Inside the CIS Final Eight with HoopsAddict.com
As the top eight teams in Canadian university basketball square off this week in Ottawa, all eyes will be on the Carleton Ravens as they pursue their sixth consecutive national championship. In the mean time, seven of the most dominant teams from all across Canada are hoping to play spoiler. Stay tuned to HoopsAddict.com for your update on teams from British Columbia to Nova Scotia and everywhere in between as they test their might for a spot at the top of the Canadian basketball world.
Friday, March 14th
Game One: 11:30 AM
(3) Saint Mary’s Huskies: 70 vs (6) Western Ontario Mustangs: 75
In the first game of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s basketball championship Friday afternoon, two cinderalla teams from provinces apart set out to gauge just how magical their seasons were meant to be.
As the clock struck 12 for the Saint Mary’s Huskies of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Western Mustangs had just begun to dance.
Led by a heroic performance from first year point guard Ryan Barbeau, the Mustangs survived a second half scare to secure the win and earn their way to the Canadian final four.
“Ryan Barbeau, I love the guy,” said the more traditional team leader, fourth year point guard Matthew Curtis. “He’s like four-foot-nothin’ but he plays with the heart of a seven-footer.”
Curtis, no stranger to the spotlight himself matched Barbeau’s 15 points on the game and added eight assists, but it was his struggles from the field that cleared the way for Barbeau to shine.
“He penetrates, he’s got no fear of the inside game,” said Curtis of his understudy who he often finds himself starring alongside in the Mustangs backcourt. “He really pushes the tempo and alleviates the pressure off of me.”
Barbeau capped off a 5-6 performance from the field with a pair of clutch free throws that all but clinched the victory for his London, Ontario school.
Also chipping in for the sixth-seeded Mustangs was forward Bradley Smith who added 15 of his own, albeit on 6-19 shooting.
Coming on strong for the Huskies was an acrobatic Shane Morrison, another rookie in this year’s CIS. Morrison dipped, tucked and flailed his way to 27 points for the historic East coast school but his efforts were in vain as his team would eventually fall by a score of 75-70.
Friday, March 14th
Game Two: 2:00 PM
(2) UBC Thunderbirds: 78 vs (7) Brock Badgers: 83
“Wake up!”
It wasn’t overly loud or harsh in tone, but when Brock swingman Scott Murray blasted his current teammates and life-long friends midway through the first quarter in Friday afternoon’s quarter-final, people couldn’t help but listen, and apparently the rest of the Badgers couldn’t help but respond.
On a team that boasts six graduating players in its top seven-man rotation, it’s no surprise that the phrase veteran leadership gets tossed around like an uncomfortably hot potato. But on a team filled with seasoned vets and players who’ve been here (literally, in 2005) and done that, it was the comparatively inexperienced Owen White who led the charge.
White, a 22-year old, 6′7″ centre with enough length to put the entire ladder industry out of business, slammed his rail thin body up against some of the biggest athletes the University of British Columbia had to offer - and he came away with 22 points and a big fat W to show for it.
In his second year as a Brock Badger and his fourth of post-secondary schooling, White has emerged as not only one of the best players in his province, but now apparently the nation. The only thing separating him from the his colleagues in the Badger locker room is the fact that he’ll be back to dominate next year as well.
“I definitely feel more confident this year than I did last year,” said White, modest beyond comprehension.
And the confidence is well-deserved. As the Badgers began to see their relatively consistent leads continue to slip away, it was White who put his foot down throughout the final stretch and locked away the opposing Thunderbirds 83-78.
Throughout the game, the Badgers held the extremely athletic UBC Thunderbirds to a miserable 3-17 from beyond the arc and forced them into 16 turnovers. Brent Malish and Chris Dyck led the losing squad with 18 and 16 points respectively.
“We’ve had great luck against Canada West teams,” said head coach Ken Murray, father of the emotional Scott who fired up his team with 18 points. “We seem to adapt to their style a lot better than they can adopt to ours. It was a very physical game, and fortunately we can play a physical game, and we came through.”
Up next for the Badgers in the CIS semifinals is a rematch with the team who beat them out of the Ontario University Athletics West semifinals just two weeks ago - the University of Western Ontario.
“We want to play Western,” said White. “There’s unfinished business between both teams. We want to take them on.”
Friday, March 14th
Game Three: 6:00 PM
(4) Laval Rouge et Or: 77 vs (5) Acadia Axemen: 85
Led by the usual heroics of Leonol Saintil and Shawn Berry, the Acadia Axemen used a brilliant second quarter to quickly catch up to and smother the Laval Rouge et Or in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport quarter-finals this Saturday.
After falling behind early, the Axemen pumped out a 28-10 second quarter tally, enough to energize the face-painted crowd seen chanting their name all game long from the baseline.
Saintil led all Acadia scorers with 27 points while Shawn Berry added an outrageous 23 points in the second half alone, Berry managed just two in the first half for a total of 25.
The Acadia victory made it three straight upsets for lower-ranked teams today in the CIS quarter-final.
“At this time of the year anybody can beat anybody,” said Acadia head coach Les Berry. “You just have to go out and play the games and play the games well.”
It was a game of runs that saw each team take their turn showing off a wide variety of offensive skills. For Acadia however, the skills, especially inside around the basket, would be enough to advance to the final four beginning on Sunday.
Initially it looked as though Laval and beast power forward Jean-Philippe Morin were going to run away with the contest, especially when they finished the first frame up 18 to 11.
Morin showed how he managed to put up 24.5 and 11.1 rebounds per game this year with an arsenal of power moves complimented with a soft jumper that seemed to make miracles with the net. Unfortunately after the first half Morin’s well ran dry.
Taking over the reigns for Laval was guard J-F Beaulieu Maheux who added 17 second half points for a game-high 28 on the night.
Friday, March 14th
Game Four: 8:30 PM
(1) Carleton Ravens: 66 vs (8) Alberta Golden Bears: 57
When you’ve won five consecutive national titles and haven’t lost a game yet this season, it’s hard to define what classifies as a scare, but regardless of what you eventually decide, the Alberta Golden Bears almost dethroned the Carleton Ravens Friday night.
Although the final score read almost a ten point advantage, for most of the second half the two teams fought, literally and figuratively, to gain the advantage in momentum. Although the Ravens never quite relinquished their lead, there were a handful of times where the Alberta frontline battle valiantly to slow down Carleton big man Aaron Doornekamp.
“That’s just playing defence,” said an obviously beaten down and exhausted Doornekamp after the game. “We do the same thing to their guys. If you can’t deal with that, get off the floor.”
“He’s gone through it for two years now,” adds head coach Dave Smart, who has obviously put some thought into the subject. “It’s tough to stay focused because it’s not when he has the ball, it’s whenever he doesn’t have the ball.
“It’s still wearing him out though, it’s one of those things, if you get someone leaning on you when you don’t have the ball for two hours, you’re going to get tired. He missed foul shots at the end and he missed two short fadeaways. It’s a good game plan, there’s nothing wrong with it, but it gets tough.”
Despite the constant extra weight the Raven forward carried with him throughout the game, Doornekamp still managed to lead all scorers with 22 points. The recently named Canadian basketball player of the year left his mark on this game in a variety of ways, with his back to the basket, off random passes as well as garbage rebounds, and in some cases even off the dribble.
There was one possession in the fourth quarter where Doornekamp took the ball off the dribble at the perimeter before pulling up and nailing an 18-footer from the top of the key while the opposing team’s big man tried to comprehend what was unfolding in front of him.
Despite Doornekamp and the rest of Carleton’s dominance, credit has to be given to the Golden Bears who many thought would have never stood a chance in the first place.
The team’s worst nightmare had to have come true when gunner Neb Aleksic tweaked an ankle on a three-point attempt in the third quarter. Aleksic, who was obviously fouled on the play, drained the three (it was his second in back to back possessions) but was unable to take the ensuing free throw, he finished the contest with 15.
After that momentum drainer the Bears never really threatened as much as they could have. With the win the Ravens will take on Acadia at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
This article was written by:
Austin Kent - who has written 45 posts on Hoops Addict.
As both contributing writer and assistant editor of HoopsAddict.com, Austin Kent has enjoyed covering the NBA game from behind the scenes since 2006. Additionally, he is currently the sports editor of The Brock Press and has written for a number of basketball websites and newspapers throughout Ontario.
Comments
By Connor on March 14th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
“Friends don’t let friends go to Western.”
That was the slogan on a shirt the Brock Store used to sell back in the day. Man, I wish I still had the shirt. If I did I would probably be forced to head down to Ottawa to join you to cheer on the Badgers.
By Connor on March 14th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Another though and this time it’s a real basketball related one: How rare is it for both lower seeds to win in the opening round?
By austinkent on March 14th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
You know, I didn’t mind watching the Western game. I guess I’m kind of partial to them winning because I want to see a strong showing from all the Ontario teams. Barring a miracle on Alberta’s part, it looks like Brock, Western and Carleton will make up three of the final four teams in Canada.
The combination of Brad Smith and Matt Curtis is great, and the performance from rookie Ryan Barbeau today was remarkable. Against Brock though? My money’s on the Badgers. They just seem too emotionally invested in this to have another breakdown like they did in the OUAs. You can tell it in their eyes when they’re on the court. You have two graduating fifth years (Murray and Rootes),another graduate leaving after his third year (Kemp) and three players who came back for fifth years just so they can compete in this tournament (Muir, Bianchin and Steen). I’ll be surprised if they don’t come out ready to giv’er tomorrow.
By austinkent on March 14th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Well to be honest, I don’t think it’s too crazy to think that at all. Brock has horribly underachieved all season and their seventh seed is not at all indicative of how good they can be. And as for Saint Mary’s? They never even cracked the top ten all year before they were given the third seed in the tournament. The reason they got ranked so high is because they beat out Acadia in AUS finals. So between Saint Mary’s been ranked too well, and Brock’s rank being lower than it ought to be, neither of these wins are very surprising.