FINAL CIS championship: Carleton returns to the top, claims 7th title in 9 years

Photo credit Nick Pearse

HALIFAX (CIS) – The Carleton University Ravens returned to the top of the CIS men’s basketball world on Sunday evening with a convincing 82-59 gold medal win over the Trinity Western Spartans, at the Halifax Metro Centre.
 
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mbkb
 
It marked the seventh W.P. McGee Trophy triumph in nine years – and the seventh in history – for the Ravens, who had won the last five editions of the tournament in Halifax from 2003 to 2007, before adding another banner in 2009 in Ottawa. They extended their winning streak at the Metro Centre to 20 straight games dating back to a 78-77 quarter-final loss to McMaster in 2001.
 
The Ravens had settled for the No. 2 seed heading into the Final 8 tourney following a surprise loss to Lakehead in the OUA final, which turned out to be their only setback of the season in 35 overall contests against CIS opposition.
 
Tyson Hinz received the Jack Donohue Trophy as tournament MVP, three days after being named CIS player of the year. The latest player to earn both honours in the same season was former Carleton great Osvaldo Jeanty in 2005-06.
 
Hinz, a 6-foot-6 sophomore forward from Ottawa, who was named game MVP in Carleton’s 73-66 quarter-final win over No. 7 Concordia on Friday and in a 95-83 semifinal victory over No. 3 Saskatchewan on Saturday, completed his dream weekend with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists in the national final.
 
“They’re a very good team in the post, they’re very strong physically. So I thought I’d try my luck outside,” said Hinz, was 4-for-8 from the field and made two of Carleton’s 16 three-point shots on the night. “It’s an amazing feeling, especially after last year’s loss at home in the semis.”
 
For Dave Smart, who was named CIS coach of the year for a record-tying fourth time on Thursday, winning championships doesn’t get old.
 
“It might be a cliché but every title is special, because every team is different. With this group of guys, it’s special because we have such a young team. We return pretty much every guy next year.”
 
Elliot Thompson, a fourth-year guard from Fredericton, earned player-of-the-game honours in the title match after scoring a game-high 19 points. He joined Hinz on the tournament all-star team.
 
Reigning CIS rookie of the year Philip Scrubb of Richmond, B.C., added 16 points for the winners, while Willy Manigat of Montreal had 14.
 
The Spartans, who earned the wildcard and entered the tourney as the No. 5 seed after finishing third at the Canada West Final Four, were making their first appearance at the championship since joining CIS back in 1999-2000.
 
“We learned something today about the intensity level required to win a championship,” said Scott Allen, in his third season at the helm at TWU. “We had a good game plan but we underestimated how physical they would be on defence. They’re so good in the post, we had to pick our poison and mix it up. Full credit to them, they’re a machine.”
 
First-team all-Canadian forward Jacob Doerksen of Abbotsford, B.C., paced Trinity Western with a 16-point, 12 rebound double-double. The former CIS MVP and rookie of the year was the lone Spartan with previous Final 8 experience. In his first season in 2007, when he was suiting up for Victoria, the Vikes dropped a 73-67 decision to Carleton in the final.
 
Kyle Coston, a fourth-year forward from Blaine, Wash., added 13 points and nine boards in the losing cause.
 
Both Doerksen and Coston were chosen tournament all-stars. Coston was the player of the game in Trinity Western’s wins against Lakehead in the first round (82-74) and over top-seeded UBC in the semifinals (74-72).
 
Carleton led 26-17 after the first quarter, 49-31 at halftime and 60-44 after 30 minutes.
 
The Ravens broke a 13-13 deadlock six minutes into the contest thanks to back-to-back three-pointers by Hinz and Manigat, who scored eight points in the opening period including another three with one second remaining as the shot clock expired.   
 
Carleton resumed its domination from beyond the arc in the second stanza.
 
Mike Kenny, the lone remaining member from the Ravens’ last triumph in Halifax in 2007, opened the quarter with a three to make it 29-17, and then hit again from long distance midway through the period to open up a 13-point gap, at 36-23.
 
Thompson stole the show in the final three minutes before the break with seven points, including yet another three with 12 seconds left on the clock.
 
Carleton was 10-of-20 from downtown in the first 20 minutes, while Trinity Western was 2-for-9.
 
Thompson had 11 points at the intermission, while Hinz and Doerksen both had 10.
 
Back from the break, a stingy TWU defence held the Ravens to only three points – on a Manigat three – in the first 6:30 of the quarter, but the Spartans scored only eight points themselves during the sequence and were still trailing by 13, at 52-39, with 3:30 to go in the frame.
 
Three-pointers by Manigat and Thompson in the final 50 seconds made it a 16-point affair (60-44) after 30 minutes.
 
Trinity Western was never able to cut the deficit to less than a dozen in the fourth quarter. Carleton led by as much as 24 on two occasions (80-56, 82-58) in the final two minutes.
 
Carleton finished with percentages of 42.6 from the floor, 42.1 from beyond the arc (16 of 38) and 82.4 at the free throw line, compared to 35.4, 23.1 (3 of 13) and 68.8 for TWU.
 
The Spartans out-rebounded their opponents 46-34.
 
GAME NOTES: Saskatchewan’s Jamelle Barrett, who scored 27, 28 and 28 points in the Huskies’ three games, rounded out the tournament all-star team... Dalhousie’s Simon Farine received the R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award... Carleton had won its first six W.P. McGee Trophies with wins over Guelph in 2003 (57-54), StFX in 2004 (63-59), Concordia in 2005 (68-48), Victoria in 2006 (73-67), Brandon in 2007 (52-49) and UBC in 2009 (87-77)... The Ravens’ first five triumphs came at the Metro Centre while their sixth banner was won at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa... The Final 8 tournament returns to Halifax in 2012 before heading back to Ottawa in 2013 and 2014...
 
STAT LEADERS
 
Carleton
Points: Elliot Thompson (19), Philip Scrubb (16), Willy Manigat (14), Tyson Hinz (13)
Rebounds: Cole Hobin (6), Tyson Hinz (6)
Assists: Cole Hobin (4), Tyson Hinz (4), Willy Manigat (4)
 
Player of the game: Elliot Thompson
 
Trinity Western
Points: Jacob Doerksen (16), Kyle Coston (13), Calvin Westbrook (9)
Rebounds: Jacob Doerksen (12), Kyle Coston (9)
Assists: Tristan Smith (5)
 
CHAMPIONSHIP HONOURS
 
Tournament MVP (Jack Donohue Trophy): Tyson Hinz, Carleton
 
R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award: Simon Farine, Dalhousie
 
Tournament All-Stars:
 
Tyson Hinz, Carleton
Elliot Thompson, Carleton
Kyle Coston, Trinity Western
Jacob Doerksen, Trinity Western
Jamelle Barrett, Saskatchewan
 
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
Quarter-final #4: Carleton 73, Concordia 66
 
Saturday, March 12
 
Consolation #1: Lakehead 75, Acadia 67
Consolation #2: Dalhousie 76, Concordia 65
Semifinal #1: Trinity Western 74, UBC 72
Semifinal #2: Carleton 95, Saskatchewan 83
 
Sunday, March 13
 
Consolation final (5th place): Lakehead 84, Dalhousie 80
Bronze medal game: UBC 111, Saskatchewan 95
Championship final: Carleton 82, Trinity Western 59
 
 
-CIS-