REGULAR SEASON
| Bishop’s | 18-2 | 27-5 | Eddie Pomykala | ||
| Concordia | 12-8 | 17-14 | John Dore | ||
| Laval | 4-16 | 7-21 | Sylvain Pothier | ||
| McGill | 4-16 | 4-27 | Ken Schildroth | ||
In the regular season, Bishop’s finished atop the standings with an (18-2) record.
Playoff non-qualifier McGill Redmen: Hubert Davis, Matt Watson, Andrew Bier, Brady Murphy, Joel Pearlman, Ari Hunter, Hubert Davis, Mark Rawas, Joel Baetz, Chris Burchell, Christoph Hodel, Scott Gingles, Alex Emergui, Julien Cazabon, Mike Johnston, coach Ken Schildroth, assistant Nevio Marzinotto, assistant Bernie Rosanelli, therapist Stephen Cross, student therapist Steve Kingwell, student therapist Marco Fournier
In the sudden death semi, Laval defeated Concordia 85-81. The Rouge et Or, making the their first playoff appearance ever, took a 42-34 lead at the half and held on for the win. Marc-Olivier Bessette led Laval with 26 points. Pascal Morin added 16. Laval shot .604 from the floor, while Concordia shot .353. Ezra Franklin paced the Stingers with 22 points.
In the finals, Bishop’s defeated Laval 81-56; 64-65; 90-46 (2g-1).
In game one, Bishop’s defeated Laval 81-56 by pounding the ball into the paint. The Gaiters took a quick 23-12 lead midway through the first half by getting the ball to Rob Burns and Stewart Clark in the paint almost at will. Laval countered with a series of mid-range jumpers by Marc-Olivier Bessette and rallied to within 44-31 at the half. The Rouge et Or kept within a dozen for the first part of the second half but Bishop’s dominated the final 10 minutes by outscoring Laval 21-7. Ryan Thorne led Bishop’s with 16 points. Stewart Clark and Rob Burns each scored 14. Bessette led Laval with 16. Pascal Morin added 12. Bishop’s out-rebounded Laval 42-24.
In game two, Laval stunned Bishop’s 65-64. The teams traded buckets for most of the first half until a late run by Laval broke open a 21-21 tie and gave the Rouge et Or a nine-point lead. A three-pointer by Ryan Thorne cut the half-time deficit to 32-26. The Gaiters came out flying in the second half and tied the score at 36 and took the leave 40-38 on a reverse Thorne layup with 15 minutes to play. The teams traded the lead back and forth. Marc-Olivier Bessette hit a baseline jumper to give Laval a 63-61 lead and Patrice Lemieux responded with a three-pointer with 31 seconds to play to give Bishop’s the lead. With 14 seconds left, Pascal Morin was fouled driving to the hoop. He calmly hit both free throws to give Laval the edge. The Gaiters had a chance to win it but Lemieux fumbled the ball coming off a screen. It went out of bounds and Laval escaped with the win. Laval slowed the tempo and kept the Bishop’s transition game in check. The Rouge et Or committed only five turnovers. Bessette and Alexandre Leclerc each scored 13. Richard Lepine added 10 and 11 boards. Stewart Clark led the Gaiters with 15 points. Lemieux added 14 and Ryan Thorne 11 and 8 assists. Greg Southward returned from a Feb 21 ankle injury to score 4 points, grab 4 rebounds and dish out 5 assists after nearly a month out of the line-up. “We ran into a team that everything going for it and took advantage of their emotional psyche,” Bishop’s coach Eddie Pomykala told the Montreal Gazette. “They’re a lot better team that what they’ve shown most of the season. I think people have underestimated how they’re capable of playing. We didn’t do that as a coaching staff but I think, for the players, after beating them by 49, 19 and 25 points this season, it’s a natural tendency to let down, and that was the case for us. We didn’t have any defensive steals and we need to create offence from our defence. Scoring 64 points is not us. We have to score more points. We have to do a better job of attacking their defence.”
In game three, Bishop’s routed Laval 90-46 at Mitchell Gymnasium. The Gaiters shredded the Laval zone that gave them fits in game two. With the score 11-10 six minutes into the game, the Gaiters exploded with a 15-0 run triggered by treys from Joel Sherbino and Ryan Thorne. They upped their lead to 21 on a slashing Greg Southward layup and ended the half leading 40-20. They took a 28-point lead early in the second half and romped as their man-to-man defence took Laval out of its offence and led to a host of transition buckets. Greg Southward and Joel Sherbino each scored 16 for Bishop’s. Ryan Thorne scored 15, handed out 14 assists and grabbed 7 rebounds. Bishop’s shot .580 from the floor and held Laval to .300. Marc-Olivier Bessette paced Laval with 16 points.
The bronze medalist Concordia Stingers: Ezra Franklin; Michael Kieran; Mark Spence; Eric Bouris; Carl Corriveau; Glenwyn Alexander; Gerces ‘Jay’ Prosper; Moranseau Belleus; Daniel Furlong; Alexei Nemtchinov; N. Prud’Homme; Daunl Birsan; Constantine Gymnopoulos; Johnny Yotis; Scott Mawhinney; coach John Dore; assistant Ernie Rosa; therapist Nadia Murphy
The runner-up Laval Rouge et Or: Marc-Olivier Bessette; Melik Azaiez; Yann Roy; Yuan Jomphe; Sebastien Houle; David Dumas; Nicholas Senecal; Richard Lepine; Pascal Morin; Alex LeClerc; Francois Caussignac; Sebastien Lapointe; Jolivet St. Louis; coach Sylvain Pothier; assistant Frederic Cote
The champion Bishop’s Gaiters: Stewart Clark; Kris Ruiter; Ryan Thorne; Patrice Lemieux; Joel Sherbino; Rob Burns; Greg Southward; Sam Rogers; Jamie Woods; Remi Aucoin; Markus Rodousakis; Sam Menard; Brian Woods; Dwayne Ells; Shawn Craik; Andrew Carter; coach Eddie Pomykala, assistant Jeff Harris, student assistant Chris Forsythe; trainer Steve King; manager Tom Sutton