Photo credit Nick Pearce
HALIFAX (CIS) – Canada West MVP Jamelle Barrett scored 27
points and added 11 assists as the third-seeded University of
Saskatchewan Huskies opened the defence of their national title
with a 91-79 win over the No. 6 Dalhousie Tigers in the third
quarter-final of the CIS men’s basketball championship,
Friday evening, at the Halifax Metro Centre.
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mbkb
The Canada West finalist Huskies, who captured the first W.P. McGee
Trophy in program history a year ago in Ottawa thanks to a 91-81
gold medal victory over of UBC, advance to Saturday’s late
semifinal at 8 p.m. AST where they will face either No. 2 Carleton
or No. 7 Concordia.
Atlantic conference champion Dalhousie, which was playing in front
of a large partisan crowd, moves on to the consolation side and
will take the court at 2:15 p.m. against the losers of the
Carleton-Concordia first-round matchup.
With Saskatchewan trailing 37-36 at halftime, Barrett took the game
over in the last 20 minutes scoring 18 points after the break and
feeding his teammates with a number of brilliant passes. The
California native, who finished with 11 assists to complete his
double-double, was named player of the match for his effort.
“It was a solid team performance,” said the third-year
guard, in his first season with the Huskies after starting his
college career in the US. “We didn’t panic at all after
the first half. We knew Dalhousie had a good team and they’d
be playing in front of their fans. We were well
prepared.”
“Jamelle showed why, in my opinion, he’s the best
player in the country,” said interim head coach Barry Rawlyk.
“He controlled the game in the second half, especially after
Rejean Chabot fouled out.”
Michael Lieffers, a 6-foot-8 forward from Saskatoon, was equally
dominant for the winners, winning numerous battles under the glass
on his way to a 19-point, 17-rebound performance.
Chabot, a fifth-year guard from Saskatoon, also scored 19 points
before fouling out after 31 minutes on the court.
Dalhousie was paced by 6-foot-9 forward Joseph Schow of Medicine
Hat, Alta., who had 24 points and 13 boards, as well as fellow
fifth-year senior Simon Farine of Toronto, who played all 40
minutes and ended with 22 points.
“We broke down defensively in the second half,” said
Farine. “Giving up 91 points is way too much. It’s very
unlike us.”
Dalhousie was up 17-15 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a
late jumper by Peter Leighton of Halifax, another fifth-year
veteran.
The Tigers quickly increased their lead to seven points early in
the second frame but Saskatchewan came back to tie it at 29 all on
a three-pointer by Chabot, and then went ahead by five, at 36-31,
on back-to-back baskets by Lieffers, who benefited from a pair of
great feeds by Barrett.
The hometown favourites closed the half on a 6-0 run however,
including a long three by Farine, to go into the locker room with a
slim 37-36 advantage.
The first 20 minutes featured eight ties and five lead changes.
The Huskies opened the second half on a 4-0 run to go up 40-37 and
never trailed again.
They had their biggest lead of the third quarter at 62-54 before
ending the period with a 62-57 advantage.
And then the Jamelle Barrett show began.
The spectacular 5-foot-10 guard, who this season became the first
player in Canada West history to lead the conference in points,
assists and steals on his way to first-team all-Canadian status,
turned a turnover into an easy layup to make it 70-61
Saskatchewan.
After the Tigers came back to within four, at 70-66, Barrett scored
on another layup to make it 72-66, added a bucket and a foul shot
to up the lead to 75-66, and then fed the ball under the basket to
Lieffers, who made it 77-67 with a thunderous dunk.
With Saskatchewan holding on to a seven-point cushion with just
over two minutes to go, Barrett sealed the victory with a jumper
and a sensational behind-the-back pass to Nolan Brudhel, who was
fouled on the play and completed the three-point play with a free
throw.
STAT LEADERS
Saskatchewan
Points: Jamelle Barrett (27), Michael Lieffers (19), Rejean Chabot
(19)
Rebounds: Michael Lieffers (17), Chris Unsworth (6)
Assists: Jamelle Barrett (11), Rejean Chabot (4)
Player of the game: Jamelle Barrett
Dalhousie
Points: Joseph Schow (24), Simon Farine (22), Juleous Grant
(10)
Rebounds: Joseph Schow (13), Robert Nortman (9)
Assists: Simon Farine (8)
CHAMPIONSHIP
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times ATLANTIC TIME)
Friday, March 11
Quarter-final #1: UBC 96, Acadia 77
Quarter-final #2: Trinity Western 82, Lakehead 74
Quarter-final #3: Saskatchewan 91, Dalhousie 79
20:15 Quarter-final #4: No. 7 Concordia vs. No. 2 Carleton (Live on
TSN2)
Saturday, March 12
12:00 Consolation #1: Acadia vs.Lakehead
14:15 Consolation #2: Dalhousie vs. Loser QF #4
17:00 Semifinal #1: UBC vs. Trinity Western (TSN2 – tape
delayed to 20:00 AST)
20:00 Semifinal #2: Saskatchewan vs. Winner QF #4 (TSN2 –
tape delayed to 22:00 AST)
Sunday, March 13
10:30 Consolation final (5th place)
13:15 Bronze medal game (SSN Canada webcast)
17:00 Championship final (TSN2 – tape delayed to 19:00
AST)
-CIS-