1991-92 OUA – men

REGULAR SEASON

	E – OTT-ST L				WEST
	Concordia	14-1		John Dore	Brock	11-3	31-8	Ken Murray
	Ottawa	10-5	22-13	Jack Eisenmann	Guelph	11-3		Tim Darling
	Carleton	5-9	9-20	Paul Armstrong	McMaster	9-5		Barry Phillips
	Bishop’s	5-10	8-13	Eddie Pomykala	Western	9-5	20-9	Craig Boydell
	McGill	2-13	2-20	Nevio Marzinotto	Waterloo	7-7	17-16	Tom Kieswetter
	E – CENTRAL				Lakehead	5-9	12-20	Lou Pero
	Toronto	11-4		Ken Olynyk	Wilfrid Laurier	3-11		Gary Jeffries
	Laurentian	10-5		Peter Campbell	Windsor	1-13	1-30	Mike Havey
	York	9-6	11-21	Bob Bain
	Queen’s	6-9		Barry Smith
	Ryerson	2-13	2-14	Terry Haggerty

Playoff non-qualifiers:

       McGill Redmen: David Jesperson, Jon Campbell, Cam Mathison, Todd McDougall, Bruce Bird, Keith Driscoll, Douglas McMahon, Mark Girgis, Michael Mayes, Sean McDonaugh, Stephen Fitz, Jon Campbell, Ryan Schoenhals, David Rosenburg, coach Nevio Marzinotto, assistant Vincent Lacroix, assistant Stephane Perreault, assistant Bernie Rosanelli

       Ryerson Rams: Tracy Reece, Sheldon Black, Richard Long, Tony Cioffi, Lui Cinello, Chris Colbeck, Paul Beadle, Melvin Guinto, Brendan O’Hallarn, Steve Amberg, Jason Martin, Bernard Semenya, coach Terry Haggerty

In the Ottawa-St. Lawrence semis, top-seeded Concordia defeated 4th-seeded Bishop’s 99-72 as Dexter John scored 25 and Robert Ferguson 21 on 11-11 from the line and 7 boards. “When we put our minds to it, we’re quite a team to watch,” Ferguson told the Montreal Gazette. “Good athletes and tough to stop.” Bishop’s coach Eddie Pomykala said the Stingers “showed why they’re the best team in the league, clearly heads and shoulders above everybody else.” Concordia exploded to a 14-1 lead and extended to 26-7 before building their margin to 55-31 at the half. “I don’t really think getting a bit lead early was a factor,” said Ferguson. “All throughout practice this week, there was a lot of intensity. Guys were itching to play. We had a purpose. Avenging that loss to them (Concordia’s only one of the regular season) was part of it.” Emerson Thomas scored 17 and dominated the paint, repeatedly blocking Gaiter shots. Stinger forward Eric Corej missed the game, having broken his jaw in a pool hall discussion a night earlier. “The biggest factor tonight was their athletic ability,” said Bishop’s guard Tom Van Alstine, who scored 22, including 20 in the second half. “Their quickness really hurt us. And they’d press us and we’d throw the ball away. They were the better team and they proved it.” The Gaiters (coached by Pomykala, assisted by Kevin Robertson and Bob Laderoute) also included Ted Branch, Tom Van Alstine, Daniel Methot, Benoit Deschamps, Tim Johnston, Glen Faucher, David McBride, Tim Wallace, Colin Feasby, Jamie Forsyth, Brennan Wares, David Fischer, Andrew Ryback and Andrew Rybak.

In the other Ottawa-St. Lawrence semi, 2nd-seeded Ottawa defeated 3rd-seeded Carleton 84-83 as Rod Lee, a 6-2 swingman from Rochester, New York, who’d played two years for Spokane Community College in Washington before heading north, drilled a three with 10 seconds to play. Taffe Charles hit 43 for Carleton. The Ravens (coached by Paul Armstrong, assisted by Andy Cheam) also included Mike Trought, Wayne Ferguson, Richard Sabbagh, Paul Chaplin, Justin Fontaine, Luca Diaconescu, Doug Elliot, Jason Barton, Peter Cruickshank, Geoff Wheeler and Jeff Cressman.

       In the best of three Ottawa-St. Lawrence finals, top-seeded Concordia defeated 2nd-seeded Ottawa 89-78; 134-93 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Concordia defeated Ottawa 89-78 as sophomore forward Emerson Thomas scored 29 and nabbed 12 boards. “My goal ever since I came back was to do as much as I could for this team,” Thomas told the Montreal Gazette. “Now that it’s the playoffs, I especially want to do whatever I can do to get us to the national championship. All year long, Dexter (John) has been the front guy. But each one of us has come along to contribute on a different night. It was my turn tonight.” Thomas scored 15 in the first half as Concordia built a 39-28 lead. “Sometimes, I make a play and say to myself, ‘hey, I should stop and pat myself on the back.’ I never do, of course. But I wouldn’t be honest if I said I didn’t think about it.” John added 20 for the Stingers, while Ernie Rosa and Pat Sullivan each notched 10. Concordia led 76-58 with six minutes to play and within two minutes, expanded their lead to 84-60. “We played with intensity and dictated the tempo of the game, precisely what we wanted to do,” said coach John Dore. “And what can you say about E.T.? We freed him up early so he could score a few points against their press and it just went on from there.” Rod Lee led the Gee-Gees with 30, including 19 in the second half. “We have to be more physical in the paint,” said Gee-Gees coach Jack Eisenman. “They simply pushed us out of their way tonight. We can’t let them do that again.” …………………………………………………… In game two, the host Stingers completed a sweep by stomping the Gee-Gees 134-93. “We just did what we had to do,” point guard Dexter John, who scored 32, told the Montreal Gazette. “We wanted to beat them early.” Concordia built a massive 69-44 lead at the half as John scored 24 in the first frame. “I know people wonder about me. How I get a certain shot away and score. Heck even Fergie (teammate Robert Ferguson, who scored 22) gets after me about it sometimes and he sees me every day. But really, those are shots that I practice all the time. They don’t surprise me. … We have a lot of great players on this team and everybody showed up tonight. We took control and weren’t about to give it up. After all, Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest.” Ernie Rosa added 21 for Concordia, including 7-7 from the line. With Concordia leading 49-29, Gee-Gee guard Rod Lee was hit with a technical for telling a referee: ‘you stink’. Rosa hit a pair on the foul line. John hit a pair for the technical. The Stingers got possession and Rosa was fouled for another pair of free throws. The shell-shocked Gee-Gees never threatened. “This is a good feeling,” said Rosa, noting the 134-point outburst was an all-time Concordia high. “We may not have the size and we may lack some of the fundamentals but we sure can run. Well, at the least the other four guys can run.” Patrick Sullivan added 10 for Concordia. Gee-Gees coach Jack Eisenmann called the Stingers “the most unselfish team I’ve ever seen.” David Reid led the Gee-Gees with 24. Rod Lee added 6. The Gee-Gees (coached by Jack Eisenmann) also included Kevin Jacobs, Wayne Charles, Clarence Porter, Ted Weltz, Bobby Brown, Vince Smyth, Mike Milne, Gary Laurin, Mark Wacyk, Steve Kokelj, Dave Bajurny and Marc Engfield.

       In the Central semis, 2nd-seeded Laurentian defeated 3rd-seeded York 99-91. Lyndon Phillip led the Yeomen with 29. Clive Anderson added 25 and Mark Bellai 20. York coach Bob Bain told The Excalibur that “we played pretty well but the two Hann brothers (Norm and Brad) played very well. Between them, they had 8 three-points (in the first half). … WE cam back fighting (from a 20-point, first-half deficit) but we missed some layups. Some uncontested shots at the end of regulation time.” The Yeomen (coached by Bob Bain) also included Wilton Hall, Alex Piperski, Jeff Raphael, Marc Gardner, Chris Pollmann, Alex Brainis, David Neziol, Shano Cotechini, Jeff Krupski and Clayton Adams.

In the other Central semi, top-seeded Toronto defeated 4th-seeded Queen’s 82-70. The Gaels went to the line just once. Toronto, by contrast, hit 19-30 from the line. “You know, I hate to go in the paper crying the blues about free throws,” said Queen’s coach Barry Smith. “But in the last minute and a half, I’d say we fouled them five times to stop the clock. Let’s say because of that, they go to the line 10 times. So, if you take 10 off 30, in the rest of the game they had 20 free throws to our one. I just don’t think that it’s fair refereeing. I don’t know if it’s so much that it caused us to lose. But it kept Toronto in the game and gave them an opportunity to win it.” The first eight fouls of the game were called against Queen’s. Still they led by as many as 10 in the first half and by 38-33 at the break. Toronto caught the Gaels early in the second half and the teams traded the lead until Toronto built a four-point lead with three minutes to play. Cargel Stewart pilfered the ball for an uncontested layup to make it six and “that was basically the ball game,” said Smith. Toronto iced it from the line. Toronto out-rebounded Queen’s 41-34. The Gaels shot 30-63 from the floor. “We didn’t do some of the things as well as we could have and I don’t know how much of that is our own fault and how much the referees interfered with what we were trying to do. It really wasn’t that rough a game. It was more reaching stuff and contact out on the perimeter. It didn’t seem to be called against them as often as it got called against us,” said Smith. Linas Balaisis led Toronto with 26. Rob Wilson added 14. Mark Burleigh paced Queen’s with 15, while shooting 1-8 from the arc. Dave Smart added 14, including 10 in the first half. Eric Stewart scored 13, Chris DeVriendt 12 and Mike Ruscitti 12. The Gaels (coached by Barry Smith) also included Andrew Williams, Adam Fox, Steve Monaghan, Jedd Rasmussen, Sean Smith, Dave Pritchard and Scott Davidson.

       In the best of three Central finals, 2nd-seeded Laurentian defeated top-seeded Toronto 80-89; 72-54 and 80-64. …………………………………………………… In game one, Toronto prevailed 89-80 despite playing without guards Scott Bleue and Rich Dobson. …………………………………………………… In game two, Laurentian capitalized on sloppy play by Toronto to prevail 72-54. Toronto’s shooting was errant and they repeatedly threw the ball away as Laurentian built a 41-26 lead at the half. “We basically did not play very well,” Blues coach Ken Olynyk said. “Turnovers hurt us dearly in the first half. Friday, we had 18 in the whole game; in this game, we had about 18 in the first half alone.” Voyageur Norm Hann hit six treys as he scored 27. Rob Wilson led Toronto with 13. The Blues were completely undone by the Voyageurs full-court pressure. …………………………………………………… “I’m very proud of these eight guys who played really hard all weekend and gave it everything they had,” said Toronto coach Ken Olynyk, whose face was a deep shade of red from yelling at the referee all night. Norm Hann led the Voyageurs with 23 while his brother, Brad, had 18 points. “He’s our main scorer and our job is to get the ball out to him,” said Brad Hann. “But what happens is that they’re concentrating on him so much that there’s a lot more opportunities for the rest of us.” The Blues were in foul trouble throughout the match and Wilson had four fouls with more than 12 minutes to go in the game. “The same referee called three fouls – all in succession,” said an incredulous Olynyk. “I was watching it at the same angle as the referee and I couldn’t believe it.” The Blues never led in the game and were plagued by turnovers and poor shooting. The Blues shot a miserable 18 for 43 from the field and couldn’t convert many of their easy shots from in close. The Vees led 35-30 at the half and exploded for eight straight points to start off the second. But the Blues clawed back to trail by two on a three-pointer from 5-6 guard Cargell Stewart with eight minutes to play. That was as close as they got. “What you saw this weekend was an outstanding effort from the 20 guys on both teams,” said Laurentian coach Peter Campbell. “It’s just too bad there has to be a loser.” Jason Ciceri led the Blues with 17 points while fifth-year forward Rob Wilson had 13. The Blues (coached by Ken Olynyk, assisted by Peter Domengoni, John Robb and Lorne Johnson) also included Linas Balaisis, Roland Semprie, Brodie Osome, Trent Arendse, Carl Swantee, Cargel Stewart, Howard Buckstein, Leighton Marshall, Scott Bleue, Richard Dobson and Rob Galikowski.

       In the West quarterfinals, 5th-seeded Waterloo defeated 4th-seeded Western 97-89 in overtime. The Warriors trailed for the entire first half but ripped off a 24-6 run to start the second half as Sean Van Koughnett notched 12 points in four minutes. Alex Urosevic later told the Imprint that “Sean just went bananas.” The Warriors also took heed of coach Don McCrae’s command that they just “get out there and challenge people, play it straight up and break down their patterns.” Urosevic finished with 32 and Van Koughnett 26. Pat Telford added 15 and Chris Moore 15. Point guard Rob Baird dished 6 assists and committed zero turnovers. The score was knotted at 85 after regulation. Van Koughnett told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “it was just a great, great comeback. I just got down and focused. … I wanted to win but in my mind, I also wanted coach to go out a winner.” Urosevic said “Vankoughnett just went bananas. We got a big lift form that and it got my game going.” McCrae said “make sure we know what happened here. Our two key players stopping trying and started performing. None of inch of celebfration … Performing is playing the game – hitting the open man and grabbing rebounds – we did none of it in the first half. VanKoughnett and Urosevic performed in the second half. WE also took the next step on defence and our play caught Western off guard.” Glenn Eastland paced the Mustangs with 15. The Mustangs (coached by Craig Boydell, assistant Jim Allen, manager Jason Laflamme, trainer Carole Huizenga, trainer Lynda McClatchie, faculty advisor Carl Grindstaff) also included Mike Lynch, Brad Campbell, John Vermeeren, Steve King, Michael Yuhasz, Ryan Smith, Brendan Noonan, Jeff Neasmith, Peter Schmidt, Mark Cassone, Michael Partridge, Dean Braknis and Jeff Parnell.

The 3rd-seeded McMaster Marauders defeated 6th-seeded Lakehead 75-73 as Jack Vanderpol scored 17, while nabbing 15 boards. Shawn Till added 15, Dereke Howard 13, Jeff Zownir 12, Ed Madronich 10, Laidman 6 and Newton 2. Vanderpol hit the winner on a turnaround jumper from the top of the key with 2 seconds to play. Vanderpol told the Hamilton Spectator that “I wasn’t feeling that great (because of a flu) and I got really tired. The adrenaline carried me through the second half.” Lakehead had knotted the score at 73 when Ray Foster banked a trey off the glass with 19 seconds to play. Vanderpol said “it was lucky both ways. They could say the same thing about my shot. We just got lucky last.” Marauders coach Barry Phillips said “I didn’t think we played very well. But we got a win under our belts. Zownir put the ball inside to Vanderpol for the last shot. Jeff made some good decisions.” The Marauders hit 23-52 from the floor, 6-25 from the arc and 11-18 from the line. Leslie Ragguette paced the Norwesters with 19. Ray Foster added 14, Craig Law 10, David Pineau 10, Chris Grace 6 and Mike Lalonde 4. Norwesters coach Lou Pero said “our guys gave it all they had.” The Nor’Westers (coached by Lou Pero, assistant Al Brinket, assistant Ron Ventrudo, assistant John Grace, trainer Diane DeMan) also included Peter Brown, Anthony Randall, Mark Bonitatibus, Cory Keeler, Steve Riddle, Jeff McGee, Greg Cummings, Mark Peterson and Brian Norland.

The 2nd-seeded Guelph Gryphons thumped the 7th-seeded Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 100-68 after leading 34-29 at the half on a late trey by Rich Wesolowski and a slam by Eric Hammond off a Golden Hawk turnover. “We were very flat in the first half,” Rich Wesolowski, who scored 19, told The Cord. “We thought it would have been a lot easier than it was. Laurier was playing really well, and we definitely got scared.” Golden Hawks coach Gary Jeffries said that “for the first 19 minutes and 30 seconds we did exactly what we wanted to do. To that point we had played extremely well.” The Gryphons quickly took command in the second half as the Hawks, in the words of post Tom Pallin “became too predictable.” Laurier guard Steve Duncan said “when we came out in the second half, we made a few mental errors and they capitalized. When you get 10-12 points behind, you start doing things you normally don’t do.” The Hawks committed 30 fouls, to Guelph’s 17, including a 20-9 discrepancy in the second half. Laurier shot 23-70 from the floor, while the Gryphons hit 33-70 (.460). Brent Barnhardt added 17 for the Gryphons, and Eric Hammond 16. Pallin led the Hawks with 16 (also reported as 17). Shaun Roach added 10. Golden Hawks coach Gary Jeffries told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we threw a scare into them for a half but fouls killed us.” The Golden Hawks (coached by Gary Jeffries, assisted by Tom O’Brien and Roy Dahl) also included Chris Livingstone, Sean Brennan, Danny Deep, Steven Duncan, Ray Tone, Mario Venditti, Sam Aiello, Brad Johnston, Alex Thornton, Adam Bazuk, Dave Tricker, Tony Hartsink, Verne Hudson, Jim Newton and Jim Newton.

In the last West quarterfinal, top-seeded Brock thrashed 8th-seeded Windsor 99-72 as Gord Wood scored 27, Brian Bleich 20, Allen Macdougall 20, David Picton 11 and Rob DeMott 10. Brock led by as many as 22 in the first half before Windsor rallied to within 49-35 at the break. The Badgers opened with a 27-9 run in the second half. Wood told the St. Catharines Standard that “they didn’t have much of a chance. We were really up for this one. We had all week to prepare and we weren’t going to take it easy on them.” Allen MacDougaal, who hit 6 treys, added that “we were hungry. We hadn’t played in a week and we were anxious to get going again.” Badgers coach Ken Murray said “we stopped playing defnece and we threw the ball away. That’s going to happen when you dominate like we did.” Mike Ogley and Geoff Astles each scored 12 to lead Windsor. Kris Paulley added 11. Lancers coach Mike Havey told the Windsor Star that “I wasn’t unhappy with our play. It was just a matter of their having an edge in talent and size.” Windsor hit 18-62 from the floor and 18-24 from the line. The Lancers (coached by Mike Havey, assisted by Wayne Curtin and Andre Morassuti) also included Everton Shakespeare, Geoff Hewick, Jamie Pepper, Andrew Johnston, Todd Landon, Mark Tomek, David Walls, Grant Romeo, Graham Brown, Ron Campbell, Jeff Rath and Gerry Gajkowski.

In the West semis, top-seeded Brock defeated 5th-seeded Waterloo 99-59 as Brian Bleich scored 34, Gord Wood 25, Mike Pullar 11, Pat Sullivan 9 and Dave Picton 9. Bleich and Wood hit a combined 20-23 from the floor and 19-21 from the line, notched 10 dunks, nabbed 14 boards and thoroughly intimidated Waterloo. Mike Pullar added 5-8 from the arc for the Badgers. Brock led 15-6 early and extended the lead to 54-34 at the half. Then the roof fell in for Waterloo and they scored just two points in the next six minute. Badger posts Brian Bleich and Gord Wood totally dominated the paint. “They were beautiful to watch,” Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Imprint. “Unless you were pulling for Waterloo.” Bleich told the St. Catharines Standard that “I felt like I was back in high school today. I hadn’t felt this good since I’ve been back (after two years off). Everything went right. We were determined to get the ball inside to myself or Gord and I was looking to shoot and drive more than I have been.” Sood said “I’ve never seen Brian play like that. He did a great job.” Wood, who’d hit 19-19 from the floor in playoff games, added that “I’m not going to miss again. I figured we’d win by about 20. Nobody could have predicted that.” Badgers coach Ken Murray said “I told my assistant coaches at the beginning of the game that Brian is a money player. I knew he’d feed off the intensity in here and put on a real show. … It was our best combined effort of the season.” Murray told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “I don’t think anybody in the country can match up with our two big kids.” Wood said that double-teaming Bleich “it left me with some easy shots.” Sean Van Koughnett led the Warriors with 21. Dave Lynch added 13 and West division leading scorer Alex Urosevic 12. Warriors coach Don McCrae said “they took us down in all phases of the game. We just couldn’t match them (Bleich and Wood) and they ate us up. They hit 9 of 10 to start and that was the game.” The Warriors hit 20-50 from the floor and 7-12 from the line. The Warriors (coached by Don McCrae, assisted by Tom Kieswetter and Mike Kilpatrick) also included Mike Duarte, Chris Moore, Pat Telford, Dave Lynch, Tom Balfe, Mark Hopkins, Jim Toole, Robert Baird, Scott Neilson, Gahan Richardson and Mike Leitch.

       In the other West semi, 2nd-seeded Guelph defeated 3rd-seeded McMaster 103-90 as 6-9 centre Eric Hammond scored 22, O’Rourke 21, Hill 21, Wesolowski 16, Mau 13, Barnhart 6 and, Taras 4. The Gryphons hit 29-55 from the floor, 6-18 from the arc and 27-34 from the line. McMaster led 39-38 at the half. The Marauders hit 24-54 from the floor, 8-19 from the arc and 18-26 from the line. Derek Howard paced the Marauders with 23. Jack Vander Pol added 16, Ed Madronich 15, Jeff Zownir 12, Shawn Till 10, Sheldon Laidman 5, Shawn Francis 4, Marc Sontrop 3 and Cesare Piccini 1. Marauders coach Barry Phillips told the Hamilton Spectator that “when you have the number of returning players that we had this season, I felt we should have done much better. … It was a disappointment to everybody that we didn’t live up to our billing. Chemistry is a thing we always talk about in team sports. When you try to get more specific than that, it gets difficult. … We stayed with them for three quarters but I think they wore us down a little. They played very well. Their guards (Chris O’Rourke, Humphrey Hill and Rich Wesolowski) shot the ball better than they have all year. That was the big difference.” The Marauders (coached by Barry Phillips, assisted by Joe Raso and Paul Baker) also included Tom Newton, Craig Connolly, Kannin Osei-Tutu, Paul Maga and Greg Caldwell.

       In the Wilson Cup final four, Concordia defeated Laurentian 83-76 as Dexter John scored 24. Brad Hann led the Voyageurs with 19. The Stingers took control early in the second half when they limited Laurentian to four points over a four-minute period.

In the other semi (and West final), Brock defeated Guelph 79-76 in overtime as Brian Bleich scored 28, Gord Wood 19, along with 10 boards, David Picton 11 and Allen MacDougall 9. Brock led 30-22 early when Guelph rallied with a 14-0 run. Guelph led 60-51 with six minutes to play but Brock re-inserted Gord Wood into the line-up despite his four fouls, and ripped off a 10-0 run to take a 61-60 lead on a Picton trey and field goal, a Bleich trey and 2 free throws from Rob DeMott. Guelph led 66-63 with 54 seconds to play but a MacDougall trey with 34 seconds left tied the game in regulation. In overtime, Brock pounded the ball inside to Bleich and Wood. Bleich scored the first six points of the extra session, capped by a reverse layup. Guelph guard Humphrey Hill missed a shot for three at the buzzer in overtime as the Badgers won their first division championship. Bleich told the St. Catharines Standard that “was a classic. My legs felt like rubber when it was over. … I’ve always been known as a player who is at his best on key situations. Pressure doesn’t bother me. I just play the game.” David Picton added that “Brian’s our money man. He’s been good all year but it’s different now. He sure picking the right time to peak.” Rob DeMott said “no one was really worried, I don’t think. We just had to keep our heads and keep plugging away. We have a very explosive offence that can do a lot of damage in a hurry.” Badgers coach Ken Murray said “I must have lost 10 pounds. I was soaked with sweat.” Eric Hammond paced Guelph with 19. Rich Wesolowski added 19, Brian Barnhart 13, while Tim Mau nabbed 16 boards. Brock hit 23-51 from the floor and 18-25 from the line, while Guelph was 24-56 from the floor and 6-10 from the line.

In the bronze medal match, Guelph defeated Laurentian 99-71 as Chris O’Rourke scored 22. Gryphon forward Brent Barnhart was tossed after delivering a flagrant elbow and the Gryphons shocked reporters with their level of physical (some said dirty) play. The Voyageurs (coached by Peter Campbell, assisted by Angelo Mazzuchin and Rod Gilpin) included Norm Hann, Brad Hann, Walter Johnson, Chris Fischer, John Campbell, Brad Rollo, Greg Sandblom, Brad Austin, Mike Short, Dwayne Rivard, Tom McKibbon and Dave Gomes.

In the Wilson Cup final, Brock thrashed Concordia 111-87 as Gord Wood scored 28, David Picton 22, Allen MacDougall 19, Brian Bleich 15, along with 12 boards, while Rob DeMott nabbed 11 boards. “Every win gets bigger and bigger for us,” Bleich, who chosen tournament MVP, told the Montreal Gazette. Brock coach Ken Murray was surprised by Concordia’s strategy. “I couldn’t believe that Concordia wanted to run with us.” Dexter John and Ernie Rosa each scored 21 to pace the Stingers. Brock used its superior size and quickness to advantage. Bleich was selected the tournament’s most valuable player and winner of the Kitch MacPherson trophy. The Badgers hit 28-44 from the floor and 28-29 from the line, while the Stingers hit 32-82 from the floor and 8-15 from the line.

After the season, Ontario coaches vote to discontinue the interlock with three Quebec schools: McGill, Bishop’s and Concordia. “I think it stinks,” McGill intercollegiate coordinator Al Grazys told Canadian University Press. “The Ontario schools are being very selfish and are not willing to help out Quebec schools who don’t have enough teams to have a viable intercollegiate program in those two sports. It will make life very difficult for us. … They can see it quite plainly that they are putting us in a bad situation.” The addition of the three schools was supposed to have been a temporary two-year arrangement until the Quebec schools could field enough teams to form a league. “When they hadn’t made any significant moves in four years, some said enough was enough,” said Guelph athletic director Dave Copp. “It was time to end it.” Tom Allen, athletic director at Bishop’s University, said Quebec schools were making strides toward new provincial leagues in basketball and hockey, but needed one more year in the OUAA. “They thought we weren’t trying, but we were trying. Believe me we’ve been working our butts off.” Allen said basketball wouldn’t be a problem because Laval was prepared to field a team in 1993 and a four-team league was feasible. Peter Bamsley, the Ontario Universities Athletic Association’s public relations director, said a majority of the league’s members voted not to renew the arrangement. “They did not want to continue it because of financial cost and time away from school.” Allen said “we (the Quebec universities) don’t really buy that.” He added that Quebec schools were paying some of the Ontario universities’ travel costs and the classroom time students miss won’t go down next year, even if they don’t travel to Quebec. “What’s the difference between Ottawa travelling to Windsor than Three Rivers? “I’m willing to wager their time away from school next year isn’t going to be any less than it was this year with Quebec.”

       After the season, Don McCrae retired after 21 years at the helm of Waterloo. During his tenure, the Warriors won six OUAA titles. He amassed a 461-250 (.723) record and was named CIAU coach of the year in 1985. McCrae earned degrees from Western and McMaster before joining the Waterloo County of Education. He became the Warriors coach in 1971 and won 12 West division titles, made 8 CIAU appearances and won 7 CIAU medals (one gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze). “It’s always a difficult decision to change what you’re doing. That’s a part of life,” McCrae told the Imprint. “The problems began to occur following the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles (near the end of his eight-year tenure as head coach for Canada’s national women’s basketball team). I would coach the women’s team all summer and then come back to Waterloo to coach the men’s team in the winter. … People talk about stress and burnout, but I don’t know what that is. I’m not sure but I think that I have, let’s say, participated in it. If any of that was present, then the requirement to have to go down in that gym every day and arouse young players with enthusiasm is almost a contradiction. To do that day in and day out leaves you very fatigued.” As coach of the national women’s team, McCrae won three gold, one silver, and seven bronze medals in 18 tournaments. In his playing days, McCrae was a member of Canada’s national team that participated in the 1960 Olympics in Rome. McCrae was replaced by Tom Kieswetter, a former player who spent the past two years as an assistant coach with the Waterloo basketball team. Kieswetter joined the Warriors in 1968 and was named an OUAA all-star in 1970 and ’72. He also appeared with the national team on tours of the United States, Mexico and Europe in ’72.

       The bronze medalist Guelph Gryphons: Chris O’Rourke; Rich Wesolowski; Eric Hammond; Tim Mau; Brent Barnhart; Humphrey Hill; Eric Grizzle; Floyd Cobran; Rory Steele; Themis Hantzaridis; Shawn Taras; Mark Holland; Christian Baldauf; Randy Mahoney; Mark Tonizzov; Tarry Upshaw; Harry Freelink; Chris Williams; coach Tim Darling; assistant Dave McNeil; assistant Greg Cook; assistant Ray Kybartas; manager Melissa Leiskau

       The silver medalist Concordia Stingers: Dino Perrin; Dexter John; Ernie Rosa; Robert Ferguson; Emerson Thomas; Raphael Tyrell; Frederic Arsenault; Patrick Sullivan; Eric Corej; Jeremy Smyth; Gerald Mascery; Kevin Forman; Rob Lavoie; coach John Dore; assistant Harvey Liverman; manager Chris O’Brien; therapist Karen Thomas; therapist Natalie Drouin

       The champion Brock Badgers: Gord Wood; Brian Bleich; Allen MacDougall; Dave Picton; Rob Demott; Mike Pullar; Pat Sullivan; Glen Tone; Jamie Huebert; Estathios Koumoutseas; Kevin Stevenson; Joe Dekker; Dave McKay; Jeff Lucyk; Jason Tatti; Pat Palmieri; Kris Olauson; coach Ken Murray; assistant Brian Milligan; assistant Bob Liddell; SID Mike Pelino; athletic director Bob Davis