| (1) | U.B.C. | 96 | ||||||
| (8) | Acadia | 77 | U.B.C. | 72 | ||||
| (4) | Lakehead | 74 | Trinity Western | 74 | Trinity Western | 59 | ||
| (5) | Trinity Western | 82 | ||||||
| —–CARLETON | ||||||||
| (2) | Carleton | 73 | ||||||
| (7) | Concordia | 66 | Carleton | 95 | Carleton | 82 | ||
| (3) | Saskatchewan | 91 | Saskatchewan | 83 | ||||
| (6) | Dalhousie | 79 |
The CIS Final 8 seeding committee comprised of Saint Mary’s Ross Quackenbush, Rod Gilpin of Bishop’s, Mike Katz of the University of Toronto and Dan Vanhooren of Calgary and chaired by James Hillis of Regina selected Trinity Western as the wildcard.
In the quarterfinals, held at the Halifax Metro Centre, the top-seeded U.B.C. Thunderbirds thrashed the 8th-seeded Acadia Axemen 96-77. The Thunderbirds, coached by Kevin Hanson, were the Canada West (West division) regular season and postseason champs and entered the tournament with a 29-2 record against CIS competition. The Axemen, coached by Stephen Baur finished fourth in the AUS regular season and second in the postseason tournament. They were 16-17 against CIS competition heading into the national tournament. With the win, the T-Birds qualified for their third consecutive semifinal appearance. The Thunderbirds got all they could handle early on from the Atlantic finalist Axemen. UBC was only up 26-23 after the first quarter, 47-42 at halftime and 69-62 after 30 minutes, before outscoring its rivals 27-15 in the final frame. “With our history here in Halifax, it’s kind of a relief to get that first game out of the way,” said Canada West coach of the year Kevin Hanson, whose troops had lost in the first round in each of their last four trips at the Metro Centre between 2003 and 2007. “You always expect your first game at Nationals to be close, at least in the first half. It’s your first time playing outside of your conference since Christmas, so you’re playing an opponent you’re not familiar with.” First-team all-Canadian Josh Whyte of Calgary was named player of the game for the T-Birds. “We did a much better job defensively in the second half,” said Hanson. “(Axemen post Owen) Klassen is a very good player and can score in so many different ways. We gave more help to our post players after the break and it slowed him down a bit.” UBC guard Doug Plumb, a transfer from Fraser Valley said “we just didn’t play UBC basketball in the first half. We settled down in the second half. We were much more composed.” Axemen coach Stephen Baur said “we just couldn’t find a way to stop them. They had too many easy baskets.” UBC led 47-42 at the end of a back-and-forth first half that included nine lead changes and seven ties. Down 23-22 with just over a minute left in the opening quarter, the T-Birds went up 26-23 after 10 minutes thanks to a hook shot by Graham Bath and a pair of free throws by Brent Malish. Balraj Bains and Malish opened the second frame with back-to-back layups to complete an 8-0 UBC run and push the lead to 28-23. Acadia hung in there however and was back on top with two minutes remaining in the half, at 40-38, following an Anthony Sears three-pointer. Josh Whyte responded with a three-point shot of his own and was fouled on the play. His ensuing free throw made it 42-40 UBC. He then dropped a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to send the Canada West champions to the locker room with a five-point advantage. In the third stanza, Kamar Burke made it 65-57 with a tough turnaround jumper but Klassen answered right back with a long three to cut the lead to 65-60. UBC finally took its first double-digit lead of the contest one minute into the final quarter when a Whyte layup upped the T-Birds advantage to 73-62. Plumb then scored four straight points to increase the cushion to 80-67, and the result was never in doubt after that point. UBC led by as many as 22 when Malish drained a three-pointer with 90 seconds left to make it 94-72. Hanson noted that “it’s the first time you’ve played someone not from your conference since Christmastime or since October. To play against different people, you’re not quite certain of their personnel. Yeah you get a scouting report, yeah you see it on video, but to actually go out and defend somebody and play against them is whole lot different. … I think it’s a little bit of sign of our depth that we don’t have one or two go-to guys, we have a whole bunch of guys who can contribute. Good for him. It’s his first trip to nationals and he’s obviously very pleased with his first game.” Mistakes, poor decision-making and foul trouble combined to hurt the Thunderbirds in the opening half. They turned the ball over 10 times in the first 20 minutes — including a handful of unforced errors on bad cross-court passes. “[Plumb] was able to attack the rim with his penetration,” said Hanson. “I thought it was his best basketball game as a ‘Bird.” Doug Plumb paced UBC with 20 on 9-13 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 7 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Josh Whyte added 19 on 8-14 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards and 6 assists. Brent Malish scored 17 on 6-8 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3-5 from the line and 7 boards. Kamar Burke added 13 on 5-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 8 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Alex Murphy scored 8 on 4-9 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 5 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Graham Bath notched 6 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 4 boards. Nathan Yu scored 5 on 2-6 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 4 assists. Balraj Bains added 4, Tommy Nixon 2 and Melvyn Mayott 2, while Jas Gill was scoreless. The Thunderbirds hit 40-65 (.615) from the floor, 6-14 (.429) from the arc and 10-17 (.588) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 24 assists, 5 steals, 5 blocks, 15 turnovers and 25 fouls.
Owen Klassen paced Acadia with 22 on 7-16 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Anthony Sears added 19 on 8-15 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Alex McLaughlin scored 16 on 6-11 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc and 2 boards. Justin Boutilier added 8 on 4-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 3 assists. Tyler Lutton scored 6 on 3-10 from the floor, 4 boards and 3 assists. Thomas Filigiano notched 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 2-5 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Lauchlan Gale scored 2. The Axemen hit 29-66 (.439) from the floor, 8-21 (.381) from the arc and 11-20 (.550) from the line, while garnering 28 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 2 steals, 10 turnovers and 16 fouls. The Axemen (coached by Stephen Baur, assisted by Kevin Duffie, Kevin Veinot and Nick Jordan) also included Dustin Poirier, Patrick Bush, Alan Rivers-Bowerman, Sinclair Brown, Eli Prochnau, Jonathan Tull and Bojan Dodik.
The fifth-seeded wildcard Trinity Western Spartans dumped the fourth-seeded Lakehead Thunderwolves 82-74. The Thunderwolves, coached by Scott Morrison, finished first in the OUA West regular season with a 17-5 record and captured the Wilson Cup. They were 25-11 against CIS competition heading into the draw. The Spartans, coached by Scott Allen, finished 2nd in Canada West (West division) play with a 21-3 record and captured the bronze medal in the league’s postseason playoffs. They were 25-5 against CIS competition heading into the draw and making their first appearance in the nationals since joining the CIS in 1999-2000. “It’s a big win for our program for sure,” said TWU coach Scott Allen. “We were well prepared, I don’t think we were overly anxious or anything. Playing in Canada West, you get to face the likes of UBC and Saskatchewan on a regular basis. We were ready. UBC is going to be a challenge, no question. They’re a very good team. They keep coming at you. They’re relentless. … I didn’t feel nervous. If we had another five minutes, I would have been a little more nervous.” The Thunderwolves struggled out of the gate and never recovered. Trinity Western was up 20-6 after the opening 10-minute-period, 39-28 at the half, and 56-39 after three quarters. “We lost a couple of big leads this year so it was important for us to play hard until the end,” said Allen. “We kept our composure in the second half.” Kyle Coston, a fourth-year forward from Blaine, Wash., was named player of the game for the Spartans. First-team all-Canadian forward Jacob Doerksen, a native of Abbotsford, B.C., a former CIS MVP and rookie of the year, said “we played pretty well. It was a new environment for all the guys and in the circumstances, it was a great effort.” Down by 17 heading into the fourth quarter, the T-Wolves attempted a comeback launching three-pointers after three-pointers. Jamie Searle cut the deficit to 60-48 two minutes into the final frame. He added another long-distance shot with 2:25 remaining to make it a nine-point affair at 75-66, and another three by Thomson made it 75-69 with two minutes to go. But that was as close as Lakehead would get as the Thunderwolves were forced to foul the rest of the way, and the Spartans hit timely free throws to seal the victory. Allen called the win “well deserved. We really don’t feel any pressure at all. The program is still young and there’ll be lots of years and successes to come. We’re better anyway playing the underdog role. And [UBC] certainly showed why they’re No. 1.” Trinity, whose game plan was to work the ball inside for higher percentage shots, played with poise, Allen said. “I thought they’d be a little more amped, more anxious on the big stage. But they’re focused on one thing and that’s getting to the end of this.” Jacob Doerksen paced Trinity Western with 20 on 9-15 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 9 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Kyle Coston added 20 on 5-14 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 9-9 from the line, 11 boards and 5 assists. Calvin Westbrook scored 16 on 7-13 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. Tyrell Mara scored 11 on 4-8 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 10 boards. Tonner Jackson notched 5 on 2-4 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc. Tristan Smith added 4 on 2-6 from the floor, 7 boards and 5 assists. Daniel Horner scored 3, Lance Verhoeff 2 and Eli Mara 1, while Jesse Jeffers, Kurtis Osborne and Clint Wickham were scoreless. The Spartans hit 31-65 (.477) from the floor, 3-16 (.188) from the arc and 17-23 (.739) from the line, while garnering 52 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 16 turnovers and 14 fouls. Ryan Thomson paced Lakehead with 18 on 7-14 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 steals. Jamie Searle added 15 on 4-10 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 6 boards and 4 steals. Venzal Russell notched 13 on 6-15 from the floor, 0-6 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Greg Carter added 10 on 4-10 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Yoosrie Salhia scored 6 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-6 from the line and 3 boards. Andrew Hackner added 3, Brendan King 3, Ben Johnson 2, Joseph Jones 2 and Matthew Schmidt 2, while Cameron Hornby was scoreless. The Thunderwolves hit 27-69 (.391) from the floor, 11-38 (.289) from the arc and 9-14 (.643) from the line, while garnering 35 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 13 steals, 2 blocks, 13 turnovers and 19 fouls. The Thunderwolves (coached by Scott Morrison, assisted by Matt Erdmann, Pat Charlebois, Zaq White and Andrew Quirion) also included Akeem Isaac, Kemp McCrae, Karl Rom, Nathan Wainwright and Anthony McIntosh.
The third-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies clocked the sixth-seeded Dalhousie Tigers 91-79. The Huskies, defending national champs and coached on a one-year interim basis by Barry Rawlyk, finished third in Canada West regular season play and were runners-up in the postseason tournament. They were 30-5 against CIS completion heading into the tournament. The Tigers, coached by John Campbell, finished 2nd in the AUS regular season with a 14-6 record and then captured the league’s postseason crown. They were 22-9 against CIS competition heading into the draw. With Saskatchewan trailing 37-36 at halftime, Canada West MVP Jamelle Barrett took the game over in the last 20 minutes scoring 18 points after the break and feeding his teammates with a number of brilliant passes. The California native, who finished with 11 assists to complete his double-double, was named player of the match. “It was a solid team performance,” said the third-year guard, in his first season with the Huskies. “We didn’t panic at all after the first half. We knew Dalhousie had a good team and they’d be playing in front of their fans. We were well prepared.” Rawlyk said “Jamelle showed why, in my opinion, he’s the best player in the country. He controlled the game in the second half, especially after Rejean Chabot fouled out.” Michael Lieffers, a 6-foot-8 forward from Saskatoon, was equally dominant, winning numerous battles under the glass. Dalhousie guard Simon Farine said “we broke down defensively in the second half. Giving up 91 points is way too much. It’s very unlike us.” Dalhousie was up 17-15 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a late jumper by Peter Leighton of Halifax, another fifth-year veteran. The Tigers quickly increased their lead to seven points early in the second frame but Saskatchewan came back to tie it at 29 all on a three-pointer by Rejean Chabot, and then went ahead 36-31 on back-to-back baskets by Lieffers, who benefited from a pair of great feeds by Barrett. The hometown favourites closed the half on a 6-0 run however, including a long three by Farine, to go into the locker room with a slim 37-36 advantage. The first 20 minutes featured eight ties and five lead changes. The Huskies opened the second half on a 4-0 run to go up 40-37 and never trailed again. They had their biggest lead of the third quarter at 62-58 before ending the period with a 62-57 advantage. And then the Jamelle Barrett show began. The 5-foot-10 guard, who this season became the first player in Canada West history to lead the conference in points, assists and steals on his way to first-team all-Canadian status, turned a turnover into an easy layup to make it 70-61 Saskatchewan. After the Tigers came back to within 70-66, Barrett scored on another layup to make it 72-66, added a bucket and a foul shot to up the lead to 75-66, and then fed the ball under the basket to Lieffers, who made it 77-67 with a thunderous dunk. With Saskatchewan holding on to a seven-point cushion with just over two minutes to go, Barrett sealed the victory with a jumper and a sensational behind-the-back pass to Nolan Bruhdel, who was fouled on the play and completed the three-point play with a free throw. Tiger Joe Schow said “we came here with pretty high expectations for ourselves and we didn’t execute the way we wanted to. We like to keep it below 65, that’s comfortable for us, but clearly they scored a lot more than that today.” Barrett, who joined the team from Consumnes JC in California, knew the secret to handling the Tigers. “We knew if we stopped (Farine) and Schow that we would be very successful, and we did a good job of that. … Just get my teammates involved and make some plays, that’s what coach brought me down here for. I just try to get my teammates involved and when I can’t, I get my own (shots).” The 5-10 guard from Rancho Cordova frequently attacked the basket off the penetration dribble and was all but unstoppable. In the second half, “we had to come out and play a lot better defence and crash the defensive boards,” Barrett said. “If we did that (we knew) we’d be more successful.” Coach John Campbell said his Tigers had a tough time dealing with Barrett. “The problem is the ball spent so much time in Barrett’s hands. He does such a nice job of not only creating opportunities for himself but his teammates.” Jamelle Barrett paced Saskatchewan with 27 on 10-21 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 5 boards, 11 assists and 4 steals. Michael Lieffers added 19 on 8-11 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 17 boards. Rejean Chabot notched 19 on 8-17 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 assists and 3 steals. Nolan Brudehl scored 14 on 4-9 from the floor, 6-9 from the line and 5 boards. Duncan Jones scored 10 on 3-8 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Chris Unsworth scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 5 boards, while Trevor Nerdahl, Ben Baker and Patrick Burns were scoreless. The Huskies hit 34-69 (.493) from the floor, 5-17 (.294) from the arc and 18-22 (.818) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 13 steals, 2 blocks, 16 turnovers and 24 fouls. Joseph Schow paced Dalhousie with 24 on 9-17 from the floor, 6-9 from the line and 13 boards. Simon Farine added 22 on 6-14 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 8-12 from the line, 7 boards, 8 assists and 4 steals. Juleous Grant notched 10 on 4-20 from the floor, 2-11 from the arc, 2 boards and 4 assists. Sandy Veit added 9 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-1 from the line and 9 boards. Stephen Lopez scored 7 on 3-4 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 2 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Peter Leighton notched 5 on 2-6 from the floor and 1-5 from the arc. Alexander Arthur added 2, while William Yengue and Robert Nortmann were scoreless. The Tigers hit 29-78 (.372) from the floor, 5-22 (.227) from the arc and 16-25 (.640) from the line, while garnering 51 boards, including 25 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 7 steals, 4 blocks, 17 turnovers and 18 fouls. The Tigers (coached by John Campbell, assisted by Dave Nutbrown, Thom Gillespie and Seby Joseph) also included Jumol Mullings, Nathan Smith, Tim Coote, Hayden Galbraith, Sam Williams, Nick Flynn, Jeremy McAvoy, Chris Hunt, Jason Wang and Casey Fox.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Carleton Ravens escaped the 7th-seeded Concordia Stingers 73-66. The Ravens, coached by Dave Smart, captured the OUA East regular season title and were runners-up in the OUA postseason playoffs. They entered the tournament with a 31-1 record against Canadian competition. The Stingers, coached by John Dore, finished first in RSEQ regular season play with a 12-4 record (after finishing last a year earlier) and then captured the league’s postseason title. They were 21-5 against Canadian competition heading into the tournament. Carleton led 19-15 after the opening quarter, 34-33 at the half and 54-52 after 30 minutes. Concordia was down by only one point on three occasions in the last four minutes of play, including 67-66 with 1:39 remaining in the contest when Stingers forward Evens Laroche of Montreal had a chance to tie the affair, but missed his first of two free throws. “The kids played hard. On both sides. We didn’t shoot well but we worked hard. It was just one of those scrappy games,” said Smart, who was named CIS coach of the year for a record-tying fourth time. “We have some concerns to address in a very short time before we face Saskatchewan. They’re a great team. And we’ll have to find a way to slow down (Canada West MVP) Jamelle Barrett.” Dore said “I think we everything we could do to win. We had a chance to win down the stretch against a very good team. I couldn’t ask our guys for a better effort.” Tyson Hinz was chosen player of the game. Moments after CIS rookie of the year Philip Scrubb of Richmond, B.C., put the Ravens up by six, at 58-52, three minutes into the final quarter, Decee Krah made it a 60-59 affair with a three-pointer with four minutes remaining. Every time it seemed the Ravens would pull away, Concordia came right back, first with a Kyle Desmarais layup that made it 67-65 with two minutes on the clock, and then with Evens Laroche’s free throw, which again cut Carleton’s lead to 67-66. It was a close as the Stingers would get however. Hinz took a great feed from Elliott Thompson to restore a three-point advantage and, after a Concordia turnover, the Stingers were forced to foul the rest of the way, and Carleton made four of six free throws down the stretch. Dore was left shaking his head over what he believed was a missed call by the officials. Late in the fourth quarter, a Concordia press seemed to trap Carleton for an eight-second violation – the shot clock showed 15 seconds remaining, meaning nine had expired from when Carleton inbounded – but the officials called a jump ball instead. Although Concordia had the possession arrow in their favour at that point, another jump ball with less than a minute to go went Carleton’s way, giving the Ravens an extra possession. “Let the TV cameras be the judge if it was good or not,” Dore said. “It was there for everybody to see.” The Ravens used the advantage to make it a two-possession game and their defence shutdown Concordia three-point ace Decee Krah when it mattered most. “We try to defend as best we can,” said Smart. “We’re not real big, so it becomes a bit of a battle on the boards at times.” Smart added that he liked his team’s effort and shot selection, but it was the execution that was missing. “Our kids played hard. We didn’t shoot the ball well. We were very tight. But we played hard and they played hard, it was scrappy game and we were fortunate enough to win.” The Ravens took a one-point lead into halftime thanks to a buzzer beating layup by Thomas Scrubb. Dore said he was proud of his team for beating the odds and making the tournament, but he was disappointed with how the game ended. “We were down five, then we came back to tie it. Then they took the lead again and we had the call at half-court and then a turnover and that’s the game.” Tyson Hinz paced Carleton with 19 on 7-13 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 5 boards and 2 steals. Elliot Thompson added 15 on 5-18 from the floor, 3-13 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Willy Manigat notched 14 on 6-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 6 boards. Thomas Scrubb scored 8 on 4-4 from the floor. Philip Scrubb added 7 on 2-14 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 5 assists. Kyle Smendziuk notched 6 on 2-3 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Cole Hobin added 4 on 2-3 from the line and 5 boards, while Michael Kenny, Greg Faulkner and Aaron Chapman wee scoreless. Chapman nabbed 3 boards. The Ravens hit 28-67 (.418) from the floor, 6-28 (.214) from the arc and 11-16 (.688) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 8 turnovers and 19 fouls. Decee Krah paced Concordia with 21 on 8-18 from the floor, 5-12 from the arc, 7 boards and 4 assists. Kyle Desmarais added 17 on 6-14 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 3 boards and 7 assists. Evens Laroche notched 10 on 4-11 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 10 boards and 2 assists. Zach Brisebois added 9 on 2-2 from the floor, 5-8 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Taylor Garner notched 5 on 1-4 from the floor, 3-3 from the line and 4 boards. James Clark scored 4 on 2-7 from the floor and 2 boards, while Aamir Gyles, Morgan Tajfel, Kafil Eyitayo, Frank Fiola, Christian Kondo and James-Andre Moussignac were scoreless. The Stingers hit 23-59 (.390) from the floor, 5-20 (.250) from the arc and 15-22 (.682) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 3 steals, 12 turnovers and 18 fouls. The Stingers (coached by John Dore, assisted by Ernie Rosa, David Bloom and Mike Hickey) also included Kevin Selman.
In the semifinals, the 2nd-seeded Carleton Ravens avenged a loss to Saskatchewan from a year earlier by spanking the Huskies 95-83. CIS player of the year Tyson Hinz dominated the floor. “We’ve had great success in this building over the years but this is a different team, we only have one player left (Mike Kenny) since our last win here,” said Carleton bench boss Dave Smart, the four-time CIS coach of the year. “It was a solid effort tonight. We were much improved from last night.” Hinz took over the game in the fourth quarter as Carleton entered the final period holding a slim 66-63 advantage. The 6-foot-6 forward from Ottawa scored 13 points in the last 10 minutes, most of them on a devastating spin move inside, en route to player-of-the-game honours. “That loss in last year’s semis has been at the back of our minds for 365 days. It feels awesome to beat them in the same round this time around,” said Hinz. “They’re a great team and they never quit tonight. It was a tough win.” Saskatchewan coach Barry Rawlyk said “give Carleton a lot of credit. We had a game plan and they defended it. They have a very good, very well-coached team.” Philip Scrubb gave Carleton a 12-9 lead four minutes into the contest with a three-point shot and the Ravens stayed ahead for the rest of the first half. A Kyle Smendziuk layup at the buzzer completed a dominating 27-16 opening period for the OUA finalists. The experienced Huskies didn’t panic however and climbed all the way back to within one point midway through the second frame, at 31-30, on a pair of Rejean Chabot free throws. Carleton responded with a 7-0 run capped off by a Scrubb three-pointer to restore an eight-point advantage. The Ravens led 44-39 at the half. The Huskies once again cut the deficit to only one point, at 44-43, early in the third quarter following a Chabot layup but the Ravens went on another run, this one of eight straight points, to go up 52-43. Saskatchewan made it a one-point affair twice more before the end of the third, including two Barrett free throws that reduced the Carleton advantage to 64-63 with 58 seconds on the clock. It was 66-63 Carleton after 30 minutes. Chabot had a chance to finally tie it early in the fourth but missed his second attempt from the charity stripe, which left the Huskies trailing 70-69. The Ravens went up by eight points, at 83-75, with three minutes to go thanks to a long three by Elliot Thompson and were never really in danger after that point. Saskatchewan was hurt by poor free throw shooting in the final 10 minutes, missing no less than seven attempts from the line. Tyson Hinz paced Carleton with 32 on 13-22 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 3-6 from the line and 9 boards. Philip Scrubb added 17 on 5-14 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 7 boards and 5 assists. Cole Hobin scored 13 on 5-11 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 3-7 from the line, 7 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals. Elliot Thompson added 12 on 2-10 from the floor, 2-9 from the arc, 6-6 from the line, 4 boards and 7 assists. Kyle Smendziuk notched 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-5 from the line, 11 boards and 2 assists. Willy Manigat scored 7 on 2-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Thomas Scrubb added 4 and Michael Kenny 2, while Greg Faulkner and Aaron Chapman were scoreless. The Ravens hit 32-74 (.432) from the floor, 10-29 (.345) from the arc and 21-33 (.636) from the line, while garnering 54 boards, including 24 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 7 steals, 3 blocks, 10 turnovers and 31 fouls. Jamelle Barrett paced Saskatchewan with 28 on 8-23 from the floor, 2-12 from the arc, 10-12 from the line, 5 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Rejean Chabot added 26 on 8-21 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 10-14 from the line and 3 boards. Nolan Brudehl added 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Ben Baker scored 7 on 3-3 from the floor and 1-1 from the line. Michael Lieffers added 6 on 2-3 from the floor, 2-8 from the line, 12 boards and 2 assists. Chris Unsworth scored 3 on 1-4 from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 10 boards and 2 assists. Trevor Nerdahl added 2, Duncan Jones 2, along with 5 boards, and Patrick Burns 1, while Dave Neufeld was scoreless. The Huskies hit 26-66 (.394) from the floor, 3-21 (.143) from the arc and 28-45 (.622) from the line, while garnering 57 boards, including 27 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 14 turnovers and 31 fouls.
In the other semi, Kyle Coston connected on a trey with 11.6 seconds remaining as the fifth-seeded Trinity Western Spartans erased a 16-point second quarter deficit to upset the top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds 74-72. After being held to three points in the first half, Colston, who was chosen player of the game, caught fire for Trinity Western after the break with 20 points. “It feels amazing. I’ve played in big games before. But to hit an important shot like that on such a big stage, it’s pretty amazing,” Coston said. It was the third meeting of the campaign between the conference rivals; UBC swept the head-to-head series early in the regular season with 91-69 and 90-77 road wins in late October. “It’s tough to win three in a row against the same team. I don’t know if I would have wanted to be in that position,” said Spartans coach Scott Allen. “It’s obviously a huge win for us. Kyle came up big once again.” The 6-8 Coston, a transfer from Portland State born in Blaine, Washington, noted that “I played Division 1 basketball down in Portland, went to two March Madness tournaments, but performing like this, on this type of stage, is great. I was more assertive out there (in the second half). Good things happened once I put my mind and my focus into the game a little bit more.” With 31 seconds remaining, UBC’s Kamar Burke fired back a rebound on a Josh Whyte miss to give the T-Birds a 72-71 advantage. Coston then put the Trinity Western faithful into a frenzy with his clutch shot from beyond the arc. UBC went for the win on its final attempt, but Burke’s three-point attempt at the buzzer rang off the rim. “I’m proud of the composure our guys showed at the end,” Allen said. “Every game in the Canada West this year and in the playoffs, we had a hard time closing things off. They hit some big shots and for Kyle Coston, it means the world to me to see him have success. He’s had a tough year but hit some big shots at the end.” Turnovers and misfires hurt the Spartans in the first half. UBC, which led by as many as 16 late in the second quarter, went down court and scored a lay-in at the buzzer for a 39-30 half-time lead. “The morale was down a little bit at halftime,” Coston said. “We fought hard in the first half and to have that happen, it kind of put the fire under our butts a little bit. We didn’t come all this way, all those plane rides to get beat in a close one.” The Spartans went on a run after the intermission, netting the first 10 points of the second half and outscored the T-Birds 17-5 through the first seven minutes. UBC struggled out of the gate, making only one of its first six field goal attempts. A Nathan Yu layup made it 11-10 with 2:21 left in the opening quarter and the Thunderbirds never trailed again before halftime. The fourth-year guard then drained a three-pointer with 25 seconds on the clock to send the Birds into the second frame with a 22-12 lead. Murphy took over in the second quarter scoring 11 of his 15 first-half points. His layup four minutes into the period gave UBC its biggest lead of the opening 20 minutes, at 31-15. Trinity Western responded with a 15-6 run to cut the deficit to seven – at 37-30 – but Yu closed out the half with a bucket at the buzzer to make it 39-30 UBC at the break. The Spartans stunned their BC rivals with a 10-0 run to open the third quarter – capped off by a Doerksen hook shot – and all of a sudden found themselves back on top, at 40-39. UBC was held scoreless in the first 4:05 of the period. The rest of the quarter featured three lead changes and as many ties before a Tonner Jackson layup at the buzzer made it 53-51 Spartans heading into the final period. Trinity Western remained ahead until Yu scored on a hard drive to the hoop with 6:01 on the clock to give UBC a slim 63-62 advantage. Three lead changes followed in the next two and a half minutes and a pair of free throws by Coston gave the Spartans a three-point cushion – at 68-65 – with 2:45 to go. Whyte was fouled on a three-point attempt on the ensuing play however and went 3-for-3 at the line to tie the affair at 68 all with 2:30 left. After three more lead changes and Trinity Western ahead 71-70, Coston had a chance to give the Spartans a three-point lead but went 0-of-2 from the charity stripe. On the ensuing UBC possession, Burke grab a rebound off a Whyte miss and scored to make it 72-71 T-Birds, and set up Coston’s heroics. Burke had a chance to win it at the buzzer but his three-point attempt hit the rim and refused to fall. Kyle Coston paced Trinity Western with 23 on 7-13 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 7-10 from the line, 12 boards and 3 assists. Jacob Doerksen added 16 on 7-15 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 5 boards and 2 blocks. Calvin Westbrook scored 15 on 7-11 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Tristan Smith notched 7 on 3-9 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Tyrell Mara scored 7 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 8 boards and 3 assists. Daniel Horner scored 2 on 1-8 from the floor, 4 boards and 3 assists. Tonner Jackson added 2, along with 3 boards, and Eli Mara 2, while Kurtis Osborne and Lance Verhoeff were scoreless. The Spartans hit 28-65 (.431) from the floor, 4-20 (.200) from the arc and 14-22 (.636) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 13 turnovers and 21 fouls. Alex Murphy paced UBC with 21 on 7-16 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 2 boards and 3 assists. Nathan Yu added 14 on 5-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 3-3 from the line. Kamar Burke scored 13 on 6-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 15 boards and 3 assists. Josh Whyte notched 12 on 3-15 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 6-7 from the line and 5 boards. Brent Malish added 7 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 2 boards. Melvyn Mayott added 5 on 2-4 from the floor and 1-1 from the arc, while Doug Plumb, Balraj Bains and Graham Bath were scoreless. The Thunderbirds hit 24-68 (.353) from the floor, 6-21 (.286) from the arc and 18-21 (.857) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 9 turnovers and 28 fouls.
In the bronze medal match, the top-seeded U.B.C. Thunderbirds smacked the 3rd-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies 111-95 in a rematch of the Canada West final, won 107-100 by UBC and the 2010 CIS title game, where the Huskies prevailed 91-81 to capture the first W.P. McGee Trophy in program history. With 206 combined points, the conference rivals set an all-time championship record. The T-Birds also tied the second highest single-team tally in history. The T-Birds prevailed although guard Josh Whyte, a first-team all-Canadian this season and the CIS MVP in 2009-10, had to sit out the bronze medal duel due to a stress fracture in his foot. Alex Murphy notched at tournament-high 36 points. “Alex was sensational. I’m very happy to see him finish this way,” said UBC coach Kevin Hanson. “It’s not an easy game to play, but at least it was entertaining for the fans.” UBC led 29-28 at the end of an entertaining first quarter but outscored its opponents 35-18 in the second frame to head to the locker room with a comfortable 64-46 halftime lead. It was 89-75 after 30 minutes. The previous tournament record of 201 combined points dated back to the 1972 gold medal final when UBC defeated Windsor 117-84. UBC’s 117 points in the 1972 title match still stand as the single-game mark for one team. The Thunderbirds hold the three best single-game performances of all-time as they also scored 111 points in a consolation match against Brandon in 1991 (111-81 win). Murphy said “I think I hit my first shot and from there I just decided to shoot it. There’s no pressure on this game, everyone was playing relaxed. A lot of people hit shots. It was a high-scoring game today, it was probably fun to watch.” Hanson said “Alex, coming from what he did over his career, sometimes starting, sometimes coming off the bench to have a career-high in your last game of university basketball is an amazing thing. He just held us together.” Defence was not a focus for either team from the tipoff. Less than a minute in it was already 4-4 and the fast-paced action continued for the entire 40 minutes. “These toilet bowl games always seem to be high-scoring affairs,” Hanson said. “The guys aren’t really here to play a whole lot of defence. You wouldn’t know we work on defence every day in practice. It’s also an opportunity to have a little bit of fun.” Huskies interim coach Barry Rawlyk said there were three reasons why it turned into a run-and-gun affair. “I think it was partly a lack of focus from both teams. I think partly there were some people making some shots today. And thirdly I think it was fatigue … it’s really a tight turnaround playing late (Saturday) night and early (Sunday) afternoon.” Alex Murphy paced UBC with 36 on 9-16 from the floor, 7-10 from the arc, 11-12 from the line, 6 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Nathan Yu added 17 on 7-14 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards, 3 assists and 4 steals. Brent Malish notched 16 on 7-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists. Kamar Burke scored 15 on 7-15 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 11 boards and 8 assists. Melvyn Mayott added 6 on 3-7 from the floor, 0—3 from the arc, 2 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Doug Plumb scored 6 on 3-6 from the floor and 3 boards. Balraj Bains scored 6 on 3-6 from the floor, 3 boards and 2 blocks. Graham Bath added 6 on 2-6 from the floor and 2-2 from the line. Tommy Nixon added 3 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists, while Jas Gill was scoreless. The Thunderbirds hit 42-85 (.494) from the floor, 11-28 (.393) from the arc and 16-21 (.762) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 29 assists, 12 steals, 5 blocks, 15 turnovers and 16 fouls.
Jamelle Barrett paced Saskatchewan with 28 on 9-16 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 9-11 from the line, 3 boards and 10 assists. Michael Lieffers added 23 on 10-14 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 9 boards. Trevor Nerdahl scored 12 on 4-11 from the floor, 4-10 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Rejean Chabot added 10 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 4 assists and 2 steals. Nolan Brudehl scored 10 on 4-6 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 7 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Duncan Jones notched 8 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Chris Unsworth scored 4 on 2-2 from the floor and 3 boards, while Andrew Henry, Ben Baker, Dave Neufeld, Patrick Burns and Tim Hollman were scoreless. The Huskies hit 36-70 (.514) from the floor, 7-21 (.333) from the arc and 16-21 (.762) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 21 assists, 6 steals, 3 blocks, 22 turnovers and 16 fouls. The Huskies (coached by Barry Rawlyk, assisted by Rob Lovelace and Nathan Schellenberg) also included Jeremy Svenkeson, Sam Derksen, Evan Ostertag, Jon Harding, Temidayo Jabagun and Jonathan Karwacki.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Carleton Ravens dusted the 5th-seeded Trinity Western Spartans 82-59 to capture their seventh W.P. McGee Trophy in nine seasons. The 35-1 Ravens, whose only loss on the campaign was to Lakehead in the OUA final, dominated as tournament MVP Tyson Hinz demonstrated his versatility. “They’re a very good team in the post, they’re very strong physically. So, I thought I’d try my luck outside,” said Hinz. “It’s an amazing feeling, especially after last year’s loss at home in the semis.” Carleton coach Dave Smart said “it might be a cliché but every title is special, because every team is different. With this group of guys, it’s special because we have such a young team. We return pretty much every guy next year.” Elliot Thompson, a fourth-year guard from Fredericton, earned player-of-the-game honours in the title match. Spartans coach Scott Allen said “we learned something today about the intensity level required to win a championship. We had a good game plan but we underestimated how physical they would be on defence. They’re so good in the post, we had to pick our poison and mix it up. Full credit to them, they’re a machine.” Carleton led 26-17 after the first quarter, 49-31 at halftime and 60-44 after 30 minutes. The Ravens broke a 13-13 deadlock six minutes into the contest thanks to back-to-back three-pointers by Hinz and Willy Manigat, who scored eight points in the opening period including another three with one second remaining as the shot clock expired. Carleton resumed its domination from beyond the arc in the second stanza. Mike Kenny, the lone remaining member from the Ravens’ last triumph in Halifax in 2007, opened the quarter with a three to make it 29-17, and then hit again from long distance midway through the period to open up a 13-point gap, at 36-23. Thompson stole the show in the final three minutes before the break with seven points, including yet another three with 12 seconds left on the clock. Carleton was 10-of-20 from downtown in the first 20 minutes, while Trinity Western was 2-for-9. Back from the break, a stingy TWU defence held the Ravens to only three points – on a Manigat three – in the first 6:30 of the quarter, but the Spartans scored only eight points themselves during the sequence and were still trailing by 13, at 52-39, with 3:30 to go in the frame. Three-pointers by Manigat and Thompson in the final 50 seconds made it 60-44 affair after 30 minutes. Trinity Western was never able to cut the deficit to less than a dozen in the fourth quarter. Carleton led by as much as 24 on two occasions (80-56, 82-58) in the final two minutes. Smart said the Ravens bench had an enormous impact. “Friday night (against Concordia) Thomas Scrubb came in and made a huge impact in a game we easily could have lost. Basically, he was the difference-maker Friday night. Today Kevin Churchill came in and was a difference maker, too. All the guys who play major minutes (are important), but our pseudo-10th men both won us games this weekend.” Allen said “I think we just underestimated how aggressive they were on defence. It’s not what we did on defence — I think we held them to enough to win the game — it’s that we couldn’t get into our looks. … “We couldn’t match it, just being able to react to a team that plays such hard defence,” Allen said. “They take you out of sets, they make you shoot the ball a little quicker. It’s a learning experience for our program. … The off-season starts tomorrow.” The Ravens also got into the lanes to generate steals, scoring 24 points off Spartan turnovers. Thompson said “you just have to come out with the same mindset. You can’t let the fact that it’s a championship game get to you. You have to try to keep an even keel. … You gotta just keep shooting the ball. I shot a lot of threes and some of them weren’t going in, but you’ve just got to trust your body and keep shooting. The main thing going into this game, and for the whole tournament, was to keep attacking, never quit and play for 40 minutes, and that’s why we won this tournament.” Coston said “I think in the first half they competed a little harder than us, to be honest. You can’t do that in a national championship and think you’re going to win. We started to come out in the second half but it was a little too late.” Smart said it’s too early to tell if the Ravens are on the verge of another run of titles. “It’s hard to win. A lot of things went our way this year. Do we hope to put ourselves in a position to win again? Yes. But it’s hard to win.” Elliot Thompson paced the Ravens with 19 on 6-17 from the floor, 4-12 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Philip Scrubb added 16 on 5-10 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 4-5 from the line and 2 boards. Willy Manigat added 14 on 4-12 from the floor, 4-9 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals. Tyson Hinz notched 13 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 6 boards and 4 assists. Michael Kenny scored 8 on 2-5 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Cole Hobin added 7 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 6 boards and 4 assists. Kevin Churchill added 3 and Greg Faulkner 2, while Kyle Smendziuk, Aaron Chapman, Dan Penner and Thomas Scrubb were scoreless. The Ravens hit 26-61 (.426) from the floor, 16-38 (.421) from the arc and 14-17 (.824) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 10 steals, 2 blocks, 10 turnovers and 26 fouls.
Jacob Doerksen paced Trinity Western with 16 on 6-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 3-7 from the line 12 boards and 2 assists. Kyle Coston added 13 on 3-9 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 7-9 from the line and 9 boards. Calvin Westbrook scored 9 on 2-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 2 boards. Tonner Jackson notched 7 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Eli Mara scored 6 on 6-6 from the line. Tyrell Mara added 4 on 2-7 from the floor and 0-1 from the arc. Tristan Smith notched 3 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards and 5 assists. Kurtis Osborne scored 1, while Lance Verhoeff, Clint Wickham and Daniel Horner were scoreless. The Spartans hit 17-48 (.354) from the floor, 3-13 (.231) from the arc and 22-32 (.688) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 18 turnovers and 24 fouls.
Hinz was chosen recipient of the Jack Donohue Trophy as tournament MVP. Joining him on the all-star team were: Elliot Thompson (Carleton); Kyle Coston (Trinity Western); Jacob Doerksen (Trinity Western); and Jamelle Barrett (Saskatchewan).
The bronze medalist U.B.C. Thunderbirds: Josh Whyte; Alex Murphy; Kamar Burke; Brent Malish; Doug Plumb; Nathan Yu; Graham Bath; Melvyn Mayott; Balraj Bains; Tommy Nixon; Jas Gill; Geoff Pippus; Mike Lewandowski; Akeem Pierre; Chad Posthumus; coach Kevin Hanson; assistant Vern Knopp; assistant Dahman Boudraa; assistant Jamie Oei; trainer Jayne Blank; trainer Sinead Beynon; nutritionist Harinder Ghuman; athletic director Bob Philip; SID Ben Schach
The silver medalist Trinity Western Spartans: Jacob Doerksen; Kyle Coston; Daniel Horner; Calvin Westbrook; Tonner Jackson; Tyrell Mara; Tristan Smith; Eli Mara; Lance Verhoeff; Kurtis Osborne; Nil Nortey Engmann; Clint Wickham; Jesse Jeffers; Lucian Sauciuc; Lucas Nugteren; Tyler Linttell; Niko Monachini; coach Scott Allen; assistant Matthew Boulton; assistant Cal Wirch; assistant Ron Walker; program coordinator Livia Munro; manager/stats Trevor Klassen; manager/stats Morgan Hayduk; therapist Natali Ghobrial; therapist Philippe Saucier; student therapist Zach Hogan; SID Scott Stewart; athletic director Murray Hall
The gold medalist Carleton Ravens: Tyson Hinz; Philip Scrubb; Cole Hobin; Elliot Thompson; Aaron Chapman; Willy Manigat; Kyle Smendziuk; Michael Kenny; Greg Faulkner; Thomas Scrubb; Kevin Churchill; Dan Penner; Gavin Resch; Gael Kanza; Mehdi Tihani; Nathaniel Timm; coach Dave Smart; assistant Rob Smart Jr.; assistant Dean Petridis; assistant Shawn McCleery; assistant Danny Naoufal; strength and conditioning Andy Stewart; nutritionist Harinder Ghuman; therapist Bruce Marshall; manager Kyle Vezzaro; SID Christina Atallah; athletic director Jennifer Brenning