March 14, 2008
CARLETON, WESTERN AND BROCK MOVE ON TO CIS MEN'S BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
Western 75, Saint Mary's 70
The sixth-seeded Western Ontario Mustangs resumed their improbable playoff run Friday afternoon upsetting the No.3-ranked Saint Mary's Huskies 75-70 in the first quarterfinal at the 2008 Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball championship, at Scotiabank Place.
The OUA finalist Mustangs, returning to the CIS tournament for the first time since
2002, when they lost 76-71 to Alberta in the title match, advance to Saturday's 6
p.m. national semifinal (The Score) where they will meet the winners of the
first-round match-up between No.2-UBC and No.7-Brock.
Following a 12-10 regular season, Western went 3-1 in the OUA playoffs to earn a
berth in the Final 8. The Mustangs claimed their lone W.P. McGee Trophy in 1991.
The AUS champion Huskies, who had reached the semifinals as the No.8-seed a year ago, are relegated to the consolation side of the draw. They will face the losers of the UBC-Brock duel at 11:30 a.m.
\"This is a huge win for our program,\" said Western second-year head coach Brad
Campbell, who saw his team's 15-point lead early in the second half melt to one
point late in the contest. \"This team has battled all year, and we kept on battling
today. We didn't panic when they (Saint Mary's) started closing in. We battled until
the end.\"
Matthew Curtis was named Western player of the game. The fourth-year guard from Hamilton was one of three Mustangs to score 15 points, along with fourth-year forward Bradley Smith of Churchill, Ont. and rookie guard Ryan Barbeau of
Belleville, Ont. Curtis also had a team-high eight assists.
Jason Milliquet of Sarnia, Ont., with 11 points, and Colin LaForme of Hamilton, with 10, also scored in double figures in the win.
After overcoming an early 4-0 deficit, Western led the rest of the way. The
Mustangs, who jumped out to a 14-9 advantage after the opening 10-minute period and were ahead 36-23 at halftime, led by as much as 15 points after scoring the first bucket after the break.
The Huskies refused to go down without a fight however and outscored their OUA
rivals 30-20 in the third quarter to reduce the margin to three points after 30
minutes, 56-53.
In the fourth, Saint Mary's came back to within one point on three occasions, the
last time with 16.8 seconds left when a Mark McLaughlin (Dartmouth, N.S.) jumper
made it 71-70 Western.
After Curtis restored a three-point lead for the Mustangs with a pair of free
throws, the Huskies had one last chance to tie the game but a McLaughlin turnover in the offensive zone sealed their faith.
Barbeau rounded out the scoring from the free throw line.
\"We are an up-tempo team, that's our style, we wanted to come out fast,\" said
Curtis. \"We did the same thing against them (Saint Mary's) at the UNB tournament
early in the season, we built a big lead and let them come back. We knew we could hold off the charge.\"
Freshman guard Shane Morrison of Toronto was exceptional for Saint Mary's in the
losing effort, finishing with a game-high 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the
floor. He received Huskies match-MVP honours.
Mclaughlin added 18 points and forward Ikeboi Uchegbu of Nigeria had 12, while Aaron Duncan of Toronto was a monster on the boards grabbing 16 rebounds.
Poor free-throw shooting didn't help Saint Mary's cause as the Huskies went 9-of-20 from the line, compared to 12-of-14 for Western.
The Mustangs shot 38.0 percent on the afternoon. After making only 10 of 31 shots in the first half (32.3%), the Huskies went 19-of-34 (55.9%) in the final 20 minutes to finish at 44.6 percent.
STAT LEADERS
Western Ontario
Points: Matthew Curtis (15), Bradley Smith (15), Ryan Barbeau (15)
Rebounds: Colin LaForme (8)
Assists: Matthew Curtis (8)
Player of the game: Matthew Curtis
Saint Mary's
Points: Shane Morrison (27), Mark McLaughlin (18), Ikeobi Uchegbu (12)
Rebounds: Aaron Duncan (16)
Assists: Mark Ross (8)
Player of the game: Shane Morrison
Brock 83, UBC 78
The second-seeded UBC Thunderbirds were the second conference champions in as many games to go down in the first round of the 2008 Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball championship when they were upset 83-78 by the No.7-Brock Badgers Friday afternoon, at Scotiabank Place.
With the win, the OUA bronze medallist Badgers join the No.6-Western Ontario
Mustangs in Saturday's first national semifinal at 6 p.m. Western defeated
No.3-Saint Mary's 75-70 in Friday's first quarterfinal.
The Western-Brock duel will be a rematch of the March 1 OUA West final where the Mustangs prevailed 79-62.
The Badgers, who claimed their lone CIS title in 1991-92, advance to the second
round for the first time since 2005, when they lost to Concordia 59-46.
\"Coming in, I thought Carleton was the favourite and that from No. 2 to No. 8, all
the teams were pretty balanced. This is one of the most balanced field I've seen in
years at Nationals,\" said Brock head coach Ken Murray.
\"I'm just happy for our fifth-year guys, Brad (Rootes), Scott (Murray), Rohan
(Steen), they all had solid games, they're the ones who stepped up for us,\" added
Murray. \"We let them (UBC) back in the game a couple of times but we remained
poised. Our experience was key.\"
For UBC, history repeats itself. The Canada West champion Thunderbirds were defeated in the opening round for the fifth time in as many CIS tournament appearances over the past six years. UBC hasn't won a quarterfinal match since 1996.
\"I don't know what to say. It's hard to explain. It's just very tough right now,\"
commented sophomore forward Brent Malish of Langley, B.C., who was named UBC player of the game after he led the team with 18 points and nine rebounds.
\"The first four times it happens, you look at yourself, you look at what you're
doing right and doing wrong. And now it happens again. As a coach, you certainly
take responsibility,\" said UBC sideline boss Kevin Hanson. \"Maybe the week off we get after the Canada West Final Four doesn't do us any favours. I don't know.\"
\"I give them (Brock) full credit. They're a veteran team. They made the big shots
when they had to,\" Hanson added.
Fourth-year forward Owen White, a six-foot-seven native of Port Hope, Ont. paced the Badgers with 22 points and nine boards en route to Brock match-MVP honours.
Fifth-year guards Scott Murray of Welland, Ont. and Brad Rootes of Niagara Falls,
Ont. chipped in with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Rootes, a second team
all-Canadian this season, added a game-high seven assists and six rebounds.
Chris Dyck of Winnipeg, with 16 points, and Bryson Kool of Pitt Meadows, B.C., with 13, made an impact for UBC.
The T-Birds dominated the boards out-rebounding their opponents 42-28. They shot
45.5 percent compared to 40.9 percent for the Badgers.
Brock led 19-18 after the first quarter and 38-30 at the half but UBC had a 20-14
edge in the third period to cut the Badgers advantage to 52-50 after 30 minutes.
Trailing 40-30 early in the third, UBC went on an 11-point run and by the midway
point of the quarter had their first lead since the first minutes of the contest.
The fourth frame offered non-stop action with the lead changing hands four times and UBC remaining within striking distance until the final seconds.
Ahead 62-61 with just over four minutes to go, the Badgers opened a four-point gap
on a three-point basket by Rootes, and led 70-62 following five straight points by
Owen.
Down 72-64 with under two minutes remaining, the Birds bounced back one last time when a three-point shot from Blain LaBranche of Edmonton made it 72-67, and a bucket and a free throw by six-foot-seven forward Matt Rachar of Burnaby, B.C. made it a two-point affair, at 72-70.
Rootes quickly restored a four-point advantage for Brock and fifth-year guard Rohan
Steen of Welland all but sealed the victory with a three-pointer that made it 77-70
with 54.9 seconds left.
STAT LEADERS
Brock
Points: Owen White (22), Scott Murray (18), Brad Rootes (16)
Rebounds: Owen White (9), Brad Rootes (6)
Assists: Brad Rootes (7)
Player of the game: Owen White
UBC
Points: Brent Malish (18), Chris Dyck (16), Bryson Kool (13)
Rebounds: Brent Malish (9), Matt Rachar (8), Bryson Kool (8)
Assists: Chris Dyck (4)
Player of the game: Brent Malish
(Source: Michel Belanger, Canadian Interuniversity Sport, Manager of Communications)
Carleton 66, Alberta 57
The Carleton University Ravens defeated the University of Alberta Golden Bears 57-66. This is the 18th consecutive win for the Ravens at the CIS "Final 8" Men's Basketball National Championship, Carleton ties the University of Victoria Vikes record of 18 straight in the 1980's which ended in the 1986 CIS Final.
Carleton had no problem playing their first ever home game at the CIS National Championship at Scotiabank Place, as the Ravens have played twice before against the University of Ottawa in OUA regular season action in Kanata.
Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie, Ottawa, Ontario got the Ravens fan in the mood as he scored Carleton's first basket of the game. Carleton would establish an early lead and never look back as the closest Alberta came with 5-points in the second half.
The Ravens led by 7-points, 18-11 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter saw the Ravens stacking up the points ending at half-time with a 35-23 lead.
In the third, Carleton continued to score as the they built up a double digit lead of ten points, 55-45, with the Bears starting five in foul trouble.
The CIS Most Valuable Player and player of the game was Aaron Doornekamp, Odessa, Ontario as he hit 22-points. Stuart Turnbull, Kingston, Ontario, contributed 13-points and Jean-Marie pulled in 8-points.
The Bears player of the game Neb Aleksic, Richmond, BC scored 15-points, Alex Steele, Edmonton, Alberta, had 13-points and Harvey Bradford, Skookumchuck, BC hit 8-points.
In Saturday's CIS "Final 8" Semi-Final, on Saturday, a CIS record 3-OUA teams will compete for the right to play in the 2008 CIS Championship Game, on Sunday, March 16th, 2008.
The Ravens face the tournament's wildcard team, the Acadia University Axemen at 8:00PM.
Alberta = 11 12 22 12 = 57
Ravens = 18 17 20 11 = 66
(Source: Emily Ridlington, Carleton Ravens, Sports Information)
The sixth-seeded Western Ontario Mustangs resumed their improbable playoff run Friday afternoon upsetting the No.3-ranked Saint Mary's Huskies 75-70 in the first quarterfinal at the 2008 Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball championship, at Scotiabank Place.
The OUA finalist Mustangs, returning to the CIS tournament for the first time since
2002, when they lost 76-71 to Alberta in the title match, advance to Saturday's 6
p.m. national semifinal (The Score) where they will meet the winners of the
first-round match-up between No.2-UBC and No.7-Brock.
Following a 12-10 regular season, Western went 3-1 in the OUA playoffs to earn a
berth in the Final 8. The Mustangs claimed their lone W.P. McGee Trophy in 1991.
The AUS champion Huskies, who had reached the semifinals as the No.8-seed a year ago, are relegated to the consolation side of the draw. They will face the losers of the UBC-Brock duel at 11:30 a.m.
\"This is a huge win for our program,\" said Western second-year head coach Brad
Campbell, who saw his team's 15-point lead early in the second half melt to one
point late in the contest. \"This team has battled all year, and we kept on battling
today. We didn't panic when they (Saint Mary's) started closing in. We battled until
the end.\"
Matthew Curtis was named Western player of the game. The fourth-year guard from Hamilton was one of three Mustangs to score 15 points, along with fourth-year forward Bradley Smith of Churchill, Ont. and rookie guard Ryan Barbeau of
Belleville, Ont. Curtis also had a team-high eight assists.
Jason Milliquet of Sarnia, Ont., with 11 points, and Colin LaForme of Hamilton, with 10, also scored in double figures in the win.
After overcoming an early 4-0 deficit, Western led the rest of the way. The
Mustangs, who jumped out to a 14-9 advantage after the opening 10-minute period and were ahead 36-23 at halftime, led by as much as 15 points after scoring the first bucket after the break.
The Huskies refused to go down without a fight however and outscored their OUA
rivals 30-20 in the third quarter to reduce the margin to three points after 30
minutes, 56-53.
In the fourth, Saint Mary's came back to within one point on three occasions, the
last time with 16.8 seconds left when a Mark McLaughlin (Dartmouth, N.S.) jumper
made it 71-70 Western.
After Curtis restored a three-point lead for the Mustangs with a pair of free
throws, the Huskies had one last chance to tie the game but a McLaughlin turnover in the offensive zone sealed their faith.
Barbeau rounded out the scoring from the free throw line.
\"We are an up-tempo team, that's our style, we wanted to come out fast,\" said
Curtis. \"We did the same thing against them (Saint Mary's) at the UNB tournament
early in the season, we built a big lead and let them come back. We knew we could hold off the charge.\"
Freshman guard Shane Morrison of Toronto was exceptional for Saint Mary's in the
losing effort, finishing with a game-high 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the
floor. He received Huskies match-MVP honours.
Mclaughlin added 18 points and forward Ikeboi Uchegbu of Nigeria had 12, while Aaron Duncan of Toronto was a monster on the boards grabbing 16 rebounds.
Poor free-throw shooting didn't help Saint Mary's cause as the Huskies went 9-of-20 from the line, compared to 12-of-14 for Western.
The Mustangs shot 38.0 percent on the afternoon. After making only 10 of 31 shots in the first half (32.3%), the Huskies went 19-of-34 (55.9%) in the final 20 minutes to finish at 44.6 percent.
STAT LEADERS
Western Ontario
Points: Matthew Curtis (15), Bradley Smith (15), Ryan Barbeau (15)
Rebounds: Colin LaForme (8)
Assists: Matthew Curtis (8)
Player of the game: Matthew Curtis
Saint Mary's
Points: Shane Morrison (27), Mark McLaughlin (18), Ikeobi Uchegbu (12)
Rebounds: Aaron Duncan (16)
Assists: Mark Ross (8)
Player of the game: Shane Morrison
Brock 83, UBC 78
The second-seeded UBC Thunderbirds were the second conference champions in as many games to go down in the first round of the 2008 Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball championship when they were upset 83-78 by the No.7-Brock Badgers Friday afternoon, at Scotiabank Place.
With the win, the OUA bronze medallist Badgers join the No.6-Western Ontario
Mustangs in Saturday's first national semifinal at 6 p.m. Western defeated
No.3-Saint Mary's 75-70 in Friday's first quarterfinal.
The Western-Brock duel will be a rematch of the March 1 OUA West final where the Mustangs prevailed 79-62.
The Badgers, who claimed their lone CIS title in 1991-92, advance to the second
round for the first time since 2005, when they lost to Concordia 59-46.
\"Coming in, I thought Carleton was the favourite and that from No. 2 to No. 8, all
the teams were pretty balanced. This is one of the most balanced field I've seen in
years at Nationals,\" said Brock head coach Ken Murray.
\"I'm just happy for our fifth-year guys, Brad (Rootes), Scott (Murray), Rohan
(Steen), they all had solid games, they're the ones who stepped up for us,\" added
Murray. \"We let them (UBC) back in the game a couple of times but we remained
poised. Our experience was key.\"
For UBC, history repeats itself. The Canada West champion Thunderbirds were defeated in the opening round for the fifth time in as many CIS tournament appearances over the past six years. UBC hasn't won a quarterfinal match since 1996.
\"I don't know what to say. It's hard to explain. It's just very tough right now,\"
commented sophomore forward Brent Malish of Langley, B.C., who was named UBC player of the game after he led the team with 18 points and nine rebounds.
\"The first four times it happens, you look at yourself, you look at what you're
doing right and doing wrong. And now it happens again. As a coach, you certainly
take responsibility,\" said UBC sideline boss Kevin Hanson. \"Maybe the week off we get after the Canada West Final Four doesn't do us any favours. I don't know.\"
\"I give them (Brock) full credit. They're a veteran team. They made the big shots
when they had to,\" Hanson added.
Fourth-year forward Owen White, a six-foot-seven native of Port Hope, Ont. paced the Badgers with 22 points and nine boards en route to Brock match-MVP honours.
Fifth-year guards Scott Murray of Welland, Ont. and Brad Rootes of Niagara Falls,
Ont. chipped in with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Rootes, a second team
all-Canadian this season, added a game-high seven assists and six rebounds.
Chris Dyck of Winnipeg, with 16 points, and Bryson Kool of Pitt Meadows, B.C., with 13, made an impact for UBC.
The T-Birds dominated the boards out-rebounding their opponents 42-28. They shot
45.5 percent compared to 40.9 percent for the Badgers.
Brock led 19-18 after the first quarter and 38-30 at the half but UBC had a 20-14
edge in the third period to cut the Badgers advantage to 52-50 after 30 minutes.
Trailing 40-30 early in the third, UBC went on an 11-point run and by the midway
point of the quarter had their first lead since the first minutes of the contest.
The fourth frame offered non-stop action with the lead changing hands four times and UBC remaining within striking distance until the final seconds.
Ahead 62-61 with just over four minutes to go, the Badgers opened a four-point gap
on a three-point basket by Rootes, and led 70-62 following five straight points by
Owen.
Down 72-64 with under two minutes remaining, the Birds bounced back one last time when a three-point shot from Blain LaBranche of Edmonton made it 72-67, and a bucket and a free throw by six-foot-seven forward Matt Rachar of Burnaby, B.C. made it a two-point affair, at 72-70.
Rootes quickly restored a four-point advantage for Brock and fifth-year guard Rohan
Steen of Welland all but sealed the victory with a three-pointer that made it 77-70
with 54.9 seconds left.
STAT LEADERS
Brock
Points: Owen White (22), Scott Murray (18), Brad Rootes (16)
Rebounds: Owen White (9), Brad Rootes (6)
Assists: Brad Rootes (7)
Player of the game: Owen White
UBC
Points: Brent Malish (18), Chris Dyck (16), Bryson Kool (13)
Rebounds: Brent Malish (9), Matt Rachar (8), Bryson Kool (8)
Assists: Chris Dyck (4)
Player of the game: Brent Malish
(Source: Michel Belanger, Canadian Interuniversity Sport, Manager of Communications)
Carleton 66, Alberta 57
The Carleton University Ravens defeated the University of Alberta Golden Bears 57-66. This is the 18th consecutive win for the Ravens at the CIS "Final 8" Men's Basketball National Championship, Carleton ties the University of Victoria Vikes record of 18 straight in the 1980's which ended in the 1986 CIS Final.
Carleton had no problem playing their first ever home game at the CIS National Championship at Scotiabank Place, as the Ravens have played twice before against the University of Ottawa in OUA regular season action in Kanata.
Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie, Ottawa, Ontario got the Ravens fan in the mood as he scored Carleton's first basket of the game. Carleton would establish an early lead and never look back as the closest Alberta came with 5-points in the second half.
The Ravens led by 7-points, 18-11 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter saw the Ravens stacking up the points ending at half-time with a 35-23 lead.
In the third, Carleton continued to score as the they built up a double digit lead of ten points, 55-45, with the Bears starting five in foul trouble.
The CIS Most Valuable Player and player of the game was Aaron Doornekamp, Odessa, Ontario as he hit 22-points. Stuart Turnbull, Kingston, Ontario, contributed 13-points and Jean-Marie pulled in 8-points.
The Bears player of the game Neb Aleksic, Richmond, BC scored 15-points, Alex Steele, Edmonton, Alberta, had 13-points and Harvey Bradford, Skookumchuck, BC hit 8-points.
In Saturday's CIS "Final 8" Semi-Final, on Saturday, a CIS record 3-OUA teams will compete for the right to play in the 2008 CIS Championship Game, on Sunday, March 16th, 2008.
The Ravens face the tournament's wildcard team, the Acadia University Axemen at 8:00PM.
Alberta = 11 12 22 12 = 57
Ravens = 18 17 20 11 = 66
(Source: Emily Ridlington, Carleton Ravens, Sports Information)
