Here is the latest edition of The Thomas Report, authored by Jim Thomas, published on the hoop-la.com earlier today Thomas Report 26 February 07
ARTICLES FROM LATER TODAY
The Victoria Times-Colonist explains the Canada West Final Four set-up including Victoria being named as the wild card for this weekend's tournament in Brandon Vikes get second shot at CIS title
The Guelph Mercury reports on the Gryphs huge, late comeback to live another day and face Windsor on Wednesday Gryphs wake up just in time
Guelph Mercury reports on the local high school championship where Jonathan House starred House Leads Spartans to CWOSSA title
There was one game in the CIS today as MUN and X made up their game from Saturday which was postponed due to inclement weather in Newfoundland Memorial (5-15, 10 pts) 67 at St. FX (13-6, 40 pts) 82 The X-Men started slowly and actually fell behind by 4 at halftime before exploding for 50 points in the second half to clinch second place in the AUS and receive a first round bye at the AUS tournament. 6'3" Garry Gallimore had 26 points while 6'10" Neil MacDonald added 23 points and 12 rebounds and 6'2" Tyler Richards added 14. St. FX again played without starting point guard Christian "T-Bear" Upshaw and emerging subsitute David Joyce, both out with ankle injuries. Sean Thistle had 23 for MUN, which saw their season come to an end with a 5-15 record. Here is this afternoon's BOX SCORE The entire AUS tournament schedule has been posted below with thanks to Jim Charters from Cape Breton.
AUS Men’s Basketball Tournament Schedule - All Games at Halifax Metro Center
Thursday, March 8th
Quarterfinal #1: UPEI vs. Saint Mary's, 6:00pm Atlantic
Quarterfinal #2: Acadia vs. Dalhousie, 8:00pm Atlantic
Friday, March 9th
Semifinal #1: Cape Breton vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 6:00pm Atlantic
Semifinal #2: StFX vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 8:00pm Atlantic
Saturday, March 10th
Championship Game: Semifinal Winners, 7:00pm Atlantic
NEWSPAPER REPORTS FROM THE WEEKEND
Worth a repeat post... Excellent article by James Mirtle of the Globe & Mail on the Mike Katz/Dave DeAveiro relationship and the turnarond by Coach Katz at U of T Protégé and mentor meet again in OUA quarter-final
Larry Moko from Hamilton Spectator reports on Mac's win over Laurier in which they neutralized Hawks' All-Star Matt Walker Mac Leans On Vets
Mark Lynch had a big game from behind the arc as Saskatchewan defeated Alberta to advance to the Canada West Final Four as Kevin Mitchell from Saskatoon Star-Phoenix reports Dogs Heading to Conference Finals Also, Jonathan Huntington from Edmonton Sun provides the Alberta perspective in this article Dreams Die Hard . Edmonton Journal also has a report on Sunday afternoon's series finale Bad News for Bears
Chad Lucas from the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reports on Mark McLaughlin's big afternoon allowing his St. Mary's Huskies to knock off first-place Cape Breton
McLaughlin Leads Huskies Past Capers
Charles Reid from the PEI Guardian reports on the Panthers loss to Acadia on Seniors Day Panthers Wanted this one Real Bad
Also, thanks to Nathan Schellenberg for the following details about Game 3 of Saskatchewan vs. Alberta... Alberta led by as many as 10 in the first half but ran into foul trouble in the final eight minutes forcing Coach Don Horwood to sit Golden Bears starters Alex Steele (Edmonton, 4th) and Tyson Jones (Manitoba, 5th). The Huskies ended the half with a 23-6 run and a 50-43 lead at the break. In the second half, the Huskies led by eight when Huskies Rejean Chabot hustled back to intercept an Alberta pass on the break, before taking the ball upcourt and finding Mark Lynch for a layup, putting the Dogs up 61-51 with 15:19 to go. A minute and a half later Saskatchewan's Kyle Grant picked up his fourth foul of the game and was forced to sit for a few minutes. Jordan Harbidge, who played six minutes in the first half in his first game action since suffering an ankle injury in practice ten days ago, came in a promptly threw an alley-oop pass to Spagrud to restore the ten point lead. Back-to-back deep three's over the Huskies zone by Alex Steele cut the lead to 72-67 with 8:32 remaining. But the Dogs came back, and Lynch drilling another three to make the score 82-73 with 5:38 left to play. With the Huskies leading 85-81, two critical plays hurt the Bears' chances of completing a comeback. With 2:25 to play Steele fouled out after charging into Grant. After the Huskies failed to score, Neb Aleksic turned the ball over on an over-and-back violation with 1:42 on the clock. Lynch scored on a short jumper with 1:16 remaining to put the Huskies up six, but Jones respnded for the Bears quickly driving to the hoop for a layup. C.G. Morrison was able to hit a layup with 6.9 seconds left, making the score 87-85. The Bears then fouled Grant, who missed his first free throw before hitting the second with 5.9 seconds showing on the clock, setting up Morrison's desperation heave at the buzzer that missed, allowing Saskatchewan to capture the 3 point win.
Before we get into this week's CIS HOOPS.CA Top 10, here are some tables of data to consider:
TOP OVERALL RECORDS IN CIS listed in order of fewest losses
Concordia 20-2 with losses to Laurentian (9-19) at home & at UQAM (6-15)
Brandon 29-3 with losses at Winnipeg (15-17) twice & at Trinity Western (12-16)
Carleton 28-3 with losses to Ottawa (28-4) twice (neutral & away) & York (23-11) at home
UBC 30-4 with losses to Concordia (20-2) (neutral), at Brandon (29-3), at Sask (20-14) & at UVic (26-8)
Ottawa 28-4 with losses at Windsor (19-7), at Toronto (21-10), at York (23-11) and Queen's (19-14) at home
Victoria 26-8 with 4 losses vs UBC (30-4) (3 times away & once at home), Concordia (20-2) at home, at Carleton (28-3), Windsor (19-7) (neutral) and at Brandon (29-3)
Brock 24-9
York 23-11
Cape Breton 21-9
Toronto 21-10
Saskatchewan 20-14
Queen's 19-14
Windsor 19-7
McMaster 19-11
Alberta 19-12
Acadia 19-12
St. FX 19-6
Laval 16-13
# TEAMS OVER .500 PER DIVISION:
AUS: 3 out of 8 teams (Cape Breton, St. FX, Acadia)
QSSF: 2 out of 5 teams (Concordia, Laval)
OUA EAST: 5 out of 8 teams (Carleton, Ottawa, Toronto, York, Queen's)
OUA WEST: 3 out of 8 teams (Brock, Windsor, McMaster)
CANADA WEST: 5 out of 16 teams (Brandon, UBC, Victoria, Alberta, Saskatchewan)
HOTTEST TEAMS IN THE CIS - Longest current winning streaks:
Brandon 15
Concordia 8
UBC 6
Ottawa 5
BEST RECORDS SINCE THE HOLIDAYS in order of most victories
Brandon 14-0 with "quality" wins at home over UBC, Vic; all other wins vs. under .500 teams
UBC 13-3 losses: at Brandon, at Saskatchewan, at Vic; "quality" wins at home at Vic, Vic at home (twice), at Alberta
Ottawa 12-3 losses: at York, at Toronto, Queen's at home; "quality" wins twice vs. Carleton (home & neutral), Toronto (twice), York, at Queen's
Carleton 12-3 losses: Ottawa (twice), York at home; "quality" wins: York (twice; home & road), Toronto (twice), Queen's (twice)
Victoria 12-4 losses: at Brandon, UBC (at home), at UBC (twice); "quality" wins: UBC at home, at Alberta, at Saskatchewan
Toronto 12-4
Cape Breton 11-3
Brock 10-4
McMaster 11-4
Acadia 10-3
CISHOOPS.CA CANADIAN UNIVERSITY CIS TOP 10 for week of 26 February 2007
#1 Brandon (20-2 in Canada West, 29-3 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #1 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Swept Regina (11-19) at home to win Great Plains Division title and host bid for Canada West Final Four UPDATE: Brandon will meet Canada West wild-card UVic at home on Friday, one of two Canada West Final Four semi-final games. It is worth mentioning again that the Bobcats have played only 6 of their 32 games overall against teams with records better than .500 but are 6-0 in those games, none of which were road games (four home wins over UBC, UVic, Alberta and Saskatchewan plus neutral court wins vs. Saskatchewan and Toronto). 
#2 Concordia (14-1 in QSSF, 19-2 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #2 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Defeated UQAM 102-63 ; won at Laval 78-65. UPDATE: The Stingers finished first in the "Q" and will host UQAM, a team they just beat by 39 in the first round of the playoffs this Thursday (one game sudden death). Concordia has won 8 in a row and 20 of 21 since their opening night loss at their own Concordia tournament to Laurentian in early October. The Stingers are 7-0 against teams with records better than .500 including a pair of wins out west over UBC (road game) and Victoria (at UBC tournament).
#3 Carleton (19-3 in OUA, 28-3 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #3 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Defeated York 68-57 in OUA East semi-final at home UPDATE: The Ravens rebounded to defeat York in a workman-like effort to once again reach the OUA East championship game, which they will host on Saturday at the Raven's Nest against Ottawa. Two of Carleton's three losses have been to Ottawa, which only has 4 losses all season, on the road and at a neutral site. The Ravens are still the four-time defending champions, have played a very demanding schedule and still have only 3 losses all season, all within the OUA East, which numbers-wise and anecdotally adds up to the toughest division in the CIS.
#4 Ottawa (18-4 in OUA, 27-4 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #4 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Defeated Toronto 69-68 at home in OUA East semi-final UPDATE: The Gee-Gees have won 9 of their last 10 games with the lone loss during that stretch at the buzzer at U of T, a team they just defeated on Saturday. Ottawa is the only team in the past 4 seasons or longer to defeat Carleton twice and with only 4 losses to CIS teams all season, only 3 teams have fewer setbacks against Canadian schools. The Gee-Gees are a solid 10-4 against teams above .500 with losses at Toronto, Queen's, at York and at Windsor. Ottawa will look to earn an automatic bid to their second CIS Nationals in 3 seasons on Saturday night at Carleton in the OUA East championship game.
#5 UBC (20-3 in Canada West, 2-0 in playoffs, 28-4 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #6 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Defeated UVic twice 80-63 and 88-82 to win the Pacific Division championship in 2 straight. UPDATE: The T-Birds made it four of five against Vic this season, including the only road win in the five games played, with a pair of victories including Friday's decisive win by 17. UBC has played the majority of their big games on the road, with only Victoria (win) and Concordia (loss) at home plus road games at Brandon (loss), at Saskatchewan (loss), at Alberta (win) and vs. Cape Breton (win at Memorial tournament). UBC plays for an automatic spot in Halifax this coming Friday night against Saskatchewan, which defeated the T-Birds in early February 79-75 in Saskatoon. 
#6 Victoria (20-3 Canada West, 2-2 in playoffs, 26-8 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #5 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Lost twice at UBC 80-63 & 88-82 but earned Canada West's wild card bid to the Final Four next weekend in Brandon UPDATE: The Vikes have four quality wins against at Alberta, at Saskatchewan, Queen's (neutral) and at home against UBC in January after which they promptly lost at home to the T-Birds the next night. With 8 losses (including 4 to UBC, at Brandon, vs. Concordia at UBC tournament, at Carleton, vs. Windsor at Carleton tournament), the Vikes likely need a victory over Brandon in the Canada West Final Four semi-final on Friday night to make it to the Nationals. The Bobcats earlier defeated Victoria 82-81 on a Tyus Edney-like coast-to-coast score by Brandon's Yul Michel at the buzzer in Brandon in January.
#7 Cape Breton (15-4 in AUS, 21-9 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca #7 ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Won at Dal 84-63 and lost to SMU 68-61. UPDATE: The Capers clinched top spot in the AUS on the weekend, ending X's 9 year run atop the conference but tripped up the next day at St. Mary's. Cape Breton has only 3 losses after the holidays but with 9 losses overall including 5 out of the conference plus a convincing loss against York by 15, the Capers fall short of a Top 5 spot. Cape Breton finishes their season at second place X next Sunday and then awaits the winner of the likely UPEI/St.Mary's game in the AUS tournament semi-finals for a spot in the Nationals. 
#8 Windsor (16-6 in OUA, 19-7 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca not ranked last week): THIS PAST WEEK: Defeated Brock 82-72 at home to clinch their first OUA West regular season title in 27 years UPDATE: The Lancers came away with a quality win at home when it counted, ending Brock's 9 game winning streak in convincing fashion. Windsor will have home court advantage throughout the remainder of the Ontario playoffs including the Wilson Cup if they make it that far. The Lancers host Guelph this Wednesday in the OUA West semi-final and the teams split the season series, each winning on their respective home floors; the game at Windsor finished 86-51 in late January. Expect a loud, sell-out crowd at the St. Denis Center.
#9 St. Francis Xavier (12-6 in AUS, 19-6 vs. CIS overall): THIS PAST WEEK: Won at St. Mary's 78-76 in overtime and defeated MUN 86-61 at home UPDATE: X has now won 3 in a row and still has but 6 losses to CIS teams this season. A win over MUN tomorrow clinches second place and a bye in the AUS tournament but the young X-Men had their 9 year streak of first place AUS finishes officially ended this weekend by Cape Breton with which they tangle in their final league game next Saturday. X has tried to work in 5 freshmen into the rotation but still has veterans Neil McDonald, Garry Gallimore and Tyler Richards who have been through the wars at the Metro Center and rightfully are a favorite for one of the two AUS spots at the Nationals.
#10 Brock (15-7 in OUA, 24-9 vs. CIS overall) (cishoops.ca NR last week) THIS PAST WEEK: Lost 82-72 at Windsor to finish second and claim an OUA West first round playoff bye UPDATE: Brock had their 9 game winning streak snapped in Windsor and will host McMaster Marauders on Wednesday in an OUA West semi-final game. The Badgers gave up a pair of large late leads in bowing twice to McMaster this season. With only 2 losses outside of the league all season (overtime against Cape Breton and Concordia by 6), the Badgers have earned consideration for a Top 10 ranking. DROPPED OUT OF CISHOOPS.CA TOP TEN
Toronto, York (CISHOOPS.CA policy is to immediately remove teams eliminated from further play from Top 10 consideration even though they may be warranted)
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