d go in,” said Carvery. “Once they started dropping, I just kept shooting.” Carvery paced the Huskies with 23 points on 10-19 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 9 boards. Jerome Goodman scored 21 on 9-12 from the floor, 3-5 from the line and 9 boards. Jonathan Thibault scored 12 on 2-4 from the arc, 6-7 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists. Damon Cole scored 7 on 3-4 from the floor, while Morgan Gallagher was scoreless while grabbing 3 boards. Geoff Williams scored 7 off the bench on 5-7 from the line. Damian Gay scored 4, Mark Ross 3 and Mark Brien 2, while Jason Corner, Christian Pederson and Dean Jones were scoreless. The Huskies shot 26-51 (.510) from the floor, 5-10 from the arc and 21-29 (.724) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, 15 fouls, 12 assists, 13 turnovers, 2 blocks and 4 steals. Dave Munkley and Graham Jarman each scored 20 to pace Waterloo. Munkley hit 7-18 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc and 3-3 from the line, while grabbing 6 boards. Jarman hit 7-19 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 4-4 from the line, while grabbing 7 boards. Andrew Coatsworth scored 6 on 2-4 from the floor and 4 boards. Mike Sovran scored 6 on 3-9 from the floor. Gerard Magennis scored 4 on 2-9 from the floor. Michael Davis added 6 off the bench on 3-5 from the floor and 5 boards. Chris Edwards scored 2 and nabbed 5 boards. Matt Kieswetter scored 2, while Andrew Westlake was scoreless. The Warriors shot 26-71 (.366) from the floor, 5-22 (.227) from the arc and 9-9 from the line, while garnering 35 boards, 21 fouls, 9 assists, 10 turnovers, 2 blocks and 7 steals.

       In the other opening round game, the 9th-seeded University of Ottawa Gee-Gees stuffed the 8th-seeded Brandon Bobcats 54-44 to set the stage for another installment of the juicy melodrama otherwise known as Carleton-University of Ottawa rivalry, although it wasn’t much an actual rivalry as the Gee-Gees were losers of 18 straight against the Ravens. Demonstrating no semblance of the nerves that are supposed to plague teams making their first national appearance in a dozen years, the Gee-Gees did a stellar job of gang-rebounding and rookie Sean Peter stepped up with the most productive game of his career (12 points and 9 boards) as Ottawa built a 13-point lead and then hung on for the ugly win. “I felt comfortable right from the start,” Peter said, adding that he was determined to get a rematch with the Ravens. “We’re getting better with each game and I think we’ll deal with them this time.” Both teams struggled from the field while shaking out the jitters as Ottawa clawed to a 19-13 lead by a transition buckets by Peter and Curtis Shakespeare. The Gee-Gees extended their lead to 31-23 at the half, largely by controlling the defensive glass to contain Brandon to a single shot on every possession, while capitalizing on the Bobcats lax defensive transitions for the occasional fastbreak layups. Rookie Dax Dessereault hit a tough 10-foot jumper and took a charge as Ottawa extended its lead to 10 and then maintained at least a double-digit lead until midway through the second half on timely buckets by Jermaine Campbell, Alex McLeod and Curtis Shakespeare. The wheels briefly fell off as Brandon stepped up its defensive intensity and exploded for 10 transition points before Campbell stemmed the bleeding with a pair of tough buckets in the low post as Ottawa regained a 47-40 lead. A four-minute scoring drought ensued until the final minute of play when the Gee-Gees hit seven free throws, including three by Marko Jovic and pair each by Peter and Teti Kabetu, to pull out the win. “We did a great job on the boards,” said Campbell. “We knew that when they went to a zone, they were weak on the rebounds and that’s what we tried to focus on.” Coach David DeAveiro said “in the first half, we were shaky and nervous. But overall, a win is a win. Ugly or pretty, it’s still a win.” Brandon coach Les Berry was “disappointed in our execution. I’ve been trying to preach to them all year that it’s more mental than physical. The opportunities were there.” Sean Peter led Ottawa with 12 points off the bench on 3-4 from the floor, 6-6 from the line and 9 boards. Jermaine Campbell scored 12 on 6-16 from the floor and 7 boards. Marko Jovic scored 8 on 2-11 from the floor and 3-4 from the line. Alex McLeod scored 7 on 3-7 from the floor, 6 boards and 3 steals. Dax Dessereault scored 6 on 2-4 from the floor and 6 boards. Teti Kabetu scored 4 on 1-3 from the floor. Curtis Shakespeare scored 5 on 2-6 from the floor, while Greg Sam was scoreless. The Gee-Gees shot 19-56 (.339) from the floor, 2-9 from the arc and 14-21 from the line, while garnering 49 boards, 9 fouls, 10 assists, 11 turnovers, 2 blocks and 10 steals. O’Neil Gordon paced Brandon with 14 points on 6-18 from the floor and 6 boards. Yul Michel added 9 on 3-4 from the floor, 6 boards and 3 assists. Dido Bunema scored 8 on 4-14 from the floor, 5 boards and 3 steals. Tyrone Purnell scored 7 on 3-11 from the floor and 9 boards. Mario Joseph scored 4 on 2-7 from the floor and 6 boards. Jimmy Sebulime scored 2 while Adam Hartman was scoreless. The Bobcats shot 19-60 (.317) from the floor, 1-10 from the arc and 5-10 from the line, while garnering 38 boards, 16 fouls, 10 assists, 10 turnovers, 5 blocks and 7 steals.

       The quarterfinals proved the adage that the X’s and O’s and chalk talk in championship draws always begin with guard play, as several guards dissected their opponents defences like the blades of a wood chipper. That included Brock Badger guard Ryan French, who along with Morgan Fairweather, rained treys as 3rd-seed Brock nipped 6th-seeded Victoria 62-60 in a classic confrontation between a pair of disciplined, patient half-court units. French, who missed last year’s nationals after suffering a broken wrist late in the season, notched 18 points including four trifectas. “If you’re feeling it, why not keep putting it up,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this five years and right from the start I saw the openings. When we had practice earlier, I was just shooting the ball so well that I decided I might as well just keep at it, just keep putting it up, if it’s going in.” Victoria’s ball movement was breathtaking as they took an early 13-5 lead by with an impressive game plan, quickly doubling down on national player of the year Kevin Stienstra every time he put the ball on the floor. But Brock’s perimeter shooters picked up the slack. French drained a pair of treys as the Badgers countered with a 13-2 run and then drilled four more trifectas, including another by French and a pair by Brad Rootes, as they patiently built their lead to 36-31 at the half, despite facing six Victoria defenders for a brief period down the stretch. The Vikings held Brock scoreless for five minutes as they opened the second half with a 9-0 run before the Badgers Scott Murray broke the drought with a trey. Stienstra finally got on the scoreboard with a pair of post buckets as the teams traded the lead until the final minutes when French drilled a critical trey to give Brock a 59-57 lead and then Morgan Fairweather notched the winning points with 55 seconds to play on a long trifecta from the corner. The Vikings had two opportunities to force overtime or win it with a trey, but both went awry, including a long heave at the buzzer by Chris Trumpy after officials swallowed their whistle on an obvious foul. Fairweather felt no nerves whatsoever on the winner. “The guy slacked off on me and once they slack off on you like that, you gotta shoot it. They were giving us the three and none of us are afraid to take that shot.” Brock coach Ken Murray said the win should generate momentum and confidence as the Badgers work further into the draw. “I was more worried about this game than any other in the tournament,” Murray said, adding that “to pull it out like at the end is just a huge boost for us.” Victoria coach Craig Beaucamp said his troops were hurt by a series of “tough breaks” down the stretch, particularly long rebounds that seemed to fortuitously fall into Badger hands. Fairweather, who hit the game winner with 54 seconds to play, noted that “it was a good look and the guy slacked off me when I was trying to go inside to our big guy Kev. I just had to let it fly.” Coach ken Murray said the Vikings “did a good job of taking away (Kevin) Steinstra inside and the only thing left was our perimeter game. Thank God we were able to make a couple shots down the stretch. French and Fairweather knocked down big shots for us.” Victoria had six players on the floor for the final inbounds play of the first half, prompting a meltdown by Murray. “At this level you’ve got to be able to be on top of your game, not only the players but the officials also. That was unfortunate that they missed it. You know, hockey’s on strike, maybe they got a little carried away that there was a power play out there.” Murray played the rest of the game under protest but the oversight did not affect the outcome. Fairweather said French “kept us in the game at the start when our offence wasn’t really doing anything. I’d give him player of the game if I could.” French, who missed the 2004 nationals with a broken wrist, said: “It’s very exciting to be back again. Coach is kind of saying that last year we came to compete. This year we came to win.” Kevin French paced the Badgers with 18 points on 7-13 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 8 boards and 4 steals. Morgan Fairweather added 14 points on 5-14 from the floor, 3-9 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Brad Rootes scored 10 on 4-11 from the floor. Kevin Stienstra scored 6 on 3-7 from the floor, 7 boards, 6 assists and 4 blocks. Dusty Bianchin scored 4 on 2-5 from the floor. Scott Murray added 6 off the bench on 2-6 from the arc. Branko Miskovic scored 4 on 2-4 from the floor, while Ryan Walker and Jesse Tipping were scoreless. The Badgers shot 25-61 (.410) from the floor, 11-26 (.423) from the arc and 1-4 from the line, while garnering 38 boards, 11 fouls, 11 assists, 14 turnovers, 5 blocks and 9 steals. Brandon Ellis paced Victoria with 14 points off the bench on 4-15 from the floor, 5-5 from the line and 9 boards. Steve Moore scored 11 on 4-10 from the floor and 4 boards. Shaun Doherty scored 10 on 5-7 from the floor and 6 assists. Tyler Hass scored 10 on 5-9 from the floor and 7 boards. Chris Trumpy scored 8 on 3-10 from the floor, 3 assists and 3 steals. Graeme Bollinger scored 6 on 3-6 from the floor. Mitch Gudgeon scored 1, while Eric Rushton and Rob Kinnear were scoreless. The Vikings shot 24-59 (.407) from the floor, 3-12 from the arc and 9-13 (.692) from the line, while garnering 35 boards, 7 fouls, 13 assists, 10 turnovers, 4 blocks and 10 steals.

       Concordia Stinger playmaker Philippe Langlois also dominated a quarterfinal, masterfully dictating the tempo, dishing a ball distribution and clock management clinic as 2nd-seed Concordia thrashed 10th-seeded St. Mary’s 87-58. Langlois threaded a bushel of low-post entry passes and downcourt feeds for transition layups as Concordia built a 21-point, first-half lead against St. Mary’s with their transition before the Huskies rallied to within 37-25 heading into the lockers with a late 9-0 run. Langlois’ passing quickly got the Stingers back on track in the second half as they restored a 25-point edge and coasted to the easy win. “Everybody was on the same page,” Langlois said. “Speed kills and that’s what we did today.” Stingers coach John Dore marveled at Langlois’ leadership. “We do our preparation and then I just sit back and watch Philippe Langlois play. He’s that good. He’s a coach on the court.” St. Mary’s guard Jonathan Thibault said “they played a wicked game. They’re a good team and they just outplayed us today. … We just didn’t play very well defensively. That’s never the way you want to go out at all.” After Concordia built an early 37-16 lead, the Huskies closed to within 37-25 at the half on a 9-0 run. But the Stingers opened with a 13-4 run to start the second half and romped. “We might be the smallest team ever to compete at a national championship,” said coach John Dore. “We got out and played the way we’re capable of playing. We moved the ball well, but more importantly, we really defended well.” All-Canadian guard Philippe Langlois said the Stingers had “a great shooting night. Everybody was on the same page. We’re in great shape. We came prepared and that was the result.” Coach John Dore said guiding the Stingers was easy. “We do our preparation and then I just sit back and watch Phil Langlois play. Jerome Goodman’s a heck of a player for them, so we just tried to neutralize him inside a little bit.” Patrick Perrotte scored 20 on 10-14 from the floor, 5 boards and 4 assists. Benjamin Sormonte added 15 on 6-10 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 9 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Chris Blackwood scored 14 on 4-11 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc and 3 steals. Rastko Popovic notched 14 off the bench on 5-11 from the floor and 3-9 from the arc. Dwayne Buckley scored 9 on 4-11 from the floor and Philippe Langlois scored 8 on 3-3 from the floor, 5 boards and a phenomenal 15 assists. Jamal Gallier scored 4, while grabbing 5 boards. Shawn Collinson scored 2, Andre Johnny 1 and Isaac Eniojukan 0 and Brian Finn 0. The Stingers hit 35-68 (.515) from the floor, 11-23 (.478) from the arc and 6-9 (.667) from the arc, while garnering 37 boards, 13 fouls, 27 assists, 10 turnovers, 1 block and 13 steals. Jerome Goodman led Saint Mary with 14 points on 6-14 from the floor, 20 boards. Jonathan Thibault added 12 points on 4-7 from the arc and 6 boards. Nelson Carvery scored 10 on 3-10 from the floor, 3-6 from the line and 8 boards. Mark Ross scored 8 on 3-4 from the floor. Damian Gay scored 7 on 2-5 from the floor and Geoff Williams 5. Starters Morgan Gallagher and Damon Cole were scoreless. Cole dished 4 assists. Jason Cormer and Dean Jones each scored 1, while Mark Brien and Christian Pederson were scoreless. The Huskies shot 20-54 (.370) from the floor, 8-24 (.333) from the arc and 10-17 (.589) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, 11 fouls, 13 assists, 18 turnovers, 3 blocks and 5 steals.

       The top-seeded Carleton Ravens dumped their crosstown rival 9th-seeded University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 69-47. One thing was certain. It wasn’t petty larceny. In fact, it was more like an all-out mugging as the Ravens dusted the Gee-Gees to keep alive their hopes of a third consecutive Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s basketball crown. The knockout blows came early, at the hands of rookie Aaron Doornekamp. After a tentative start, “once we got comfortable, we started playing defence and started to rebound, which helped us a lot,” said Doornekamp. “It’s good to get an (easy win) against them. We were motivated to come in here a good game and show them there isn’t really a rivalry,” added Mike Smart. Given the stage, it was understandable that both the Ravens and Gee-Gees were remarkably tight in the foul-plagued first half, shooting the ball poorly and often selecting shots that could only be called imaginative as Ottawa clawed to an early 19-17 lead on a series of low-post buckets by Jermaine Campbell. Then Doornekamp took command. He drained a trey, drove the lane for a bucket and nailed a pair of free throws as the Ravens exploded for 11 unanswered points as part of a 15-1 run over the final six minutes of the half to give Carleton a 32-20 lead heading into the lockers. Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie hit a pair of 15-foot jumpers, Sheldon Stewart notched a pair in the paint and Smart drilled four from beyond the arc as the Ravens completely embedded the hatchet on the Gee-Gees hopes, extending their lead to 23 midway through the second half and coasting to an uncharacteristic easy win in the embittered rivalry. The win was Carleton’s 76th straight in CIS regular and postseason competition, and 19th in a row against the Gee-Gees. It wasn’t that surprising away from the “hype” surrounding games in Ottawa, said coach Dave Smart. “In Ottawa, it’s a zoo and here it’s a basketball game.” Doornekamp felt comfortable after shaking off the early nerves. “The first 15 minutes, I didn’t look for the ball at all. I was a little bit scared, obviously, but after I got an easy two, and got more into the flow and played some defence, it helped a lot. … We’re used to going into places where the crowd doesn’t like us, so it’s not a big deal. They might get more pumped up but we’ll be fine.” Mike Smart added that “it’s good to get this one. Everyone was talking this one up, talking to them. So, we were motivated to come in here and play a good game and really show them why there really isn’t a rivalry.” Mike Smart paced the Ravens with 16 points on 6-10 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc and 7 assists. Aaron Doornekamp scored 14 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 5 boards. Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie scored 10 on 5-13 from the floor and 4 boards. Osvaldo Jeanty scored 10 on 4-9 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 5 boards. Matt Ross scored 5 on 2-5 from the floor. Sheldon Stewart added 10 off the bench on 4-9 from the floor and 3 boards. Ryan Bell and Rob Saunders each scored 2, while Shawn McCleery, Stuart Turnbull, John Marshall and Pat Ross were scoreless. The Ravens shot 28-61 (.459) from the floor, 8-19 (.421) from the arc and 5-7 from the line, while garnering 29 boards, 19 fouls, 15 assists, 9 turnovers, 2 blocks and 4 steals. Jermaine Campbell paced the Gee-Gees with 14 points on 5-11 from the floor, 4-7 from the line and 5 boards. Marko Jovic scored 7 on 2-5 from the floor. Dax Dessureault scored 4 on 2-3 from the floor and 6 boards. Teti Kabetu scored 4 on 1-4 from the floor, while Alex McLeod scored 3 on 1-8 from the floor and 3 boards. Greg Sam added 9 off the bench on 4-6 from the floor. Curtis Shakespeare scored 4 on 2-2 from the floor and 3 boards. David Labentowicz scored 2, while Sean Peter, Kevin O’Hearn, Alexandre Duford and Gordon McGuinty were scoreless. The Gee-Gees shot 17-42 (.405) from the floor, 1-8 (.125) from the arc and 12-19 (.632) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, 17 fouls, 9 assists, 12 turnovers, 7 blocks and 4 steals.

       In the last quarterfinal, 4th-seeded St. FX defeated 5th-seeded Alberta 80-73. The teams traded the lead 16 times as the Golden Bears built a slim 56-55 lead despite a measure of tenacious defence by Ottawa products Garry Gallimore and Jonathan Bell, both of whom repeatedly stripped the ball for transition layups. But 4th-seeded St. Francis Xavier drained 11 treys while defeating the Bears before the highly partisan crowd. X-men point guard Zach Russell returned to the floor after dislocating his left shoulder and hammered a pair of treys to ignite a decisive 12-3 St. FX run that proved the difference. “Lucky, it wasn’t my shooting shoulder,” Russell said. “You just play through the pain. I think it’s the adrenalin. That crowd gets you going and you don’t feel too much. … (on popping shoulder), it’s happened about 20 times before, so it’s no big deal.” X-Men coach Steve Konchalski said Russell was “made of steel and he’s got a heart as big as the Metro Centre.” The X-Men trailed 56-55 when Russell hit a pair of treys and rookie guard Tyler Richards added a trey and a layup in an 11-1 run that sealed the win. Richards, a Halifax rookie, said he wasn’t nervous in front of 6,166 fans. “I was just thinking ‘win’. That’s all I feel when I play.” St. FX trailed 40-37 after the first half that saw 11 lead changes and seven ties. Konchalski didn’t approve of his team’s first-half defence but liked the tempo. “It was in our favour. I just told them if the tempo continues, we’re going to be in good shape.” Alberta coach Don Horwood noted “they’re a very good team. They’re very strong at guard and they have big strong guys inside. They did a lot of pushing and shoving in there and the refs let that go, so there was not much we could do about it. … It was more like a rugby game in there… We were frustrated with the refereeing. They worked really hard on Sudol and Gordon. Lots of pushing and shoving but there’s not much we can do about it. But overall, I thought X played well. They made good decisions and Zach Russell made some big three-pointers when they needed them.” Prior to the game, Horwood had joked that he might just get one of the bobblehead dolls that the St. FX promotions department had made of X-Men coach Steve Konchalski. “If they kick our butts Friday night I just might get one of those bobblehead dolls and tear the head off of it,” quipped Horwood. “I don’t have one of those made of myself yet – maybe there’s a few voodoo dolls of me out there with several pins stuck in them – but I’m all for whatever sells the game of basketball in Canada. I think it’s great.” He later noted that “we played pretty well, just not as well as we’re capable of. We were a little overanxious and forced some shots. We missed some free throws and we had some key turnovers but it was winnable for us. It was a three- or four-point game with a minute to go and we had some looks and had some chances but we just didn’t get them to go. … They cut off the high-low game because they were grabbing and holding Sudol and he couldn’t move. If (the refs) decide they’re not going to call that stuff, it effectively takes Sudol out of the game. It becomes a rugby match and that’s just the way you have to play it. I think, in a national championship, it’s got to be a little more of a basketball game.” Guard Phil Sudol noted that “St. FX was very physical. The refs calls were pretty inconsistent but that’s the way that it goes. We can’t blame the refs for the loss. That doesn’t mean a whole lot because you have to take advantage of your opportunities. This might have been our best shot. You just don’t know. For the guys that are leaving, we really wanted things to end on a good note, so this is very sad.” Konchalski said that the refereeing was awful from his perspective as well. “I was so upset from my end that I didn’t notice (Horwood) was upset.” Konchalski added that part of the reason for inconsistencies was that the referees had never worked together. “It’s an all-star crew. The referees are presumably the best in the country but they haven’t worked together, so you get these inconsistencies.” Zach Russell paced the X-Men with 17 points on 6-9 from the floor, 4-5 from the arc and 3 steals. Garry Gallimore scored 15 on 5-17 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 11 boards and 3 assists. Jonathan Bell scored 12 on 5-9 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 4 assists and 4 steals. Alexander Stephen scored 7 on 3-10 from the floor and 9 boards, while Neil MacDonald scored 3 on 1-4 from the floor and 1 board. Tyler Richards added 16 off the bench on 6-11 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc and 3 assists. Michael Baxter scored 9 on 2-6 from the floor and 5-5 from the line, while Edwin Reynolds scored 1. The X-Men shot 28-69 (.406) from the floor, 11-21 (.524) from the arc and 13-20 (.650) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, 17 fouls, 13 assists, 14 turnovers, 5 blocks and 16 steals. Scott Gordon paced Alberta with 20 points on 7-11 from the floor, 6-11 from the line and 2 boards. Mike Melnychuk scored 15 on 5-13 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 6 boards and 5 steals. Phil Sudol scored 10 on 5-9 from the floor, while Gavin Fedorak scored 10 on 4-8 from the floor. Tyler Coston scored 4 on 2-4 from the floor. Paul Marr notched 6 off the bench on 2-3 from the floor and 9 boards. Dean Whalen and Tyson Jones each scored 4, while Richard Bates and James Hudson were scoreless. The Golden Bears shot 28-56 (.500) from the floor, 5-15 from the arc and 12-18 from the line, while garnering 37 boards, 19 fouls, 14 assists, 17 turnovers, 4 blocks and 8 steals.

       In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Concordia Stingers defeated the 3rd-seeded Brock Badgers 59-46 in a game both coaches agreed was likely the “ugliest” semi-final in the tournament’s 43-year history. Jittery and timid Brock appeared entirely overwhelmed by the CIS experience as they fell behind 37-20 at the half. They repeatedly tossed the ball to imaginary teammates and shot the ball like they were blindfolded, taking nearly five minutes to simply get on the scoreboard. Had they been tossing balls at milk bottles during a carnival, they’d have needed a few dozen extra opportunities to garner even the smallest prize. Concordia, by contrast, capitalized on Brock turnovers for a raft of transition layups or used crisp ball movement to generate a series of open jumpers by Dwayne Buckley and Branko Miskovic against the Badgers 1-3-1 zone. What followed all but re-defined the notion of hoops mediocrity. Brock outscored Concordia by a phenomenally abysmal 5-3 margin over the first 10:30 of the second half. Morgan Fairweather finally got on track, hitting a trio from beyond the arc, as Brock rallied to within eight with just over six minutes to play. But as Badger starters began fouling out, Concordia iced the win at the free throw line. Buckley attributed the win to defensive quickness and intensity. “We played better defence us and they scored less than us, so we deserved to win.” Ben Sormonte added that “we’re a small team with heart.” Stingers coach John Dore surmised that the big lead led to second-half “complacency. But we made them in the end when it counted.” Brock coach Ken Murray was at a total loss to explain the Badgers inertia. “We never got on track. We played very scared, very tentative. They just point-blank outplayed us. … You can call it defence. You can call it whatever you want. But if you can’t put the ball in the basket you can’t win. I mean, we did a good job defensively on Concordia in the second half but we never got on track. They just point-blank outplayed us today.” Sormonte noted that “maybe we lost our focus for a couple of minutes. We didn’t score but we worked pretty well on defence. They didn’t score a lot either. … We just relaxed and made a couple of baskets and everything was fine.” Rastko Popovic paced the Stingers with 15 points off the bench on 5-11 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 3 boards. Dwayne Buckley scored 14 on 4-13 from the floor, 5-9 from the line and 5 boards. Patrick Perrotte scored 8 on 4-9 from the line and 9 boards. Benjamin Sormonte scored 7 on 2-12 from the floor and 18 boards. Philippe Langlois scored 3 on 3-4 from the floor, 6 assists and 5 steals. Jamal Gallier added 2 off the bench, while Shawn Collinson, Isaac Eniojukan and Andre Johnny were scoreless. The Stingers shot 18-59 (.305) from the floor, 4-16 from the arc and 19-30 (.633) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, 10 fouls, 15 assists, 12 turnovers, 1 block and 5 steals. Morgan Fairweather paced Brock with 22 points on 8-13 from the floor, 6-11 from the arc and 7 boards. Kevin Steinstra scored 13 on 6-11 from the floor, 19 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Kevin French scored 5 on 2-12 from the floor and 4 boards. Brad Rootes scored 3 on 1-6 from the floor and 3 steals. Dusty Bianchin was scoreless. Scott Murray scored 3 off the bench, while Derrick Stryker, Ryan Walker, Branko Miskovic and Jesse Tipping were scoreless. The Badgers hot 18-58 (.310) from the floor, 9-33 (.273) from the arc and 1-6 (.167) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, 21 fouls, 9 assists, 22 turnovers, 2 blocks and 10 steals.

       In the other semi, facing a highly-motivated foe, a hostile and partisan crowd, and a measure of creative officiating, the Carleton Ravens didn’t flinch. But just barely, as they almost squandered a 20-point second-half lead and just hung on to nip the St. Francis Xavier X-Men 67-65. Point guard Mike Smart called the win an altogether “lucky” one. “The breaks seemed to go our way again. Thankfully, we’ve put ourselves in position to win another championship.” But to capture another crown and extend their CIS regular and postseason winning streak to 78, Smart said the Ravens will have to avoid another second-half of “unacceptable” play. “We were on our heels the whole second half. They’re a great team and we can’t let that happen again if we want to win another national championship.” The Ravens appeared headed for a rout in the first half and any concerns about the inexperience of their front appeared entirely dispelled as they built a 46-30 lead at the half. Rookie post Aaron Doornekamp proved all but unstoppable in isolation situations, while sophomore Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie’s quickness gave X-Men defenders fits. With Carleton’s defensive rotations and defensive box-outs bordering on the impeccable; and Smart periodically drilling treys, the Ravens might well have blown the X-Men in the first half, were it not for an officiating crew that appeared wont to blow their whistles the moment St. FX post Neil Macdonald touched the ball. Carleton extended its lead to as many as 20 early in the second half before Ottawa products Jonathan Bell and Garry Gallimore re-ignited the partisan home crowd with old-fashioned and modern three-point plays to trigger a 10-0 St. FX run. Doornekamp stemmed the bleeding with a putback offensive rebound but Gallimore and Tyler Richards drilled treys, and MacDonald posted up for a series of buckets, as the X-Men scrapped to within 66-65 with 10.2 seconds to play. Smart countered with free throw with 7.9 seconds on the clock before Richards missed a buzzer-beating jumper that would have forced overtime. “We dodged a bullet,” said Ravens coach Dave Smart. “That’s a great team. For 24 minutes, we did exactly what we want to do and then we showed our youth.” St. FX coach Steve Konchalski said his troops dug themselves too big an early hole. “We didn’t really play our game until the last 10 minutes or so. Playing from 20 points behind is a tough way to go. But we showed the character that we’re made out of by taking it down to the wire. … We just fell basically one basket shot. Playing from 20 points behind is a tough way to go but we showed the character we were made of by taking it right down to the wire. …. We didn’t play our game for 30 minutes. Now, Carleton had a lot to do with that. Obviously, they’re a great team. They’ve got the whole package. … I told my guys that they can’t suffer a tougher loss than this but just be proud of the fact they didn’t give up,” said St. FX coach Steve Konchalski. “They showed everyone in the country what type of character this team has. It’s unfortunate we took 30 minutes to start playing our game, though.” Mike Smart said that “we were on our heels the whole second half. I just think we stopped defending and rebounding. We went away from that in the second half and they exploited it and showed how talented they are. … You can’t knock any of the teams we’ve played over the last three nationals, but they’re definitely the toughest team we’ve played. They came at us until the very end.” Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie paced Carleton with 16 points on 7-12 from the floor and 5 boards. Aaron Doornekamp scored 15 on 5-10 from the floor, 5-6 from the line and 7 boards. Mike Smart scored 14 on 2-13 from the floor, 9-10 from the line and 6 assists. Matt Ross scored 10 on 2-3 from the floor, 6-6 from the line and 6 boards. Osvaldo Jeanty scored 3 on 1-9 from the floor. Sheldon Stewart notched 6 off the bench on 3-4 from the floor. Stuart Turnbull scored 3 while Ryan Bell was scoreless. The Ravens shot 21-52 (.404) from the floor, 3-9 from the arc and 22-27 (.815) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, 21 fouls, 13 assists, 8 turnovers and 3 steals. Neil MacDonald paced St. FX with 29 points on 9-13 from the floor, 11-15 from the line and 6 boards. Garry Gallimore scored 11 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 9 boards. Zach Russell scored 7 on 2-9 from the floor. Jonathan Bell scored 5 on 1-5 from the floor, while Alexander Stephen was scoreless. Tyler Richards notched 8 off the bench on 3-7 from the floor and 2-3 from the arc. Michael Baxter scored 5 on 2-4 from the floor, while Edwin Reynolds was scoreless. The X-Men shot 21-51 (.412) from the floor, 5-16 (.313) from the arc and 18-23 (.783) from the line, while garnering 28 boards, 24 fouls, 13 assists, 10 turnovers and 3 steals.

All that remained after the final was for someone to argue that the Carleton men’s basketball Ravens are getting an altogether deficient education because they aren’t having to learn about how to handle a loss. The ‘Philosophy and Mysteries of Mystique’ is certainly in the curriculum, particularly after capturing their third consecutive Canadian Interuniversity Sport crown. ‘Gracious Winning’ and ‘Hardcourt Mathematics’ are also mandatory instruction, having now registered 78 straight wins in CIS regular and postseason play. But ‘Losing 101’. It’s just not being offered at the campus now being re-defined as Basketball U. Nor does it appear to be needed. Not with the Ravens drilling a championship record 15 treys, including a phenomenal eight by player of the game Osvaldo Jeanty, as they scorched the Concordia Stingers 68-48 in the title match to firmly stamp themselves with the imprimatur of dynasty. Jeanty was nothing less than sensational, scoring all 24 of his points from the arc while rebounding from an uncharacteristic off-night in the semi-finals, in which he fouled out after scoring but three points. “I had redemption on my mind. I let my team down (Saturday) and that just wasn’t going to happen again. I thought about it all night. I was ready for this one like I’ve never been ready before.” For veterans Mike Smart and Matt Ross, the victory was bittersweet, though they couldn’t imagine a better way to close out their careers. “No one gave us a chance at the start of the year because we were so young,” said Smart. “This has a been a year where we’ve improved day by day. That’s how we got to where we are. Outside of our team, I don’t think anybody thought we’d win again but that’s a tribute to how hard everyone worked. The first one felt great because it was the first one. The second one felt great because we wanted to keep winning. But this one, it feels fantastic, because of how much effort we put into this. I couldn’t ask for a better way to end my career.” Milford-native Ross recalled arriving at Carleton five years ago hoping the Ravens might win at least one national title. “But three, who would have thought that? It just never gets old. This is just unbelievable. Every year has been a challenge, like we’ve lost players every year. And this year, the biggest challenge was just our lack of size. But we did a great job defending and rebounding and that’s what won it again.” Sophomore Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie was relieved the Ravens didn’t get caught up in another nailbiter. “We just came out ready. We knew it was going to be a tough game but we just kept on going, going, going and didn’t look back. What a feeling.” The rookies savoured the satisfaction of their first title. “There’s just so much work that you put into this through the year,” said forward Sheldon Stewart. “You come into practice in first year, and you’re like, holy crap, this is hardest thing I’ve ever done. But to have it pay off like this is just incredible.” Freshman post Aaron Doornekamp couldn’t stop grinning. “You can’t ask for more than this.” Forward Stuart Turnbull, who hit a pair of treys in his championship debut, fulfilled a dream. “I saw Oz do that a couple of years ago and I said, hey, I’m going to go to Carleton and do it too.” The Ravens drilled six three-pointers, including a pair apiece by Ross and Jeanty, over the first eight minutes but failed to protect the ball, allowing the Stingers to knot the score at 20 on a pair of steals by Philippe Langlois that led to uncontested transition layups. But they were resolute in their defensive box-outs, while Turnbull and Jeanty drained treys to cap a 10-2 run as Carleton restored a slim working margin, despite having Smart sidelined for most of the half with two quick fouls. With Turnbull and Jeanty each adding another trey, the Ravens ninth and 10th of the half, Carleton took a 39-31 lead into the lockers. Air Jeanty hit his fifth, sixth and seventh treys of the match as Carleton extended its lead to 54-34 early in the second half. A night earlier, they’d almost folded in an identical situation, allowing St. Francis Xavier to rally within one before pulling out a 67-65 victory. But there were no jitters in the final. Although Concordia responded with a 7-0 run on a pair of low-post buckets by Patrick Perrotte, Jeanty drove the lane and dished the ball to Doornekamp for a layup and later drilled his eighth trey as Carleton rebuilt a 23-point lead and romped to its dynasty win. Coach Dave Smart said the three peat was justification for a year of extraordinary effort, particularly by the raft of rookies. “Throughout the year, we went through a lot together. I couldn’t be prouder of our young guys and our veteran leadership. They all did everything I asked them to do.” Concordia coach John Dore said his Stingers were simply overwhelmed by the three-point deluge. “We tried to get out to defend the arc. But when somebody’s shooting like that, and Jeanty played a great game, give them credit. It was a big game. They stepped up and they did what they had to do. … They’re a heck of a team. They played great defence throughout the tournament but I don’t think they shot like this. I haven’t seen anybody shoot like this in a long time. I thought Jeanty really controlled the game. He just took it over. We ran into a buzz saw. They were by far the better team and I think we ran out of gas a little bit.” Mike Smart noted that “with three in a row, I definitely think we’re up there with Brandon and the great Uvic teams. We’ve so many regular season and playoff games in a row but we’ve had some tough games along the way. I think we proved (against Concordia) that we are the top team in the country the last three years.” Jeanty added that “we have a great coaching staff and a great team. Everyone on our team knew their roles. … I enjoy playing here. I can’t even describe the feeling I’m feeling right now.” Coach Dave Smart said that “obviously, Osvaldo is incredible. He took these guys a long way this year. That’s what Osvaldo does. He competes every time he walks on the floor. If he’s playing you one-on-one at 11 o’clock and no one’s there, he’s going to compete the same way.” Osvaldo Jeanty paced the Ravens with 24 points on 8-14 from the floor, 8-12 from the arc, 4 boards, 10 assists and 2 steals. Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie added 10 on 4-8 from the floor and 8 boards. Mike Smart scored 10 on 4-7 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 2 assists. Aaron Doornekamp scored 9 on 4-7 from the floor, 11 boards and 4 assists. Matt Ross scored 6 on 2-5 from the arc. Stuart Turnbull added 6 off the bench on 2-3 from the arc. Sheldon Stewart scored 2 and grabbed 3 boards. Ryan Bell scored 1, while Shawn McCleery, John Marshall, Pat Ross and Robert Saunders were scoreless. The Ravens shot 25-47 (.532) from the floor, 15-30 from the arc and 3-4 from the line, while garnering 38 boards, 18 fouls, 22 assists, 14 turnovers, 2 blocks and 5 steals. Patrick Perrotte paced the Stingers with 17 points on 6-11 from the floor, 5-9 from the line and 5 boards. Benjamin Sormonte scored 14 on 5-17 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc and 5 boards. Dwayne Buckley scored 7 on 2-7 from the floor and 7 boards. Chris Blackwood scored 6 on 3-8 from the floor, while Philippe Langlois was scoreless. Rastko Popovic and Jamal Gallier each scored 2 off the bench, while Shawn Collinson, Isaac Eniojukan, Andre Johnny and Brian Finn were scoreless. The Stingers shot 18-58 (.310) from the floor, 1-19 (.053) from the arc and 11-19 (.579) from the line, while garnering 31 boards, 11 fouls, 10 assists, 6 turnovers and 8 steals.

       The all-tournament team featured: MVP Mike Smart (Carleton); Aaron Doornekamp (Carleton); Benjamin Sormonte (Concordia); Patrick Perrotte (Concordia); Garry Gallimore (St. FX); and Morgan Fairweather (Brock).

Following the season, the CIS again staged its periodic competition to award the nationals. The bids came down to 2 competing offers, between Halifax and Ottawa. The CIS against awarded the rights to the 2006 and 2007 championships to Halifax but not before breaching their own rules.      Although Carleton University promised $300,000 in financial guarantees to the CIS if it finally ended the monopoly, the CIS board of governors selected Halifax over Ottawa in a tight vote. The risk of alienating fans in the port city by moving the championships for a few years, as well as vows by the Halifax organizing committee to stem the inertia and staleness that has crept into recent editions of the tournament by “souping-it-up” in the future, proved instrumental in the final decision. Halifax’s financial guarantees fell short of those offered by Carleton but a slim majority of the CIS board believed the national association would be unwise to risk the health of their showcase event by moving it away from a “proven” commodity. “People felt the Carleton bid was not the right bid. It wasn’t missing anything but it didn’t have that knock-em-dead quality that set it apart,” said one source. Carleton athletic director Drew Love called it an extremely disappointing decision. “I thought we had put a good bid together. What we did accomplish, though, was to raise the bar and presumably, Halifax had to put in a superior bid to be awarded the event again and that’s probably good for the athletes who’ll have the opportunity to participate in those two championships. But I’m disappointed that Ottawa is going to miss out on an opportunity to host a great event and I think that may make it more difficult for others to put forward competitive bids in the future, knowing the energy we put into our bid, and the desire we had to be successful in bringing it here, was for naught. Someone’s going to ask now: how many times do we do this before we ask, is it worth it (to even bid)?” Love also noted extending the stranglehold will do little to promote the development of basketball across the country. “I still believe it’s best for our championships, and it’s in the interest of the sport, to take our showcase event and move it across the country.” But it was soon learned that the CIS breached its own bidding rules to award the championships to Halifax. CIS executive-director had said, while defending the decision, that Halifax won the right to extend its 22-year tournament stranglehold by capitalizing on a since-closed loophole that allowed Atlantic University Sport to “clarify” its offer during the bidding process to include a promise of free hotel rooms for all competitors. Although CIS rules prohibit prospective bidders from sweetening the pot in desperation attempts to regain or gain a championship, Halifax was able to seize a “vague” promise in its written bid to “provide the best deal” for athletes and subsequently specify elements that weren’t in the original bid, McGregor said. But nothing in the AUS’s 13-page bid submission package, obtained by the Citizen, even vaguely suggests that Halifax was even seeking a better deal for athletes. There is absolutely no phrase or reference in the document that could be construed to provide latitude to the AUS to augment or clarify its bid to include free accommodations for participants. In fact, the converse is true. The document unequivocally states that rooms for athletes will be provided at the Westin Nova Scotian or the Delta Halifax for a discounted but flat $100-night rate and that only one free hotel room will be provided, specifically for the coach of each participating team. Asked yesterday to identify on what page of the bid package there was anything that might even vaguely resemble a “best deal” reference, McGregor steadfastly refused to discuss the issue on the grounds that it’s the subject of a current appeal by Carleton University. “As a condition of launching a complaint, both the complainant and the respondent agree to a total media ban during the proceedings. And you need to know that Canadian Interuniversity Sport intends to respect that policy,” she repeatedly said. Yet, the absence of a ‘best deal’ phrase lends considerable weight to Carleton’s appeal. Curiously, that appeal will be the last challenge to a CIS site selection decision. Subsequent to the December decision to re-award the nationals to Halifax, the national governing body for university sport earlier this year quietly amended its regulations to hereafter prohibit unsuccessful applicants from appealing future site selection decisions. The Halifax submission also indicates the men’s nationals are a significant money-maker for the AUS. Profits of $97,000 and $115,000 are projected for 2006 and 2007, even after providing a $200,000 financial guarantee to the CIS. Halifax’s $200,000 offer, however, fell well short of the $300,000 guarantee that Carleton proposed. A graph in the submission also indicates that CIS didn’t receive the standard $200,000 guarantee from Halifax in 2002 and 2003, in which there were no other competitors for the bid. Rather, the CIS received roughly $180,000 and $150,000 for those years. Carleton prompted launched an appeal of the decision. But the CIS ruled Carleton wasn’t entitled to a review because it didn’t file its appeal within a prescribed 21-day window following the December 2nd decision to extend Halifax’ 22-year stranglehold on the event. Carleton had argued the 21-day clock shouldn’t have started until the university became aware of bidding improprieties which came to light in March when the Citizen reported that CIS chief executive officer Marg McGregor ignored a prohibition against changing elements of bids and allowed Atlantic University Sport to sweeten its offer during the selection process to include free hotel rooms for all competitors. Love said in an interview that Carleton obtained legal advice indicating they’d likely have won a court challenge of the decision but didn’t want to get involved in a protracted and messy court battle with an organization to which it belongs. “They could have at least heard the appeal. Then it would have been an open process,” Love said. “We just wanted to be heard and never had that opportunity.” In protest, Love resigned as president of the CIS, saying that the organization’s rejection of the appeal was “unjustified and unwarranted.” Love stepped aside from the remaining six weeks of his term as president and will not sit as an ex-officio member of CIS’ board of governors over the coming year, as is customary of past presidents, because of the “disappointing” decision earlier this month to dismiss Carleton’s appeal on procedural, rather than substantive, grounds. Love added that continuing to serve as CIS president was untenable given that all of his future decisions – including ones related to duties as chair of the CIS human resources committee–would have been subject to accusations of bias because of discontent with the decision. As committee chair, he’d have overseen a scheduled review of the McGregor’s performance and it’s difficult to imagine how he could countenance her allowing Halifax to bend the rules. Asked if he’d lost confidence in McGregor, Love replied: “It’s put me in a position of perceived conflict of interest. I would like to work with the organization to make it better but anything I might say or do as president, that may be perceived to be negative or different than the norm, may be perceived as being done because of my personal or institutional disappointment. I couldn’t feel comfortable being president of an organization when I felt that my hands were being tied.” President-elect and U of Regina athletic-director Dick White will assume Love’s duties. He’ll chair the CIS’ annual general meeting next month at which the board must decide whether to appoint another person as an ex-officio governor in Love’s absence. McGregor was neither disappointed nor surprised by Love’s resignation. “It was entirely his call as to whether he felt it was appropriate to come back as president for the remainder of his term. Certainly, he would have been welcomed back, had he made that choice.”

       The co-bronze medalist Brock Badgers: Kevin Steinstra; Brad Rootes; Kevin French; Morgan Fairweather; Branko Miskovic; Scott Murray; Dusty Bianchin; Blaine Labranche; Orhan Memedovski; Derrick Stryker; Rory Tufford; Ryan Walker; Jesse Tipping; Matthews Bassett-Spiers; coach Ken Murray; assistant Steve Atkin; assistant Brian Mulligan; therapist Joe Kenny; athletic director Lorne Adams; SID Shawn Whitely; media relations Mike Tucker; student therapist Lorenzo Love; student therapist Marcy Hadgraft

       The co-bronze medalist St. Francis Xavier X-Men: Garry Gallimore; Neil MacDonald; Zach Russell; Jonathan Bell; Alexander Stephen; Edwin Reynolds; Tyler Richards; Michael Baxter; Mark MacKenzie; John Bustin; Devin Bennett; coach Steve Konchalski; assistant Brent Baker; assistant Denton Anthony; athletic director John McFarland; manager Joseph Mensah; therapist Tara Sutherland; therapist Kurt Stevenson; SID Pat MacGillivray

       The silver medalist Concordia Stingers: Patrick Perrotte; Philippe Langlois; Ben Sormonte; Dwayne Buckley; Rastko Popovic; Shawn Collinson; Chris Blackwood; Isaac Enioujukan; Andre Johnny; Jon Dresner; Brian Finn; Jamal Gallier; coach John Dore; assistant Ernie Rosa; therapist Greg Lothian; manager Hannah Lusthaus; athletic director Katie Sheahan

The champion Carleton Ravens: Osvaldo Jeanty; Mike Smart; Aaron Doornekamp; Matt Ross; Ryan Bell; Stuart Turnbull; Sheldon Stewart; Shawn McCleery; John Marshall; Robert Saunders; Pat Ross; coach Dave Smart; assistant Andy Sparks; assistant Taffe Charles; assistant Rob Smart; athletic director Drew Love; SID David Kent