Source: Canada West Communications
EDMONTON – University of Saskatchewan point guard Stephon
Lamar has been named the Canada West men’s basketball Most
Valuable Player.
It is the third straight season that a Huskies student-athlete has
been named MVP, as Jamelle Barrett won the honour in the 2010-11
and 2011-12 seasons.
Lamar’s highlight reel season included leading the Canada
West in scoring with 22.9 points per game and sitting fourth with
105 assists. He finished fourth in the conference with 59
three-pointers in his first season in the CIS averaging 32.8
minutes per game. Lamar finished second in the country in
scoring and fifth in assists. He was also named a Canada West First
Team All-Star for his efforts.
Missing just one game, the third year Arts & Science student
from San Diego, California, scored 30 or more points in five of the
21 games he played this year including a 40-point night and a
37-point night in the regular season.
“Stephon has made a profound impact on our team in his
first season in the Canada West,” said Huskies head coach
Barry Rawlyk. “He has continually led our team statistically
in almost all categories. Of note is his value as a leader to the
team. His courage and competitive drive has served as a model for
his teammates, and his charismatic nature promoted him to a
leadership role immediately.”
Lamar led the Huskies to a 16-6 conference record and the top
offence (85.7 points per game) in the Canada West. Saskatchewan
finished first in the Prairie Division for the second straight
season.
Alberta Golden Bears basketball guard Youssef Ouahrig has been
chosen as the Canada West Rookie of the Year.
Ouahrig, who is originally from Montréal, started 21 of
Alberta’s 22 conference games this year and averaged 28.9
minutes of court time. Despite suffering an early season injury,
the point-guard played in all 22 games this season, and three more
in the playoffs, earning 32 steals, 85 assists and 8.1 points per
game. He drained 33% of his three-point attempts and 75% of his
free-throw shots.
Alberta finished the season tied for second in the Canada West
Prairie Division with a 14-8 record, and then in a best-of-three
quarterfinal series on the road against UBC, they took the No.4
ranked Thunderbirds to the limit before succumbing in game
three.
“Youssef has been an absolute pleasure to have as a part of
our program,” said first year Alberta head coach, and former
CIS coach of the Year Barnaby Craddock. “He brings a work
ethic and level of mental toughness that can be overshadowed by his
tremendous on court skills. Youssef missed over 60% of our
practices this year due to injury, but as a definition of a
warrior, he managed to play every game, even when he probably
should have been rested.”
Guard Ben Baker turned heads in his third season with the
Saskatchewan Huskies being named the conference’s Defensive
Player of the Year.
Helping the No. 7 ranked Huskies to a 16-6 record and first place
in the conference’s prairie division for the second straight
year, the Kinesiology student finished fifth in the conference with
47 steals and 13th in rebounds with 7.4 per game. The 6-3 Saskatoon
native accumulated 36 offensive rebounds and 127 defensive
rebounds. He also helped the Huskies hold opponents to averaging
just 77.8 points per game.
Also a threat to score, Baker averaged 13.4 points per game in his 33.3 minutes per game.
“Ben has proven to be an integral part of our team’s
success throughout the season by making an impact in all aspects of
the game,” said Huskie head coach Barry Rawlyk. “His
versatility as a defender has allowed us to utilize him in guard
every position on the floor, and he has successfully limited every
opposing player he has been assigned to guard. Ben is known across
the Canada West for his grittiness and competitive spirit, and is
an outstanding choice as Defensive Player of the Year.”
Fourth-year Alberta Golden Bears forward Todd Bergen-Henengouwen is
the 2013 Ken Shields Student-Athlete Award nominee on behalf of
Canada West.
Originally from Picture Butte, Alta., the Agriculture, Life and
Environmental Sciences student is a four-time CIS Academic
All-Canadian, as well as team captain of the Golden Bears team. He
started 21 of Alberta’s 22 conference games and averaged 28.8
minutes, 6.8 rebounds and 9.3 points per game. His rebounding
totals were second highest on the team, and the Golden Bears led
Canada West in defensive boards. He also drained 75% of his
free-throw shots.
On top of working towards his degree Bergen-Henengouwen is the
President of the University Athletes Board, which gets Golden Bears
and Pandas student-athletes out in the community. He has conceived,
organized and volunteered events at the Stollery Children’s
Hospital, the Bear Hugs Program, Bike for Aids, Hockey Puck Toss to
benefit KidSport, Super Sub Day for United Way, the USchool
Program, Tobacco Free Kids program, Read in Week, and a Christmas
Food Drive for the Edmonton Youth Emergency Shelter.
“Todd is the epitome of what a Ken Shields Award winner
should be…a warrior on the court, an excellent student, and
an active and giving individual in the community,” said
Golden Bears’ bench boss Barnaby Craddock. “Todd's work
ethic is unsurpassed in all areas of his life. As the president of
University of Alberta's Athletics Board he has major
responsibilities to organize student-athlete events, and athletics
community volunteer activities. Even with this load on his plate he
still manages to be our team captain, an excellent student and
volunteer and organize multiple community projects outside of the
university as well.”
Victoria Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp was named Coach of the
Year for the fourth time in his 10-year career. Beaucamp, a
previous Canada West Coach of the Year recipient in 2003-04,
2004-05 and 2011-12, led the Vikes to a 16-6 regular season record
in 2012-13. The Vikes further boasted a 12-1 record at home in
McKinnon Gymnasium and ended the regular season with a sweep over
rivals and, at the time, No. 2-ranked UBC Thunderbirds.
Despite losing 82-79 on the road to Manitoba during the season, Beaucamp led his squad to an impressive 2-0 sweep at home over the Bisons in the conference quarter-finals to advance to the Canada West Final Four for the seventh time in his career.
Entering the 2012-13 playoffs, the Vikes boast the conference’s top-scoring defence, averaging 68.8 points per game. Beaucamp’s squad was ranked second in the Canada West in rebounding with a margin of +9.3 and was led in scoring all year by fourth-year and Canada West second-team all-star Terrell Evans.
Beaucamp, born in Burnaby, B.C., is also an active coach in the
community, helping to run the Vikes TLC Camps for kids in Victoria
and helping to establish the Vikes Basketball Academy. He also
served as an Assistant Coach with Canada's men's Pan-American Games
team that competed in October 2011 in Guadaljara, Mexico.
“To receive this distinction for the second-consecutive year
is a strong statement that coach Beaucamp continues to garner the
respect of his Canada West coaching peers for the competitiveness
of our Vikes program,” said Clint Hamilton, director of Vikes
Athletics and Recreation.
Following are the Canada West men’s basketball Award
winners & All-Stars:
AWARDS
MVP: Stephon Lamar, Saskatchewan
Rookie of the Year: Youssef Ouahrig, Alberta
Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Baker, Saskatchewan
Ken Shields Award nominee: Todd Bergen-Henengouwen, Alberta
Coach of the Year: Craig Beaucamp, Victoria
ALL-STARS
(alphabetical by surname)
First
Team
Second Team
Sam Freeman, Fraser
Valley
Andrew Cunningham, Winnipeg
Stephon Lamar,
Saskatchewan
Terrell Evans, Victoria
Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson,
Calgary Mark
Perrin, Trinity Western
Kenneth Otieno,
Alberta
Derek Waldner, Lethbridge
Doug Plumb,
UBC
Stephan Walton, Manitoba
Each award recipient moves on as a finalist for the annual Canadian
Interuniversity Sports (CIS) awards, with winners to be announced
in Ottawa ahead of the Final 8 national tournament, March 8-10 at
Scotiabank Place.
This Friday and Saturday, the Canada West Final Four goes at UBC in
Vancouver on Friday and Saturday night, where the host T-Birds face
Fraser Valley in Friday’s early game, followed by Victoria
vs. Winnipeg. Medal games take place on Saturday. Finalists will
qualify for the CIS tournament, with one national at-large berth
also available. All game can be seen live on canadawest.tv.
About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four
conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at
least 10 CIS national titles every year, 1997 to 2010. Comprised of
16 schools from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta
and British Columbia, Canada West produces numerous major award
winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with
many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues
or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games.
@cwuaa on Twitter. #cvTV / #cwhoops