CIS men's basketball Friday roundup: Gee-Gees advance to first OUA title game in 20 years; Huskies upset Panthers in AUS quarter-final

Source: Jamie Kelly, AUS

HALIFAX, N.S. - The fifth-seeded StFX X-Men came away with a nail biting 74-70 victory over the fourth-seeded Dalhousie Tigers Friday evening at the Halifax Metro Centre in the opening quarter-final of the 2013 Subway AUS men's basketball championship.
 
With the win, the X-Men advance to a semifinal match-up against conference rival and the CIS No. 2-ranked Cape Breton Capers Saturday evening at 6:00 pm.
 
Subway Player of the Game Jeremy Dunn led the X-Men attack with 17 points and 5 rebounds, while Tigers guard Hassan Abdullahi had a game high 20 points and 4 rebounds in a losing effort.
 
The first quarter was a back and forth contest, as both teams traded opportunities early on. The Tigers led 12-7 midway through the first quarter but their lead was short lived as the X-Men stormed right back with five quick points to tie the game at 12 apiece.
 
It wasn`t until Dalhousie freshman guard Jarred Reid made his presence felt that the Tigers were able to widen their lead as he notched a pair of key three-pointers, including a long-range shot at the buzzer to make the score 25-15 in favor of the Tigers after one quarter.
 
The X-Men found their legs in the second quarter as they were led early on by third year forward Shane Coupland`s two quick three-pointers to cut the Tigers lead to three points.
 
With the teams continuing to trade points, the X-Men took over the quarter in the final five minutes as they went on a 9-0 run, including two three pointers from fifth year guard Tyrell Vernon, to take the 40-36 lead at half time.
 
The blue and white continued the momentum they gained at the end of the second quarter and outscored the Tigers 19-9 in the third frame. Vernon continued to have the hot hand as he led the way with seven points in the quarter for the X-Men. The X-Men took a 59-45 lead heading into the fourth and final quarter.
 
Though the X-Men had a comfortable lead, the Tigers were not going to go down without a fight, and they proved that in the fourth quarter as they went on a 13-0 run in the first three minutes to electrify the crowd and get within one point of the X-Men lead at 61-60. The Tigers attack was fast and furious and had the X-Men on their heels until fifth year forward and AUS first-team all-star Jeremy Dunn cashed in on two late three-pointers to seal the 74-70 victory.
 
Along with the strong play from Dunn, The X-Men received timely offense from Vernon who collected 17 points and was 3-5 from the three point line.
 
Reid produced 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Tigers, while second team AUS all-star Simon Marr added 14 points and nine boards.
 
The X-Men will battle the top-seeded Capers (19-1) in Saturday's first semifinal at 6:00pm.

Source: OUA Communications

TORONTO - The Carleton Ravens advanced to their seventh consecutive Wilson Cup championship game with a commanding 72-51 win over the Lakehead Thunderwolves in OUA men's basketball Final Four action at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, presented ! by Recharge with Milk.
 
Porter Airlines Player of the Game Philip Scrubb led the Ravens with 15 points, amassing six field goals, two from three-point territory.
 
"We definitely have some things that we need to clean up, offensively I didn't think we played very confident tonight. Towards the end we got some good shots off and our defence wasn't bad. There are positives to take out of it, but we have to play a full 40 minutes tomorrow."
 
Also in double digits scoring for the Ravens were Tyson Hintz (14 points), Thomas Scrubb (11 points), and Dan Penner (10 points). Clinton Springer-Williams claimed the lone double-double for Carleton, with 12 rebounds and 10 points.
 
For the Thunderwolves, Joseph Jones took the offensive lead with 15 points, followed by 12 points from Joseph Nitychoruk.
 
The Ravens never relinquished their early lead, holding a 17-8 advantage after the first quarter, 30-16 at halftime! , and 53-28 at the final break.  Lakehead's offence sputtered throughout the first half, being held to a single field goal in the second quarter.  Only in the final quarter did Lakehead manage to outscore Carleton, carving out a narrow 23-19 advantage.
 
The Thunderwolves' 51 points marked their lowest offensive production in this season's OUA competition, having a previous season-low of 53 points at Carleton on November 23.
 
Both team struggled with their accuracy.  Lakehead's shot percentage was a dismal 24.6% (14 of 57), connecting on just six of 28 attempts (21.4%) from outside the arc.  Lakehead also struggled on free throws, particularly in the early going, making good on 17 of 29 (58.6%) attempts.  Carleton fared marginally better on accuracy, with a 40.0% (26 of 65) completion percentage from the field, good for nine of 27 from three-point land.
 
Carleton held a 42-30 edge on rebounds, including ! a 29-19 advantage off the defensive board.
 
The Ravens will play in the Wilson Cup final at 8 p.m.  tomorrow, facing the winner of this evening's second semi-final between the Ottawa Gee-Gees and Windsor Lancers.

Source: Jamie Kelly, AUS

HALIFAX, N.S. – The sixth-seeded Saint Mary's Huskies upset the third-seeded UPEI Panthers Friday night in front of 4,172 fans at the Halifax Metro Centre in the second quarter-final of the 2013 Subway AUS men's basketball championship.
 
With the win, the Huskies advance to tomorrow evenings Subway AUS semi-final matchup against the CIS ranked No. 5 Acadian Axemen.
 
Huskies fourth-year forward Harry Ezenibe was named the Subway Player of the game as he tallied 10 points and 16 rebounds for the victors.
 
UPEI freshman Mandrez Downey had a game-high 20 points in a losing effort.
 
The first quarter saw both teams have trouble capitalizing on their opportunities as the Huskies barely outscored the Panthers 17-16.
 
Saint Mary's was led by fourth-year forward Riley Halpin who scored back-to-back three-pointers early in the frame which proved to be pivotal in the Huskies attack.
 
The second quarter was very similar to the first as it proved to be very low scoring as both defenses were leaving nothing to be desired.
 
Halpin, 11 points, and Downey, 10 points,  were the two players who seemed to find the most success on the score sheet as they paced their teams through the first half. The Huskies held a slim 29-27 lead over the Panthers after 20 minutes.
 
Both teams continued to play disciplined basketball as the game was still low scoring after the first few minutes of the third quarter.
 
Halifax native and second year guard Jeremy McAvoy provided the offense for the Huskies the rest of the quarter tallying 9 points while Ezenibe brought the fans out of their seats with an electrifying dunk at the end of the quarter.
 
The Huskies were up 51-43 leading up to the fourth quarter.
 
The Panthers left everything on the table in the fourth quarter as they pressured the Huskies relentlessly.
 
Though they outscored the Huskies 23-15 in the quarter, the Panthers were unable to shut down Huskies fifth-year guard Miguel Pink as he nailed three three-pointers to send the Huskies home with a 67-66 victory.
 
Halpin was a major contributor in the Huskies offense as he notched a game-high four three-pointers and 16 points to go along with 7 rebounds.
 
The Panthers were led by AUS rookie of the year Deontay Smith who collected 16 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
 
The Huskies will take on the second place Acadia Axemen Saturday evening at 8:15pm in semifinal action, while the StFX X-Men will face the CIS No. 2-ranked Cape Breton Capers at 6:00pm.

Source: OUA Communications

TORONTO – The Ottawa Gee-Gees advanced to their first Wilson Cup championship game in 20 years with a 78-58 victory over the Windsor Lancers in OUA men's basketball Final Four action at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, presented by Recharge with M! ilk.
 
Porter Airlines Player of the Game Warren Ward posted a team-high 26 points for the Gee-Gees, connecting on 11 of 14 field goals, including four of five three-point attempts.
 
"It's the one year anniversary of my knee surgery, so this win is even more special to me," said Ward. "I'm so happy and proud of my team and our coaches. I feel like we're very underrated, I don't think our team gets enough respect. We've come a very long way, if you watch us play you see the way we share the basketball and we'll be ready to compete tomorrow. It's going to be fun."
 
Johnny Berhanemeskel also broke the 20-point plateau for the Gee-Gees, posting 21 points.  Vikas Gill added 11 points to the winning cause.
 
For Windsor, Lien Phillip posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.  Enrico Diloreto was the only other Lancer in double-digit scoring, amassing 16 points.
 
The two teams matched scores! nearly point-for-point through much of the first half, trading the lead back and forth, before Ottawa tallied eight unanswered points in the final 95 seconds of the half, entering the intermission with a 37-27 lead.  Windsor spent much of the third quarter trying to chip away at the Gee-Gees lead, once closing to within four points, but never regained the upper hand and entered the final quarter trailing 55-46.  Ottawa added to its lead through the fourth quarter, holding a 20-point lead at the final horn.
 
Missed opportunities proved costly for the Lancers, who made good on just 22 of 75 field goal attempts (29.3%), sinking just 5 of 27 (18.5%) from three-point territory.
 
Ottawa capitalized much better on its scoring opportunities, making good on 28 of 60 field goal opportunities (46.7%), including 14 of 32 (43.8%) from outside the arc.
 
Rebounds were practically even, with Windsor enjoying a slim 39-35 advantage.
 
The Gee-Gees will play in the Wilson Cup final at 6 p.m. tomorrow, facing the defending-champion Carleton Ravens, who dispatched the Lakehead Thunderwolves 72-51 in the first semi-final contest.
 
Ottawa last appeared in a Wilson Cup championship game on March 13, 1993, defeating the Western Mustangs 88-48 for the lone Wilson Cup banner in school history.  Ottawa has a 1-2 record in OUA championship games, having fallen to Waterloo in the 1973-74 and 1974-75 finals.
 
Carleton advances to its seventh consecutive Wilson Cup final, and 11th in 13 years.  The Ravens have a 7-4 overall record in the Wilson Cup final.
 
Ottawa and Carleton have never previously met in a Wilson Cup championship game.
 
The Wilson Cup final will be televised live on The Score Television Network, as will the bronze medal game at 4 p.m.

Source: Lee Dorner, UBC Sports Info

 VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds survived an anemic offensive first half to come back and take down the Fraser Valley Cascades 68-61 on Friday night in the first Canada West semifinal at War Memorial Gym, earning a spot in the conference title game and the CIS Final Eight.
 
 The teams were tied heading into the fourth quarter, and found themselves tied up again at 57 with just over two minutes to go when Isaiah Solomon hit one of the key shots of the game, going off glass from deep two-point range on a heavily-contested heave as the shot clock expired.
 
 After UBC split chances from the free throw line on its next two trips to make it 61-57, Klaus Figueredo hit a clutch three for the Cascades to make it a one-point game heading into the final minute. But after two Doug Plumb free throws made it 63-60, the Cascades couldn't get another miracle three to fall.
 
 “At the end of the game we had two freshman on the floor in Isaiah and Connor (Morgan),” said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. “They hit some big shots, made some plays and hit some free throws. I'm just really pleased with the way these young guys went in and played.”
 
 After falling behind by as many as 13 points in the first half thanks to a barrage of Fraser Valley threes, the T-Birds battled their way back into a tie at 44 in the third quarter. They finished on a 9-3 run, which Morgan capped off with a steal and a trip to the foul line, to get the season-high crowd at War Memorial energized.
 
 That energy seemed to be a difference-maker between the teams, who both struggled to score in their half-court sets, but traded scoring bursts off hustle plays like turnovers and offensive rebounds. Fraser Valley had a 10-2 advantage in points off turnovers in the first half, but the 'Birds reversed that in the second, outscoring the Cascades 11-3 off turnovers the rest of the way.
 
 “Great experience for our guys. What a wonderful crowd tonight. They absolutely pumped us up and I think the sixth man really helped us tonight,” said Hanson
 
 The Cascades also went cold from long range in the second half, hitting just two of 10 shots after the break. Hanson said his team knew to expect a three-point assault from the Cascades even though they were missing their star senior Sam Freeman.
 
 “That's what they do. They shoot threes. Last time they played us they hit 16 and that's what we tried to eliminate from them. We wanted to make (Kyle) Grewal have to hurt us,” Hanson said.
 
 That strategy seemed to pay off for the 'Birds, as Grewal did lead the Cascades with 14 points, but UBC held Fraser Valley's senior big man to 6-26 field goal shooting and forced four turnovers from him.
 
 Speedy second-year guard Kevon Parchment was the most effective player on the court for the Cascades, grabbing 13 rebounds and adding 13 points on 5-11 shooting. He also had three steals.
 
 Hanson was impressed by the way the Cascades came out so strong even without Freeman.
 
 “It's real tough. I feel bad for him as a fifth-year kid not being able to play in that last game because he's a heck of a basketball player and it's unfair his career ended that way, but give them credit for playing very good basketball today. In the end we just made a couple more plays than they did.”
 
 Tommy Nixon led UBC with 18 points, doing much of his damage from the free throw line, where the 'Birds had a big advantage in the game. The Cascades went just 4-8 from the line, while UBC hit 20-29 free throws.
 
 Plumb stuffed the stats sheet in just about every category, giving UBC 15 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists.
 
 UBC now moves on to face the winner of the Victoria-Winnipeg semifinal game on Saturday at 8 p.m. The Cascades will play the loser at that game for Canada West bronze at 6 p.m. All games are at UBC's War Memorial Gym.

Source: Ali Lee, Victoria Sports Info with files from UBC Athletics

VANCOUVER – The University of Victoria Vikes men’s basketball team will move on to meet Pacific Division rivals the UBC Thunderbirds in the Canada West gold medal game after they downed the Winnipeg Wesmen 72-59 on Mar. 1 in the semifinal game at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver. With the semifinal wins, both the Birds and Vikes have secured spots at the CIS national championship Final 8 tournament, hosted in Ottawa, Mar. 8-10.
 
Third-year forward Chris McLaughlin (Oakville, ON) tallied in a game-high 23 points and added 15 rebounds for the game’s only double-double. Canada West second–team all-star Terrell Evans (Las Vegas, NV) contributed big with 19 points and five rebounds to help the Vikes shoot 49.2 per cent from the field and win the boards 50-25 over the Wesmen.
 
Steven Wesley led the Wesmen with 17 points and six rebounds. Benny Iko had 10 points and five boards.
 
“It seemed like it was a bit of an ugly game at first,” said recently named Canada West Coach of the Year and Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp. “We talked before that you need to win games that you don’t necessarily play well or shoot well in. Today, our defence work is what won the game for us. We held them to 59 points and gave ourselves a chance and in the fourth quarter, when the game was on the line, we were able to hold them to 13 points.”
 
The game was air-tight for the opening three quarters, with the Wesmen edging the Vikes 16-15 after the first. McLaughlin started his scoring tear early, finishing the first half with 11 points and nine rebounds, making good on all field attempts and shots from the free-throw line. Victoria took the 33—30 lead entering the half-time break.
 
In the third quarter, the Vikes gained some momentum as McLaughlin continued to find success in the paint, while Reiner Theil (West Vancouver, B.C.) hit the Vikes’ only three-pointer of the night to take an important 40-37 advantage. Winnipeg’s Iko closed out the quarter with a huge shot from outside the arc despite the Wesmen trailing 49-46 entering the final quarter.
 
The Vikes started to pull in front in the fourth, as the Wesmen struggled to contain six-foot-ten center McLaughlin, who had a three to four inch height advantage over anyone guarding him. McLaughlin closed the night shooting 9-12 from the field.
 
Down by four, the Wesmen seemed to find some flow after a big defensive stop and subsequent rebound. McLaughlin cleaned up, wrestling the rebound away from the Winnipeg defense to get a timely shot up through traffic. McLaughlin’s shot dropped for two and he made the free throw on the foul to complete the three-point play, pushing the Vikes up 57-50. With the chance of cutting the Vikes’ lead within reach, the Wesmen were unable to climb their way back.
 
The Vikes grabbed 15 offensive rebounds compared to the 16 defensive boards for the Wesmen. Winning the war on the boards gave the Vikes a 20-10 edge in second-chance points, which seemed to be the deciding factor in the 72-59 win.
 
The Vikes needed every bit of that favourable rebounding margin too, as their 19 turnovers threatened to let the Wesmen surge ahead at times. Winnipeg coughed the ball up only eight times, but they struggled to capitalize on their extra chances thanks to Victoria’s size advantage on defence.
 
The Wesmen will take on the Fraser Valley Cascades for Canada West bronze on Saturday at 6 p.m. The winner of that game is also still technically alive for CIS Final Eight consideration via the lone at-large berth available nationally.
 
Victoria goes up against Final Four host, the UBC Thunderbirds, for the Canada West title at 8 p.m. Both the Vikes and Thunderbirds automatically advance to the CIS tournament. Conference bronze and gold medal games will be streamed live at http://canadawest.tv