REGULAR SEASON
| EAST | WEST | ||||||||
| Laurentian | 19-1 | 28-3 | Peter Campbell | McMaster | 11-3 | 28-8 | Joe Raso | ||
| Toronto | 15-5 | 21-10 | Ken Olynyk | Guelph | 11-3 | 20-11 | Tim Darling | ||
| York | 15-5 | 25-10 | Bob Bain | Western | 9-5 | 22-8 | Craig Boydell | ||
| Ryerson | 11-9 | 13-12 | Terry Haggerty | Brock | 6-8 | 15-17 | Ken Murray | ||
| Ottawa | 10-10 | 15-16 | Jack Eisenmann | Waterloo | 6-8 | 12-15 | Tom Kieswetter | ||
| Queen’s | 6-14 | 7-20 | Scott Meeson | Windsor | 5-9 | 5-17 | Mike Havey | ||
| Carleton | 5-15 | 9-23 | Paul Armstrong | Wilfrid Laurier | 5-9 | 6-14 | Gary Jeffries | ||
| Lakehead | 3-11 | 4-20 | Lou Pero | ||||||
OUAA and four Quebec teams to play an interlocking 20 game schedule. But each would conduct a separate tourney to qualify for nationals.
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Carleton Ravens: Rob Dawson; Terry Vilayil, Matt Moloney, Jack Zeilenga, Andy Stewart, Shane Elliott, Justin Sudds, Bob Tierney, Kevin Malcolm, Jason Barton, Brian Russell, Cameron Miller, Matt Boulton, A.J. Gerth, coach Paul Armstrong, assistant Andy Cheam, assistant Andy Waterman, recruiting coach Dave Smart
Lakehead Thunderwolves: Andrew Stevenson, Carlo Zoffranieri, Mark Moorhouse, Brent Bradshaw, Kareen Rodriguez, David Elliott, Patrick Johnson, Luke Bazuk, Mark Neilson, Quentin Tizzard, Ryan Stuart, Mike Pasco, Chuck Tallon, coach Lou Pero
Ottawa Gee-Gees: Ibrahim Tounkara, Dwight James, Fraser Veevers, John Boccabella, Jerome Harris, Gerrard Harris, Renaud Beland, Jonathan Addy, coach Jack Eisenmann
Queen’s Golden Gaels: Derek Richardson, Peter Stelter, Pat Gleason, Brendan Byrne, Ian Brisbin, coach Scott Meeson
Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks: David Annable, Marcus Freeman, Tim Harris, Hussein Hollands, Mike Kilpatrick, Drew Moir, Bob Papadimitriou, Trifon Pappas, Kevin Ryan, Greg Sandstrom, John Stewart, Corwin Troje, Jeff Zdrahal, coach Mike Kilpatrick, Greg Sandstrom, Tim Harris, David Annable, coach Gary Jeffries, assistant Mike Kilpatrick, assistant Ray Tone, assistant Dan Pace, assistant Jesse Sazant
In the West quarterfinals, 5th-seeded Waterloo defeated 4th-seeded Brock 76-68 to advance to the east-west shootout at Varsity Arena in Toronto. Mano Watsa scored 28 and had 5 assists, including 13 points in the first half, while controlling the tempo from the point and hitting 12-12 from the line. Mark Eys added 14, along with 9 rebounds, Remy Donaldson 13, Derek Maat 11 (also reported as 14) and Paul Kwiatkowski 6. Warriors Mark Eys, who scored 12 of his 14 points in a four-minute stretch in the second half, and Kwiatkowski got hot in the second half. Nigel Rawlins paced Brock with 16. Chris Webber added 14, Sam Fuca 14, Ryan Fabi 13, Jamie Clark 12 and Vince Policella 11. It was the Watsa show from the start. He hit 9 of Waterloo’s first 12 points and Waterloo quickly built a 35-20 lead. But a late 16-4 run by Brock, including a pair from beyond the arc by Jamie Clark, cut the lead to 39-36 at the half. With Chris Tilley on the bench with three fouls, Brock coach Ken Murray (assisted by Ralph Nero and Mike Beccaria) started rookie Vince Policella in the second half and the move paid off as he hit a couple of buckets, tipped in a missed free throw and nailed a three to give Brock a five-point lead. But then Brock ran out of gas. Fuca was called for an intentional foul after having the ball stolen. Waterloo hit both free throws and converted on the possession. Brock’s Ryan Fabi was also called for an intentional foul and in the ensuing dustup Tilley picked up his fifth foul on a technical. Mark Eys drilled several driving layups and a clutch three to ice the victory. Warriors coach Tom Kieswetter told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record “that was an outstanding team effort. We got contributions from everybody, no small contributions either. … Mano’s decision-makoing was phenomenal. He got us running. He slowed it up at the right time, he made the passes, he took shots at the right time.” Policella told the St. Catharines Standard that “after the first basket, I realize how easy it was. With their defence, I figured ‘what the heck’. The middle was wide open and all anybody had to do was penetrate and dish it out; that’s how open it was. It’s just too bad we didn’t finish it out.” Badgers coach Ken Murray said Policella “did some really good things. He hustled. He got some rebounds and scored some points for us. We needed somebody else to step it up for us but unfortunately, there was nobody to step up. … We dug ourselves a deep hole, did a good job of getting ourselves back into it. … We were playing so so and then we had them scrambling. We had them nervous. We had them on the ropes and then about two minutes number 33 (Kwiatkowski) turned it up. We made some mistakes down the stretch and … it was the story of our season. The execution of our offence was bad and with a team that’s as young s us, if you don’t execute well, you’re in trouble. We just started straying away from what we were supposed to do.”
In the other West quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Western Mustangs defeated the 6th-seeded Windsor Lancers 75-67 as all-star Chris Webber scored 21 points and nabbed 8 boards. Nigel Rawlins added 16 and 11 boards, while Jon Dingle scored 12 and grabbed 5 rebounds. Matt McMillan led the Lancers with 18 points. Geoff Stead added 10 points and 14 rebounds. “It really wasn’t a 19-point game,” Windsor coach Mike Havey told Canadian Press. “It was more like a 10-point game. But in the end, we fouled and stretched our defence trying to reel them in.” Havey added that Webber “just chewed us up.” Webber took total command after the Lancers had rallied to within 46-39 on an 8-0 run. He scored the next fourth buckets after a time out to give Western a 13-point lead and the Mustangs were never again threatened. “I thought about this game a lot more than I thought about games in the past,” said Webber. ‘The impact it could have had on my teammates: there’s four guys on my team whose careers could have ended tonight. It just made me focus a lot more than I have in the past.” Western held the Lancers to 23-69 (.330) from the field, while containing leading Windsor scorer Chet Wydrzynski to five points, 10 below his season average. Mustangs coach Craig Boydell told the Western Gazette that Windsor “is a team that we’ve seen enough before and we knew that they could come in and beat us at home. We knew we’d get a run tonight and we did. We established an inside game from the start with Nigel Rawlins and Chris Webber and they made their presence felt.” Haven said “what can you say about Webber, he did it all tonight. Full credit to Western, they had their intensity up a few notches tonight and that got to us.” Webber said “this was pretty much the result I thought it would be. I thought about this game a lot more than I’ve thought about a lot of games coming in. It meant a lot to me thinking about some guys whose careers could be ending if we lost. I told the guys in the beginning that I was going to take off for the first while and not try to take a bunch of shots to get us kick-started like I usually do. Instead, we were really relaxed and everyone came up big, which paid off for the team.” Nigel Rawlins said “this was a bit of an emotional game because this was the last home game for about four or five guys, myself included, so we wanted to go out with a bang.” Webber said point guard Brendan Noonan did a masterful job controlling the tempo. “Brendan is such a little ball-hog. You’d never think that a 26-year-old short, tubby little guy looking like Barney Rubble could come in here and be picking off balls from these kids.” The Lancers (coached by Mike Havey) also included Matt McMillan, Todd Fuller, Sefu Bernard, Geoff Rokstis, Geoff Stead, Tom Robinson, Vic Sobieraj, Kwame Boamah, Josh Stevenson, Jim Dunlop, Steve Mullings and Rob Duivenvoorde.
In the west semis, top-seeded McMaster defeated 5th-seeded Waterloo 77-68 despite playing without star defender Keegan Johnson, who was sidelined late in the season with a knee injury. Waterloo kept it close for the first half when McMaster’s Titus Channer picked up his second foul after 12 minutes and his third with a minute to go in the half. Reserve Marc Rigaux hit four threes for Waterloo as the teams went into the lockers tied at 39. McMaster took a slim lead early in the second half and the game remained close until 10:40 to play, when Waterloo was hit with a shot clock violation and Channer came down the floor and drilled a three to give the Maroon and Gray a 55-47 edge. Channer hit 10 of his 15 points down the stretch. The Marauders moved ahead 74-58 with two minutes to play but Waterloo ripped off a 10-0 run to close out. 6-5 fifth year forward Shawn Francis led McMaster with 17 points and 9 rebounds and four assists to earn the player of the game award. Channer added 15. Vojo Rusic had 14 points and 8 boards while freshman Doubl Doyle scored 11, including three from beyond the arc. James Akrong scored 6 and nabbed 8 boards. Mano Watsa led Waterloo with 27 points. Marc Rigaux scored 19 and Remy Donaldson 8. Francis “is a March player,” said coach Joe Raso. “Shawn has been an all-star at the nationals twice and he knows what it takes. He’s been there. He’s the veteran and he played like a veteran against Waterloo.” The Oakville born Francis said “if he wants to call me a March player, that’s fine because it’s March. If you’re going to play well, this is the month to do it.” Warrior Mano Watsa told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “the Marauders really crashed the boards hard offensively. We had a breakdown for a short period and that turned out to be the difference. They gapped us enough to hold on.” Warriors coach Tom Kieswetter said “inside, our guys played hard. We just got beat up. Nothing that 30 or 40 pounds per man couldn’t have helped.” The Warriors (coached by Tom Kieswetter, assisted by Curt Warkentin) also included Mike Zavershnik, Dan Schipper, Mike Crosby, Pat Gorman, Josh Holden, Mark Eys, Derek Maat, Paul Kwiatkowski, Mike Downing, Jeff Fox, Eric Steinman and Jon Awad.
In the other West semi, 2nd-seeded Guelph defeated 3rd-seeded Western 83-77 as Paul Eldredge and company dominated Western centre Chris Webber. Guard Charles Yearwood struck early and often and finished the night with 21. He hit a pair of treys, part of a 6-6 night from the arc for the Gryphons. Paul Eldridge added 18. Western repeatedly coughed up the ball without cause. Guelph led 44-29 at the half and let its defence take the game home. A hot Jonathan Dingle rallied Western to within four but Guelph quickly regained control as fifth year guard Darren Thomas stepped up with key buckets down the stretch. First-team all-star Kris Vander Veer saw little time for Guelph and was held to two points. “It’s tough when a guy like Yearwood makes shots he’s not supposed to,” Western coach Craig Boydell told the Western Gazette. “People who weren’t scorers for them made their shots. That really hurt us.” Johnathan Dingle led the Mustangs with 25. Chris Webber added 18. Brendan Noonan added 3. “We missed a lot of our shots in the first half but we were definitely not lacking in emotion,” Boydell said. “The guys showed tremendous character coming back in the second half putting us in a position to win the ball game.” Dingle said “I don’t know if the pressure got to us in the first half, but we have a veteran team so it was probably something else. This was one of the finest teams I’ve ever played on.” Boydell said “I don’t think you’ll ever see another game with as much intensity throughout.” The Mustangs (coached by Boydell, assisted by Steve King, manager Dave Finnerty, trainers Matt DiSilvestro and Jamie Hocken, statistician Viet Nguyen, academic advisors Carl Grindstaff and William Avison) also included Nigel Rawlins, Hugh Bell, Adrian Smith, Ryan Bell, Blake Gage, Matt Tweedie, Jason Meskis, Paul Abrams, Richard Tamminga, Paul Chappel and Brad Campbell.
In the West final, top-seeded McMaster defeated 2nd-seeded Guelph 61-48 to win the OUAA West title for the third time in the last four years. In a tight defensive battle, Guelph took and early 13-8 lead only to see McMaster rip off a 10-2 run over two minutes to take an 18-15 advantage. But Guelph held McMaster to only five points through the remainder of the half and took a 33-23 lead into the lockers. The seventh ranked Gryphons opened their biggest lead at 16:33 when they moved ahead 38-23 but then McMaster cranked up the defence and began to run their transition offence. They took the lead at 47-46 with 4:30 to play and started to pull away with two consecutive steals resulting in breakaway layups for Titus Channer, the second of which included a foul to make it a three-point play. McMaster’s defence did the rest. Channer led all scorers with 20 points, including 14 in the second half. The all-Canadian added 5 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Jamie Girolametto scored 12, including three from beyond the arc, and was chosen player of the game. Shawn Francis also had 12, while Jakes Akrong nabbed 10 boards and Vojo Rusic 8 rebounds. Charles Yearwood led Guelph with 12 points, while Darren Thomas added 11, Colin Jones 5 and 9 rebounds, while Steve Krajcarski scored 7 in 13 minutes off the bench. The Gryphons (coached by Chris O’Rourke) also included Aaron Rideout, Paul Eldridge, Geoff MacNeil, Brent Jamieson, Kalvin Karimian, Jason Wenczler, Kris Vander Veer, Kirk Alfaro, Jesse Walker, Neil Gowe, Kenneth Anaebonam and Jeff Erskine. After the game, Doyle was told about the death of his grandfather.
In the East semis, 2nd-seeded Toronto defeated 3rd-seeded York 81-68 despite losing both the 6-7 Dressler twins (Lars and Jason) to fouls and the Yeomen’s stifling defence. Nathan Aryev scored 22 for York but Toronto held Byron Nugent and Wilton Hall to a combined 4-14 from the floor. Eddy Meguerian led the Blues with 19 points. Jason Dressler added 18 points and 11 boards. The Blues led by 15 late in the second half but allowed the Yeomen back into the game largely through fouling and sloppy defence. York crept within five but then began getting sloppy. It gave the Blues an opportunity to pad their 73-68 lead with eight consecutive foul shots. “This was a really big win for us because York was a really tough opponent,” said Blues’ captain Eddy Meguerian. “This is our last chance to win it all (in earning a trip to Halifax) . . . and we’ll have to play really strongly (today) to get there.” Blues coach Ken Olynyk said while he was pleased with his team’s over-all effort, he found there were times their concentration lagged. “I thought we played really well in (certain) minutes but I thought we had some mental lapses that allowed York to stay with us.” Jason Gopaul and Reid Beckett each added 11 for the Blues. John Poulimenos added 12 for York while Wilton Hall drained 11. The Yeomen (coached by Bob Bain, assisted by Charlie Simpson and Mike Quigley) also included Paul Nixon, Nathan Aryev, Byron Nugent, Jason John, Chris Peskun, John Lewis, Brecon Gage, Peter Simons, Vic Fantin, Richard Lorde, Jeff Langley and Nick Chatzainikolis.
In the other East semi, the top-seeded Laurentian Voyageurs defeated the 4th-seeded Ryerson Rams 84-75. Shawn Swords paced the Voyageurs with 26, including five triples. Scott Belasco led the Rams with 18. Michael Chisholm nabbed 10 boards. The Rams (coached by Terry Haggerty, assisted by Norman Clarke, Richard Dean, Lui Cinello and Louis Bradica) included Scott Belasco, Michael Chisholm, Brian Smith, Carl Harper, Gerrard Harris, Jerome Harris, Robert Armstrong, Curtis Buchanon, Ivan Kajfes, Ryan Mitchell, Robert Moodley, Dave Petropoulos, Godfrey Hunte, Duncan Prescott, Kevin Vieneer, Shaka Wright and Swaine Wellington.
In the East final, top-seeded Laurentian defeated 2nd-seeded Toronto 69-62 as Shawn Swords scored 17 points in the second half. Cory Bailey hit 10-10 from the line in the second half and masterfully controlled the tempo for the Voyageurs. Adam Dusome scored 16 and grabbed six rebounds for Laurentian, hitting from the inside, the foul line and even a trey as Guelph tried to collapse on Ted Dongelmans, freeing Dusome up for open shots. Eddy Meguerian led Toronto with 15 points. Jason Dressler added 11 and 4 boards before getting into foul trouble. Laurentian coach Peter Campbell was pleased with his troops poise. “It’s been the best season we’ve had in 12 years and in some ways, that puts a lot of pressure on the kids because when they reach each new level (of achievement), they feel they have to reach even higher,” Campbell said. “For instance, against Toronto, they came out a little tentatively at first as they did (Friday against Ryerson), like they were afraid to lose, instead of relaxing and getting into a rhythm right away. Luckily, though, the guys settled down and played their game.” The Blues led for the first three quarters but Laurentian’s second-half rally began when star guard Shawn Swords began a scoring spree and teammate Adam Dusome became an unlikely offensive threat. Swords drained a game-high 17 points with Dusome adding 16 more. “Adam really stepped up for us,” Campbell said. “He’d been struggling the last couple of weeks so it was great to see him have a big game.” Dusome, a fourth-year forward from Barrie, said he was proud his team didn’t get rattled against the hard-charging Blues (coached by Ken Olynyk). The schools had split regular season contests, with Laurentian winning a tight one in overtime and U of T slaughtering the Vees by 25 points recently when Swords was out of the lineup.
In the league bronze medal game, Toronto defeated Guelph 67-58. Toronto took a 33-25 lead at the half but Guelph drew within a bucket in the second half before Eddy Megeurian took command. He hit a three, a layup and a pullup jumper en route to a 19-point effort. He also dished 8 assists. Reid Beckett added 17, along with 7 boards, and Jason Dressler 14, along with 15 rebounds. Kris Vander Veer led Guelph with 15 points. “The coach made sure everybody knew the importance of this game and that we had a good shot for a wild-card,” guard Eddy Meguerian told the Varsity. “Even if we didn’t get the wild-card, we wanted to end the season on a good note and, for some of us, end our careers on a good note.” The Gryphons (coached by Tim Darling, assisted by Chris O’Rourke, Andy Van Dyke and Tarry Upshaw, manager Dane Pierre, trainer Matt Burnside, trainer Matt Foran) also included Jason Crotty, Paul Eldridge, Aaron Rideout, Darren Thomas, Geoff MacNeil, Stephen Krajcarski, Brent Jamieson, Charles Yearwood, Kalvin Kariman, Jason Wenczler, Collin Jones, Kirk Alfaro, Jesse Walker, Neil Gowe, Kenneth Anaebonam and Jeff Erskine.
In the Wilson Cup, McMaster defeated number one ranked in the country Laurentian 68-64, despite playing without the services of all-star Keegan Johnson and starter Doug Doyle, who was attending his grandfather’s funeral. Playing at Varsity Arena before 1,500 fans, McMaster opened a 22-10 lead by the 12 minutes mark. Titus Channer then picked up his second foul but McMaster maintained the lead, heading into the lockers with a 40-32 edge, led by 6-8 Vojo Rusic’s 12 points. The Voyageurs looked distracted and played sloppy defence. The Marauders built a 61-41 lead in the second half but Laurentian valiantly rallied by ripping off 17 unanswered points to close within 61-58. But Channer drilled a critical bucket to stifle the rally. Cory Bailey responded with a three for Laurentian to cut the margin to two. Rusic was fouled and hit one free throw. Laurentian missed and then Rusic hit a jumper to make it 66-61 with 2:08 to play. Leading by four and with the clock winding down, Channer stripped Bailey under the Laurentian basket to ice it. Rusic and Channer led the Marauders with 19 points apiece. Rusic added 8 rebounds and hit 7-9 from the floor as he was selected player of the game. Channer added 5 rebounds and was chosen tournament MVP. Shawn Francis scored 12 and grabbed 7 boards. Shawn Swords led Laurentian with 17 points. Jason Hurley came off the bench to score 16, while Cory Bailey added 9 points and 8 boards, and Ted Dongelmans grabbed 9 rebounds. “Titus is the man,” said coach Joe Raso. “That’s why he’s the best player in the country. …People haven’t given this team credit for being the team that it is. When we lost Keegan, people dropped us in the ranking when we lost just one game. Keegan’s a great player and Ty is a great player but this is a very good team.” Channer, who said his team was “kind of resting” offensively during Laurentian’s comeback, said the Marauders were inspired by the Voyageurs number one ranking. “All year we’ve heard about Laurentian this and Laurentian that,” the fourth-year 24-year-old said. “It was good to beat them today.” Channer added that the Marauders were able to dictate the style of play. “We really tried to slow down their fast-break game and I think we succeeded pretty well.” Channer told the Hamilton Spectator that “we did it with teamwork. There’s different attitude with this group. Everybody is helping each other, picking it up and backing each other up. We are a team.” The Voyageurs appeared out of sync, hitting only 19-60 from the floor, with star Shawn Swords hitting just 4-13. “That’s about as panicked a performance as we’ve put out on the floor in a long time,” Laurentian coach Peter Campbell told Canadian Press. “All our main guys looked like they decided today that if they didn’t win it, Laurentian couldn’t win it. When we got down early, it looked like they thought they had to close the gap immediately. And when we play like that, we’re not as successful.”
After the season, Tim Darling left Guelph in a dispute over his coaching contract. Darling apparently wanted a full-time contract and ostensibly a six-figure salary. The university did not feel that viable. Assistant coach Chris O’Rourke was named as Darling’s replacement. Athletic director David Copp said Darling “is pursuing other opportunities available to him at this time. He leaves behind a strong program and the nucleus of a team which will be competitive in years ahead. We wish him well in his future endeavours.”
The bronze medalist Toronto Varsity Blues: before Eddy Megeurian; Reid Beckett; Jason Dressler; Chris Ellison; Sherwyn Benn; Amr Elmaraghy; Anthony Daly; George Selkirk; Jason Gopaul; John Reid; Arbi Shahnazarian; Andrew Rupf; Lars Dressler; Anthony Alexiou; Vidak Curic; coach Ken Olynyk; assistant Mike Connolly; assistant John Robb
The runner-up Laurentian Voyageurs: Ted Dongelmans; Shawn Swords; Jason Hurley; Cory Bailey; Adam Dusome; Anthony Malcolm; Roan Biggs; Andre Hrvatin; B.J. Henderson; coach Peter Campbell
The champion McMaster Marauders: Titus Channer; Jamie Girolametto; James Akrong; Shawn Francis; Vojo Rusic; Keegan Johnson; Doug Doyle; Nick Rupcich; Gedis Dzieman; Kris Olausson; Jeremy Storry; Pat Sweeney; Tony Nichols; coach Joe Raso; assistant Chris Oliver