CIS Hoops.ca

One correction from Wednesday night... we erroneously reported that the Waterloo Warriors were officially eliminated from the OUA West playoffs after their loss at Western. In fact, the Warriors (6-13) continue to have a small mathematical chance at capturing a playoff spot but will need to win their final 3 games including a victory by more than 9 points over Laurier in the season finale and hope that either the Hawks (8-10) lose their last 4 or Guelph (8-9) loses their last 5 including a pair of games at home to last place Lakehead.

In the CIS last night...
#1 Brandon (19-2) 85 at Winnipeg (9-12) 76 In the only CIS game last night, the Bobcats put on a dominating performance on the road at the Duckworth Center in Winnipeg, jumping out to a 32-11 lead in the first 11 1/2 minutes and then used an 11-0 run bridging the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to run away from the home town Wesmen. The Bobcats dominated inside, taking advantage of the absence of Winnipeg's 6'9" Ivan Saric, as 6'7" Adam Hartman led all scorers with 20 points and 6'10" Yuri Whyms (pictured) had 12 of his 13 points in the second half, many from the low block or on put backs (Brandon had 16 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the Wesmen 46-33). Brandon took their largest lead of the night at 64-39 with about 10 minutes left in the game in exciting fashion when 6'3" Dany Charlery converted a transition ally oop from point guard Yul Michel (12 points, 7 assists) bringing the crowd to their feet. Except for a 7 minute stretch late in the first half when Winnipeg used smarter shot selection and one-and-done "d" for a 17-6 run to bring the game back to 9, the Bobcats were in complete control especially with their starters on the floor. The teams meet again on Saturday in Brandon and Winnipeg needs a victory to ensure a second place finish and home court advantage in the Great Plains division Best-of-3 semi-final. Brandon at Winnipeg Box Score

AUS
7 PM Eastern/ 8PM local Memorial (4-10, 8 pts.) at Saint Mary's (6-7, 18 pts.) The Huskies look to solidify their hold on 5th place and push the Seahawks further out of playoff contention in the first of two weekend games for Memorial in Halifax. The Seahawks face Dalhousie on Saturday at Dalplex.

QSSF
8 PM Eastern Laval (6-5) at Bishop's (4-8) In the third game in the last 2 weeks between these rivals, the Rouge et Or can solidify their hold on second place and a home playoff game with a win in Lennoxville. The Gaiters were able to stay with Laval in both prior games, losing in double overtime at Laval and winning at home. Key to the game will be whether or not Laval's All-Canadian J.P. Morin will be available after reinjuring his hand which has been sore all season.
8 PM Eastern #2 Concordia (10-1) at McGill (5-7) The Stingers are rolling and can all but clinch first place with a victory at McGill. The Redmen have lost 4 straight and 5 of 6 after starting the regular season at 4-2. Concordia has captured all three prior meetings this season.

OUA East
8PM Ryerson (6-12) at Laurentian (5-13) In what will essentially decide the final playoff spot in the East, the Voyageurs need a victory by more than 4 points to overtake the Rams. Although 6'7" Boris Bakovic leads the Rams in scoring, Ryerson has got solid performances recently from 6'10" sophomore Joey Imbrogno, who is again finishing the season strong as he did last year when he was named to the OUA East all-freshman team. The undersized Vees will have to keep the tempo up and look to force Ryerson's young guards which they did reasonably successfully the last time, forcing 19 turnovers. In the first meeting between the 2 teams, Laurentian almost came back from 20 points down but lost by 4 as Boris Bakovic had a dominant 28-point/10-rebound night. NorthernLife.ca has a preview of tonight's game High Stakes Battles This Weekend

8PM Toronto (11-7) at York (12-6) A Varsity victory would give them the edge for third place in the East and a season sweep of York, which was without both Dan Eves and Rohan Steen in the first meeeting won by the Blues 89-61. An intriguing matchup up front has 6'9" Mike Williams strength and athleticism against 6'10" Jordan Foebel's length and finesse. Toronto will likely try to use their depth to push the tempo and wear down the Lions who recently have shortened their bench even when healthy. The wild card as usual is 6'3" Tut Ruach who has the ability to carry York for long stretches and turn games around single-handidly.

8PM #3 Carleton (17-2) at Queen's (10-8) The Gaels are only 2-5 in their past 7 games and have defeated only Ryerson since their last second win at Ottawa after which 6'7" star freshman Mitch Leger went to hospital with a suspected appendix problem. Leger, who was heavily recruited by the Ravens, will be playing his first game against Carleton after missing the previous meeting with the appendix problem. Both teams deploy similar pack-it-in "d"'s and look to create and exploit mismatches offensively for the most part. Queen's however is more reliant on making shots from downtown and finding ways to score when Leger is not in the game. Carleton hopes to have 6'5" Jean-Emmanueal Jean-Marie back to full strength after fighting pneumonia-like symptoms for much of last weekend. The Gaels still have an opportunity to host a home playoff game but will need wins over Carleton and Ottawa this weekend plus help from other teams as Toronto owns the head-to-head tie breaker after defeating the Gaels twice earlier.

8PM #10 Ottawa (15-4) at RMC (1-17) The Gee-Gees can officially clinch second place with a victory over the Paladins in Kingston.

OUA West
8 PM Lakehead (1-17) at Guelph (8-9) The Gryphs have won 2 straight after a 5 game losing streak and will officially clinch a playoff spot with a win tonight.

Canada West
9PM Eastern/8 PM local Manitoba (7-13) at Regina (7-13) The Bisons need a sweep in Regina to squeeze into a playoff spot. Even a split will give the Cougars third place in the Great Plains division and a sweep could give them home court advantage in the semi-finals against Winnipeg.
10PM Eastern/8 PM local Saskatchewan (12-8) at Calgary (10-10) A Dinos sweep could give them the home court advantage in the Central division in what could be the start of 5 consecutive games between the 2 teams. Otherwise, Calgary will visit Saskatchewan next weekend in a Best-of-3 division semi-final.
10:15 PM Eastern/8:15 PM local Alberta (13-7) at Lethbridge (6-14) Alberta needs just one win in this 2 game weekend set to clinch the Central divsion outright and the Pronghorns are basically playing out the string in a non-playoff season.
11PM Eastern/8 PM local UCFV (6-15) at #4 Victoria (18-3) With a sweep this weekend and an unlikely loss by UBC, the Vikes could capture the Pacific division crown. More likely is that Vic will host the winner of Saturday's Simon Fraser/Trinity Western game that will decide third place in a Best-of-3 semi-final next weekend. Vikes Aim for Top Spot
11PM Eastern/8 PM local Thompson Rivers (1-20) at #5 UBC (18-3) CiTR 101.9 UBC should clinch first place this weekend, beginning with a victory against the Wolf Pack at home. The Pack won their first league game last weekend by defeating former CCAA rival Fraser Valley.

Sarah Crooks of Saskatchewan needs just 8 points to break the Canada West conference career scoring record Crooks in position to break scoring record

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