Saturday 10 February 2007

Saturday's Game Previews & Late Friday Reports

For a recap of last night's early games, click here

FRIDAY'S CANADA WEST RESULTS
Saskatchewan (12-9) at Calgary (11-10) The surging Dinos won their fifth in a row as Josh Feist had 18 points and 8 assists. Calgary will face Saskatchewan in Saskatoon next weekend in a Best-of-3 Central division semi-final. Saskatchewan’s Andrew Spagrud became his school’s all-time leading scorer just over three minutes into the game with a short jump shot passing Roger Ganes. Dinos defeat Huskies on Senior's Night PLUS BOX SCORE

Alberta (14-7) 79 at Lethbridge (6-15) 69 The Bears officially clinched first place in the Central by defeating the Pronghorns in Southern Alberta as C.G. Morrison, a leading candidate for Canada West freshman-of-the-year, led the way with 14 points despite going only 3-10 from the field. Alberta Clinches Top Spot (including box score)

UCFV (6-16) 70 at #4 Victoria (19-3) 73 Fifth-year senior Graeme Bollinger broke a 70-70 tie with a basket in the final minutes and the Vikes held off the Cascades in Victoria. Reports from Vic site Bollinger Lifts Vikes and from Fraser Valley site
Cascades put scare into Vikes (includes Box Score)

Thompson Rivers (1-21) 76 at #5 UBC (19-3) 94 6'7" Bryson Kool had 23 points to lead the T-Birds to within one game of officially clinching first place in the Pacific division. T-Birds Too Much for TRU PLUS Box Score

Manitoba (7-14) 76 at Regina (8-13) 79 The Cougars officially clinched a playoff spot in the Great Plains conference by edging the Bisons at home. Jeff Lukomski 3's gave the Cougars an 8 point lead with 4:12 remaining but Manitoba got it back to one on a jumper by Grahame Mitchell with 1:10 to play. After a pair of turnovers, Regina's Brad Fekula hit a clutch jumper with 13 seconds to play to restore a three point lead and the Cougars fouled immediately. Issac Ansah made 1-2 f.t. with 12 seconds left and the Cougars ran out the clock the rest of the way for the win. Drew Kuzimski led Regina with 29 while Darcy Coss had 21 for the Bisons. According to my late-night interpretation of the Canada West tie-breaker rules as described in Nate Schnellenberg's email, Regina holds the edge by virtue of a 1-1 record against the #1 seeds of the other 2 divisions as they defeated Alberta before Christmas while Winnipeg is 0-2. The two teams are tied in all other scenarios. Wins by Regina and Brandon tomorrow night will apparently give the Cougars home court advantage in the Best-of-3 Great Plains division semi-final series beginning next week.

Kingston Whig-Standard reports on Carleton's win over Queen's in Kingston Ravens Take Flight

Guelph holds off Lakehead as the Guelph Mercury Reports Who Shot for J.R. Last Night: Gryph subs stumble in win over lowly Lakehead

Ben Katz leads the Blues over York and gives Toronto the edge for third place in the OUA East Blues over Lions

SATURDAY'S GAME PREVIEWS
AUS A pair of two point afternoon games in Atlantic Canada as Dal can solidify their hold on a playoff spot with a win over MUN while Acadia needs victories to maintain their chances of a first round bye in the AUS tournament.
2 PM Eastern/3 pm local Memorial (4-11, 8 pts) at Dalhousie (6-9, 14 pts) In a key game that has implications for the sixth and final spot in the AUS tournament, the Seahawks come off last night's loss at St.Mary's to face Dal, which defeated the Huskies in overtime this past Wednesday. The Tigers hold a 2-1 lead in the series against MUN thus far this season. In other games in Atlantic Canada, 4 PM Eastern/5 pm local UPEI (6-8, 24 pts) at #6 Acadia (11-4, 32 pts) in a game which the Panthers must win to hold any hope of a possible first round bye in the AUS tournament. Also, the Capers, in first place in the conference, visit last place UNB Varsity Reds 7 PM Eastern/8 pm local #9 Cape Breton (11-3, 32 pts.) at UNB (4-10, 8 pts.)

OUA WEST
Three games in the OUA West with Windsor having to schedule their home game with Western for Sunday due to a conflict at the St. Denis Center, although the thought of Sunday afternoon basketball is a novel one.
4:00 pm McMaster (11-7) at Laurier (8-10) The Hawks magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 2 and they hope to draw at least one step closer as they honour graduating fifth-year senior Omar Miles for his career as a Golden Hawk. McMaster is the hottest team in the west with an 8-2 record in the new year but Laurier has been very resilient after losses especially at home. The Miles vs. Martin Ajayi matchup is intriguing but 6'8" Adam Steiner is playing almost unconscious offensive basketball down the stretch and the ability of Laurier's young front line, led by 6'8" Andrew Pennycook, among the CIS leaders in blocked shots, to neutralize Steiner will go a long way in determining the outcome. This is a great test for the young Hawks, who will start four players in their third year and below against a Mac squad with four 5th year seniors and a 4th year veteran among their starting five. The game is available on cfmu 93.3 Mac radio via the Internet by clicking here .

4:00 pm Waterloo (6-13) at Brock (12-6) The Badgers look for their sixth consecutive victory in an attempt to move 1/2 game ahead of Windsor for first place. Brock got a valiant effort from 5'9" Brad Rootes on Wednesday night, who has been playing with a severe charley horse. Defensive stopper Mike Kemp will look to continue his fine play after Christmas while 6'5" Chris Keith will look to exploit the younger Warrior post players. Waterloo has lost 7 straight and with a loss and wins by Laurier and Guelph will officially be eliminated from the post season.

8:00 pm Lakehead (1-18) at Guelph (9-9) After last night's victory which clinched them a playoff spot, the Gryphs continue their quest for a home game in the first round of the playoffs at home against the last place Thunderwolves. Guelph will be without 6'10" J.R. Bailey and 6'4" Jay Mott, both nursing ankle injuries.

QSSF A single game in the "Q" but it has huge playoff implications as the Redmen look to put the skids on a five-game losing streak at QAM. With a victory, McGill would have a two-game lead on the Citadins and create some breathing room for themselves while a loss would put a playoff spot in jeapordy.
8:00 pm McGill (5-7) at UQAM (4-8) The game can be heard on CHOQ FM (in French) by clicking here

OUA EAST
8:00 pm Ryerson (6-13) at York (12-7) Both teams come off big losses and need victories to continue their fights for sixth and third respectively. York will officially clinch a home playoff game with a victory tonight.
8:00 pm Toronto (12-7) at Laurentian (6-13) Laurentian went to a spread "o" last night to offset a size disadvantage but were able to pull away with great defense. Both teams come off emotional victories last night. This could be a first round playoff preview assuming all teams remain in their current position in the standings.
8:00 pm #10 Ottawa (16-4) at Queen's (10-9) Both teams are firmly in second (Gee-Gees) and fifth (Gaels) positions. Queen's has an outside shot at fourth and a home playoff game but would have to win out and have York lose out. The game is important for Ottawa however if the Gee-Gees harber any hope of a wild-card berth at the CIS Nationals.
8:00 pm #3 Carleton (18-2) at RMC (1-18) The Paladins played the Ravens even to halftime last time in Ottawa. Carleton would clinch first place officially with a victory in Kingston tonight.

CANADA WEST
9 PM Eastern/8 PM local Manitoba (7-14) at Regina (8-13) With a victory and a Winnipeg loss at Brandon, the Cougars (by my pedestrian calculations) would squeeze into second place in the Great Plains division and obtain the right to host a best-of-3 division semi-final in Regina instead of having to travel to the Duckworth Center.
9 PM Eastern/8 PM local Winnipeg (9-12) at #1 Brandon (19-2) The Wesmen need a win to ensure second place but Brandon bounced them easily in Winnipeg on Thursday and the Bobcats have won 12 in a row in league play.
10 PM Eastern/8 PM local Alberta (14-7) at Lethbridge (6-15) This game is meaningless as Alberta has clinched first and the Horns have been elminated for a couple of weeks.
10 PM Eastern/8 PM local Saskatchewan (12-9) at Calgary (11-10) Another meaningless game as the Huskies have already clinched second. These 2 teams will meet next weekend in Saskatoon in a Best-of-3 Canada West Central division semi-final series.
11 PM Eastern/8 PM local UCFV (6-16) at #5 UBC (19-3) UBC needs a victory to clinch top spot in the Pacific. The game can be followed via LIVE STATS! although the link provided did not work as of Saturday morning.
11 PM Eastern/8 PM local Simon Fraser (10-12) at Trinity Western (9-13) The winner of this game finishes third in the Pacific and will likely move on to face Victoria at Victoria next weekend in the division semi-finals. SFU Preview

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Re; Ottawa needs to beat Queen's tonight if they hope to get a wildcard berth to the nationals.
The heck with that. Ottawa needs to meet and beat the Ravens in the OUA playoffs. The best way to the nationals is through the front door, not the back door. The way the strong OUA East is this year all kinds of upsets are possible. Carleton should be considered the favourite, but an upset is very possible this year.