REGULAR SEASON
| EAST | WEST | ||||||||
| Laurentian | 9-3 | Peter Campbell | Brock | 8-4 | 12-16 | Garney Henley | |||
| Toronto | 8-4 | 10-7 | Gib Chapman | Waterloo | 7-5 | 20-13 | Don McCrae | ||
| York | 7-5 | 15-22 | Bob Bain | McMaster | 7-5 | Barry Phillips | |||
| Ryerson | 6-6 | Terry Haggerty | Western | 7-5 | Doug Hayes | ||||
| Queen’s | 6-6 | Barry Smith | Windsor | 6-6 | Paul Thomas | ||||
| Ottawa | 5-7 | 12-17 | John Restivo | Guelph | 6-6 | Tim Darling | |||
| Carleton | 1-11 | 4-24 | Paul Armstrong | Wilfrid Laurier | 1-11 | Chris Coulthard | |||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Carleton Ravens: Paul LeBreux, Alex Overwijk, Sean Fitzgerald, Pat Istead, Mike McInrue, Roger Piovesan, John Anstess (before quitting the team mid-season), Mike Hoy, Art Stewart, Walter Robinson, Scott Bolton, John Nicoletta, Jeff Mariasine, coach Paul Armstrong, assistant Hugh Reid, assistant Andy Cheam
Ottawa Gee-Gees: Arthur Kirkwood, Paul Burnett, Greg White, Dave DeAveiro, Chuck Klassen, Bill Shane, Pierre Moise, Andrew Arthurs, Dave Webster, Kelly Chesney, Pat Charlebois, Eric Tiessen, John Oberthier, Claude Heath, coach John Restivo, assistant David West, assistant David Stone
Queen’s Golden Gaels: Mike Scotten, Kevin Lowe, Bob Budgell, Bruce Caughill, Doug Laughton, James Reynolds, Tom Kavanaugh, Mark Wyman, Mark Alessio, Brian McMahon, Rod Hunt, Tom Adair, coach Barry Smith, assistant John Sutton
In the East semis, 2nd-seeded Toronto defeated 3rd-seeded York 63-59 as John Karpis scored 18. The Yeomen (coached by Bob Bain, assisted by Mike Quigley and Jim Barclay) included Stuart Levinsky, Mike Sherwood, Jeff McDermid, Stafford Lowe, Lance Winn, Rick Scragg, Gary Jonas, Steve Szagala, Paul Rosenberg, John Imbrogno and Jeff Reid.
In the other East semi, top-seeded Laurentian defeated the 4th-seeded Ryerson Rams 83-78. A melee ensued after the match as Ryerson became embroiled with Laurentian fans. Rams trainer Paul Sorenson became entangled with a fan. The players rushed in and during the ensuing five-minute right, Ryerson guard Lawrence Fisher broke a hand throwing a punch. Sorenson said the fan had been verbally harassing Ryerson coach Terry Haggerty all game. “He was really obnoxious,” recounted Sorenson. “Then when the game was over he started clapping his hands right in front of my face. He hit my nose so I popped him. The next thing I knew everyone was swinging. I didn’t know it would turn as ugly as it did.” Seeing the fight erupt, Fisher says he jumped to Sorenson’s aid. “I gave him (the fan) three shots to the head,” said the disgusted Ram before leaving for the hospital. “I was just protecting the team. He fell to the ground and then everyone jumped on top of us.” The fan, who was cut over the eye and bleeding from his nose, refused to offer his name or comment on the incident but Sorenson expressed regret that it happened. “This will look bad for Ryerson but it was building up the whole game,” he said. “It was the wrong thing to do and I’m sorry for wrecking the game.” It was the first playoff appearance for the Rams in Ryerson history. The Rams (coached by Haggerty, assisted by Vytas Gataveckas and Brad Riley) also included Tracy Cline, Pat Copps, Leslie Dunkley, Rob Hager, Terry Moloney, Dan Siebert, Kevin St. Kitts, Rob Sysak, Steve Arlauskas, Slavko Duric, Tony Catic, Mike Maese and Jamie Voskuil.
In the East final, 2nd-seeded Toronto defeated top-seeded Laurentian 84-60 as Sam Hill scored 26, John Karpis 18 and Roger Rollocks 14. It was Toronto’s first OUA East title since 1958. “That was a sweet victory,” said Blues forward John Karpis. “All year there was so much pressure on us because people said we had the talent but couldn’t win the big games. People questioned the team’s heart and said we had too many egos. This is a relief.” With about four minutes left in the first half and leading 34-18, Toronto forward Kirt Charter had his legs cut from underneath him driving for an offensive rebound. The 6-foot-2 Charter fell, his head taking the force of his 187-pound frame and was unconscious for 30 minutes while trainers and ambulance attendants hovered. Both teams went to their dressing rooms and the remaining time in the first half was added to the second half. “To be honest, in the dressing room some guys were praying and some guys were crying. We were really scared,” said Karpis. Charter was taken to Sudbury General Hospital, where he stayed overnight after suffering a concussion. With 6-10 Karpis and 6-9 forward Mark Harvey controlling the boards, while guard Sam Hill gunning from the perimeter, Toronto was never threatened. “They’ve got the best talent in the league and when they come to play, there’s no one that can beat them,” said Laurentian coach Peter Campbell. “Today they came to play.” Karpis told the Varsity “the wins were a result of a good team attitude.” Coach Gib Chapman felt the team’s strong regular season finish caused that good attitude. “No question, it certainly gave them confidence in each other.” Karpis said the Blues came out strong from the start and maintained their intensity. “This wasn’t just a quick streak, and then hanging on.” Chapman said the Blues were also aided by a decision to pick up pressure at mid-court, rather than full-court, as they had during their regular season contests. “We felt we had put too much pressure on them before.” They also benefited from solid perimeter shooting. “That obviously opens up the inside shooting and that’s when we have our total game.” Jeff McKibbon paced the Voyageurs with 18. Tim Yawney added 11.
In the West quarterfinals, the 2nd-seeded Waterloo Warriors thrashed the 7th-seeded Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 74-52. Both squads struggled with nerves early and the score was 4-4 after seven minutes of play. But Waterloo ripped off an 11-0 run to take a 31-15 lead at the half. Rob Froese led the Warriors with 17. Tom Schneider added 16 and Paul Boyce 13, along with 10 boards. Paul DeSantis led the Golden Hawks with 12. Brian Demaree added 9 and Rob Galinowski 8. Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Imprint that “when a team isn’t scoring like Laurier, there’s no rhythm to the game, and it doesn’t appear too pretty. … We played well in the second half, we were dishing the ball off inside and outside really well. On defence, we thought we had Laurier under control for most of the game.” Hawks forward Lorenzo Segato told The Cord that “we had a lot of wide-open shots, but they just wouldn’t drop in the hole. You can’t win if they don’t drop.” The Hawks rallied behind reserves Rob Galinowski and Ray Tone in the second half but the deficit was too large. “It wasn’t a pretty game,” said Warrior coach Don McCrae. “Laurier had no rhythm, although they did play a good second half.” Hawks coach Chris Coulthard said “we had superb defence and we were able to keep Waterloo off-balance offensively. If it wasn’t for Froese in the second half, it could have been a close game.” Golden Hawks coach Chris Coulthard told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we just couldn’t score when we had the chances in the first half. We have some guys who can’t shoot or pass. It was a nightmare. But we played a gutsy second half and might have made a game of it if Froese hadn’t come on the put the game out of reach.” The Golden Hawks (coached Chris Coulthard, assisted by John Weber) also included Linas Azubalis, Mike Alessio, Darren Syer, Todd Smith, Jamie Asma, Stephen Forden, Paul Phillipson, Bruno Rukavina, Eric Yeo, Tim Rehn, Ron Moravek and Randy Sweers.
The 3rd-seeded McMaster Marauders defeated 6th-seeded Guelph 85-71 as Mike Preocanin scored 20, Ed Madronich 19, Perry Bruzzese 15, Peter Ross 13 and Rupert Wilson 4. The Marauders led 37-34 at the half and hit 27-70 from the floor and 32-47 from the line. Preocanin told the Hamilton Spectator that “things are staring to flow for everyone. … I have my contact lenses now. I couldn’t see all season.” Madronich said “I’ve been getting lots of playing time. At the beginning of the season, it was tough, getting used to the speed.” Marauders coach Barry Phillips said freshman Preocanin shut down Guelph’s Sergio Bolzon. “He did a great job. I thought he played outstanding on both ends of the floor. …. Madronich also did a great defensive job on Jeff Root in the second half.” Bolzon paced the Gryphons with 18. Ray Darling added 18, Root 17 and Ken Pyne 9. The Gryphons hit 26-56 from the floor and 13-19 from the line. The Gryphons (coached by Tim Darling, assisted by Doug Aitchison and Bob Urosevic, trainer Scott Lusk, trainer Karen MacDonald) also included Seig Will, Mark Jensen, Al Tinholt, Ian Winter, Greg Scott, Sean Kelly, Bill Oliphant, Ed Melna, Mike Shoemaker, Joe Clark, John Liotta, Darryl Milne and Todd Goetz.
In the last West quarterfinal, 4th-seeded Western defeated 5th-seeded Windsor 99-89. The Mustangs rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half to pull out the win. The Lancers (coached by Paul Thomas, assisted by Nick Grabowski, Randy Sasso and Wayne Curtin) included Matt St. Louis, Carlo Bonifero, Scott Thomas, Dave Thorman, Henry Valentini, Ken Schweitzer, Andre Morassutti, J.C. Mahler, Brian Makaric, Tony Piazza, Theo Tsaprailis, Dave Perry and Mike Wallace.
In the West semis, 3rd-seeded McMaster defeated 2nd-seeded Waterloo 99-87 as Craig Muir scored 16, Brian Bidulka 16, Ed Madronich 13, Mike Preocanin 13, Perry Bruzzese 11, Peter Ross 9, along with 14 boards, Jasper Naus 8 (also reported as 6), Rupert Wilson 8 and Ral Rozenkrantz 7, along with 10 boards. Rosenkranz and Ross anchored the Marauders stellar post defence. McMaster hit 27-33 from the line and closed out the first half with a 7-0 run (also reported an 11-0 run with, including 6 in the final 20 seconds) to take a 37-31 (also reported as 44-31 and as 50-31) lead into the lockers. The Marauders hit 27-32 from the line. Peter Ross told the Hamilton Spectator that “when we’re close, we always seem to find a way to lose it. We were so far ahead, we couldn’t this time.” Marauders coach Barry Phillips said “I was afraid we’d be too high at halftime. I tried to settle them down.” Paul Boyce led the Warriors with 29 points and 13 boards before fouling out. “We felt good up until that the second, Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Imprint. “But we lost our concentration. … (Boyce is) “the absolute heart of the team. He’s been so poised with his game and leadership.” Rob Froese added 21 for the Warriors, Jerry Nolfi 13, Tom Schneider 10 (also reported as 7), Bilaway 8 and McNeill 6. McCrae told the Spectator that when his troops were leading 19-10, “I thought we were in good shape. Then we took a timeout and we came out and did some slack things.” Boyce told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record “that was the whole game when we slipped 13 back just before the half.” Froese hit two free throws late to quell a 17-0 Marauders run. The Warriors (coached by McCrae, assisted by Mike Kilpatrick) also included Jeremy Moore, John Bilawey, Craig Beda, John Clark, Jamie McNeill, Terry Rudkins, Pat Telford, John Vincic, Tom Schneider, Marcel Naus and Steve Burenz.
In the other West semi, 4th-seeded Western stunned top-seeded Brock 91-80 as Cavender scored 26, Vandebovenkamp 22, John Stiefelmeyer 20, Thompson 6, Petter 6, Mikhail 5, Tarantino 4 and Armstrong 2. Brock led 70-69 but three consecutive turnovers by Kevin Moore gave Western a 75-70 lead. The Mustangs led 81-80 with 1:3-8 to play. John Steifelmeyer hit a baseline jumper, Peter Vandebovenkamp and Chris Cavender each hit two free throws and Steifelmey added two buckets as Western closed it out with a 10-0 run. Mustangs coach Doug Hayes told the St. Catharines Standard that “we wanted to keep the pace on them and make them run. They stayed with us longer than we thought they would. But we did expect it to be a tough struggle.” Stiefelmeyer said “we wanted to make them run and we did. They were having trouble keeping up with us.” Rich Lianga led the Badgers with 26, while nabbing 13 boards. Mark Gilbert added 16, Rob MacCrae 16, Kevin Moore 6, Andrew Moseley 4 and Morley Willough 4. Badgers coach Garney Henley said “we simply handed it to them. Turnovers, three stupid turnovers, did us in … At times, everybody just wanted to do their own thing.” Lianga said “it’s a helluva way to end it. You can live with a bad shot or one that runs around the rim and just doesn’t drop. But those turnovers kill you. You just can’t shake them off.” Henley told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that Kevin Moore picking up three fouls in the first five minutes of the game was costly. “You can’t win when something like that happens.” The Badgers (coached by Garney Henley, assisted by Vito DiMartino) also included Kelly Grace, Benny Grant, Peter Kaija, Bruce Girdler, Brian Hayden, Glenn Haughton, Frank Capretta, Ed Vezsenyi and Derrick Smikle.
In the West final, 3rd-seeded McMaster wins its first West division title since 1971 when they defeated 4th-seeded Western 93-79 as Peter Ross notched 20, Craig Muir 16, Ralf Rosenkranz 15, Mike Preocanin 12, Ed Madronich 10, Brian Bidulka 10, Perry Bruzzese 8, while dishing 12 assists, and Naus 2 After Western had rallied to within 8-79 with 5:45 to play, the Marauders closed it out with 13-0 run. Marauders coach Barry Phillips told the St. Catharines Standard that “I’m in a daze. I can’t believe it.” Phillips told the Hamilton Spectator that “we played hard, confident and everyone contributed. They won it. They showed they had inner confidence. It was nothing we did from a coaching point of view. … At the beginning of the game, we said we had to pound it inside.” The Marauders hit 37-75 from the floor and 19-23 from the line, while outrebounding Westenr 35-29. Western hit 37-80 from the floor and 5-11 from the line. John Stiefelmeyer paced the Mustangs with 20. Chris Cavender added 16, Pete Van debovenkamp 13, John Mikhail 12, Thompson 8, Petter 6, Tarantino 2 and Green 2. Mustangs coach Doug Hayes told the St. Catharines Standard that “we were not surprised at the way they scored against us. We were a bit surprised at the way we couldn’t score at the other end. But they’re a great team.”
In the Wilson Cup final, McMaster nipped Toronto 80-79. McMaster coach Barry Phillips told the Imprint that “if you
told me in September that we’d be battling for first place, I would have laughed you right I out of the gym.” Toronto coach Gib Chapman told Canadian Press that “we lacked intensity and desire for most of the game but I hope we got it out of our system,” Toronto coach Gib Chapman said. “The players know they didn’t come to play, but when we got down to being serious, we were able to play our game. We’ll have to have that intensity in Halifax.” Guard Sam Hill said “this loss is an incentive for (nationals). We were sluggish at the start but it’s not like we were shocked or humiliated. We know we can play with Mac so we’ll be on an emotional high going into the nationals.” Uninspired basketball had the Blues behind by 13. “We played the first 30 minutes like we did a month ago,” Blues coach Gib Chapman told the Varsity. “They (the Blues) know they didn’t come to play, but it didn’t register until the 30-minute mark.” After Marauder guard Jasper Naus tipped in a rebound to give McMaster a 13-point lead with 4:14 to play, Blues guard Nicholas Saul nailed a trey, John Karpis scored five straight points and with 1:21 to play, Roger Rollocks notched a bucket to draw Toronto within 78-74. In the last two minutes, 6-8 centre Roger Rollocks and 6-10 forward John Karpis each hit for four points closing the gap to 80-76. A three-pointer by 6-8 forward Mike Forestell brought the Blues to within 80-79 with five seconds to play. “That was my first three-point attempt of the season,” said Forestell. “Maybe I should take some more.” Blues guard Sam Hill fouled Perry Bruzzese, who missed the front end of the one-and-one. Hill drove to midcourt and heaved it but it fell well short. “We came back, but we were just a few seconds too shy,” said Blues forward Mark Harvey. “When we work hard like that, we can beat anyone.” Hill said the shot “was
going straight. It was just sort of a running push shot. It would have taken a lot of luck for it to go in.” Chapman said the Blues were also victimized by an officiating call that occurred after McMaster built a 35-23 lead and his troops had rallied within three. Mark Harvey was called for a foul and in response, bounced the ball high in the air and was whistled for a technical. Marauder forward Peter Ross hit three straight free throws and then Mac scored again on their next possession, effectively making Harvey’s foul a five-point play. “I had him boxed out,” said Harvey. “But there was no excuse for me to lose my head. It was a crucial time. That’s something I don’t usually do.” Chapman thought the call made by Guy Cipriani, a referee from Hamilton, was terrible. “I’ve seen him officiate a couple of games now and he amounts to a sixth player for the West. Cipriani’s middle name is technical. He gets reactions instead of actions.” McMaster’s 5-8 guard Craig Muir scored 20 and was chosen Wilson Cup MVP. Rollocks scored 22 for the Blues. Karpis added 15 and Hill 14.
The co-bronze medalist University of Western Ontario Mustangs: John Stiefelmeyer; Chris Cavender; Peter VandeBovenkamp; Terry Thompson; John Mikhail; Jeff Petter; Mario Tarantino; Pod Armstrong; James Green; Brian Does; Al Campbell; Kyle Risdale; Rick Duyzer; Alex Kapassouris; coach Doug Hayes; assistant Craig Boydell
The co-bronze medalist Laurentian Voyageurs: Jeff McKibbon; Tim Yawney; Lloyd Pollard; Brad Austin; Scott Horrobin; Derrick Des Vignes; Mike Albert; Jim Gaudreau; Paul Falco; Steve Chapman; Rod Gilpin; Brenden Taylor; Dave Toner; coach Peter Campbell; assistant Angelo Mazzuchin; assistant Rod McHugh
The runner-up Toronto Varsity Blues: Sam Hill; John Karpis; Roger Rollocks; Ranald Davidson; Mike Forestell; Mark Harvey; Terry Victor; Graham Reside; Kirt Charter; Nick Saul; Art Sharpe; Paul Haddock; Paul Campbell; Dan Kennliside; John Nardini; Joe Palma; Mario Tenentes; coach Gib Chapman; assistant Peter Domengoni; assistant John Robb; assistant Tony Simms; athletic director Gib Chapman; SID Paul Carson
The champion McMaster Marauders: Peter Ross; Perry Bruzzese; Jasper Naus; Craig Muir; Ralf Rosenkranz; Ed Madronich; Mike Preocanin; Brian Bidulka; Ken Mattinen; Rupert Wilson; Dave Perkins; Gary Boyson; Marcus Vijh; Wayne Purboo; Chris Trendall; Dave Bayfield; coach Barry Phillips; assistant Harvey Singleton; athletic director Dr. Ray Johnson; SID Joyce Wignall