Saturday, 10 February 2007

Saturday's Results and Game Reports

To access today's entire set of game previews coast-to-coast, click here

A couple of articles: The Hamilton Spectator has a nice article on the recently-released book on Jack Donohue and discusses some stories with Hamilton connections Jack Donohue Book - Hamilton Spectator
Colin Laforme, a transfer from Youngstown State headed to Western, is a Hamilton native and the Hamilton Spectator has written a piece on him Colin Laforme Article

AUS Results from Saturday
Memorial (4-12, 8 pts) at Dalhousie (7-9, 16 pts) For the second consecutive game, 6'2" Devon Norris provided the late-game heroics, this time breaking 68-68 tie with a put-back with only 32 seconds remaining allowing the Tigers to move closer to clinching a spot in the AUS tournament. Norris stuck back a miss by 6'5" Germain Bendegue (pictured), Dal's 16th offensive rebound of the afternoon, and then converted the subsequent free throw for his only 3 points of the game to give the Tigers a 3 point lead which they extended to five before MUN's Justin Halleran (21 points) hit a 3 at the buzzer to make it closer. Earlier, MUN's Evan Constantine knocked in a jumper with 59 seconds remaining to provide the 19th tie of the game during which no team had leads larger than 5. The Tigers led by 2 at halftime but watched the Seahawks start the second half on a 7-0 run to trail by 5 but then Bendegue (19 points, 7 rebounds) followed with Dal's next 7 points, part of his 16 points second-half effort as the teams continue to stay close until the end. Tigers sophomore point guard Andrew Sullivan had a strong first half and finished with 14 points, 4 assists while steady Drew Stratton added 14 points and 8 rebounds for Dalhousie. With the loss by Memorial, St. Mary's clinches a spot at the AUS tournament.

UPEI (6-9, 24 pts.) at #6 Acadia (12-4, 34 pts.) The Axemen took over first place in the AUS breaking open a defensive struggle with 45 second half points to defeat the Panthers in Wolfville. 6'1" Paolo Santana (pictured - Toronto, ON) led all scorers with 26 points including 3-3 3's, part of a 6-12 effort by Acadia from downtown, which offset a terrible 9-19 effort at the foul line. 6'5" Sherone Edwards had 16 points and 12 rebounds for UPEI while 6'9" Doug McKinney added 10 points and 5 rebounds, well off his season averages, while playing only 20 minutes due to foul trouble. Still, the Panthers outrebounded Acadia 39-25 including 14 offensive rebounds but could not take advantage. UPEI sits comfortably in fourth place in the AUS and appears headed for a first round matchup with St. Mary's in the AUS tournament.

#6 Cape Breton (12-3, 34 pts) 94 at UNB (4-11, 8 pts.) The hometown Varsity Reds had no answers inside for 6'5" fourth-year forward Eric Breland who has a season-high 32 points on 14-21 shooting and added 10 rebounds and the Capers broke away from a halftime tie to keep pace with Acadia atop the AUS standings. Bill Walker had 25 for UNB while Oliver Glencross added 20.

AUS STANDINGS BASED ON MAXIMUM POINTS AVAILABLE including today's games
CBU 34 pts; 3 4 pt. games left; 16 pts. available; max. 50 pts. total
ACA 34 pts; 1 4 pt. game left; 10 pts. available; max. 44 pts. total
SFX 24 pts; 3 4 pt. games left; 20 pts. available; max. 44 pts. total
PEI 24 pts; 1 4 pt. game left; 12 pts. available; max. 36 pts. total
SMU 22 pts; 2 4 pt. games left; 14 pts. available; max. 36 pts. total
DAL 16 pts; 2 4 pt. games left; 12 pts. available; max. 28 pts. total
MUN 8 pts; 2 4 pt. games left; 12 pts. available; max. 20 pts. total
UNB 8 pts; 2 4 pt. games left; 10 pts. available; max. 18 pts. total

OUA WEST
McMaster (11-8) 82 at Laurier (9-10) 89 Third-year forward Matthew Walker (pictured) all but solidified an All-Star selection that seemed unlikely at the start of the season, scoring 10 of his team-high 22 points during a game-deciding 16-7 run during a 6 1/2 minute stretch late in the game and then later restored a 5 point Hawk lead after an 8-0 Mac with a clutch shot to lead Laurier to the brink of clinching a playoff spot. After Mac's Martin Ajayi's lay-in brought the Marauders back to within 2 at 67-65 about midway through the second half, Walker scored the next 5 points on a put-back and an "and 1" and the Hawks were on their way. Later, Walker hit a circus shot and was fouled to give Laurier their largest lead at 79-70 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining. Mac had one more run, scoring 8 straight points in a one minute span to get the game back to 3 at 83-80 but Walker dropped in another jumper off a high ball screen with just under 2 minutes to play and the Marauders never threatened again. The Hawks again got tremendous efforts from their big 3 freshman as 6'5" Justin Golob had 18 points, including 14 in the first half to help the Hawks hold a two point halftime lead and 6'8" Andrew Pennycook who grabbed a game-high 13 boards and rejected Mac's 6'4" fifth-year forward John Obrovac late in the game while Mac still had a chance, one of 7 blocks he was credited for. The younger Hawks dominated the glass, outrebounding Mac 46-33 including 18 offensive rebounds and held 6'8" Adam Steiner, who played the game with a heavily-taped wrist after an injury in practice on Thursday, to 13 points, well under his 20+ ppg average in the second half of the season. Obrovac had a game-high 25 points for Mac including 5-7 from 3 point land. Laurier's fifth-year guard Omar Miles, who was honoured prior to the game on the occasion of his last league home game, finished with 12 points and 6 assists and was steady down the stretch. Pending the outcome of the Waterloo/Brock game, Laurier's magic number is one to clinch a playoff spot while Mac for all intents and purposes is out of contention for a first round playoff bye and will need to win some games simply to host a quarter-final game.
Waterloo (6-14) 74 at Brock (13-6) 86 Fifth-year senior Chris Keith had 27 points, including 16 in the second half, plus 12 rebounds while 5'9" Brad Rootes added 26 points and 10 assists as the Badgers broke open a reasonably tight game in the final 10 minutes to grab a half game lead in the West. Scott Murray (16 points) broke out of a mini shooting slump with a pair of threes to break the game open. Waterloo, which was officially eliminated from the playoffs, got a career-high 27 points from fifth-year senior Matt Kieswetter and 14 points/12 rebounds from another 5th year graduating senior Michael Davis. Brock hosts Western this coming Wednesday.
Lakehead (1-18) 80 at Guelph (9-9) 56 The Gryphs jumped out to a 46-15 lead at the half and coasted to the win, going 10-20 from downtown while holding the Thunderwolves to 30% shooting on the night. 6'7" Duncan Milne led 5 Gryphs in double figures with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Warren Thomas dropped 28 for Lakehead, most in the second half.

OUA STANDINGS including today's results
* Brock 13-6 NEXT: WESTERN (Wed.)
* Windsor 12-6 NEXT: Western (Sun.)
* McMaster 11-8 NEXT: WATERLOO (Wed.)
* Western 10-8 NEXT: at Windsor (Sun.)
* Guelph 10-9 NEXT: LAURIER (Wed.)
* Laurier 9-10 NEXT: at Guelph (Wed.)
Waterloo 6-14 NEXT: at McMaster (Wed.)
Lakehead 1-19 NEXT: WINDSOR(next Fri. & Sat.)

* Clinched Playoff spot

QSSF
McGill (6-8) 67 at UQAM (4-9) 62 6'6" Yannick Chouinard and 6'4" Matt Thornhill each tossed in 16 points to put the Redmen on the brink of a playoff spot with their third win in 4 games against the Citadins. 6'4" Mario Joseph had 16 for QAM, which is tied for fourth with Bishop's. McGill, which needs just one victory in their last 2 games or a QAM loss in any of their three remaining games to clinch a playoff spot, visits Bishop's next weekend. QAM has three games remaining including the final night of the season when they host the Gaiters.

QSSF STANDINGS
Concordia 11-1
Laval 7-5
McGill 6-8
Bishop's 4-9
UQAM 4-9

OUA EAST
8:00 pm Ryerson (6-14) 61 at York (13-7) 87 The Lions pulled away in the second half, scoring 45 points to handily defeat the reeling Rams who have lost five in a row. Dan Eves had 26 for York while Jordan Foebel added 19 points and 7 rebounds. Tut Ruach had 10 points and 8 assists in limited time. Brandon Krupa led Ryerson with 24 on 4-8 shooting from downtown while Ryerson's leading scorer Boris Bakovic was held to 2-12 shooting for only 6 points. York faces Laurentian twice next week while Ryerson has a home-and-home with Toronto in games that will decide the sixth and third/fourth place seedings for the OUA East quarter-finals.
Toronto (13-7) 68 at Laurentian (6-14) 60 OVERTIME 6'4" forward Mo Safarzadeh had 9 of his 14 points in the extra frame as the Blues finally wore down the gritty, well-prepared Vees and maintained their third place standing ahead of York (won the tiebreaker). Safarzadeh knocked down a big three, finished a sweet backdoor layup and then went 4-4 from the line to seal it after the Blues came from behind in regulation, primarily behind the strong work of 6'9" Michael Williams inside, to tie it. Laurentian ran their offense patiently to perfection to lead 25-22 at halftime and extended their lead in the second half. But with the Blues down 2 and the shot clocking winding down with 34 seconds left in regulation, Varsity's Ben Katz hit a running banker to tie the game at 50. Toronto then took the game over in the extra period.
#10 Ottawa (17-4) 75 at Queen's (10-10) 62 Shredding the Queen's zone with 44 points in the first half, the Gee-Gees avenged a late loss in January to the Gaels with a relatively easy victory in Kingston. 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe had all of his team-high 14 points during the first half and the Gee-Gees grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to hand Queen's their fourth loss in a row and sixth in their last 7 games. Ottawa held leads as large as 18 points in the second half and withstood a Gael run that brought it back to 7 momentarily. Ottawa got strong performances off the bench from 6'5" David Labentowicz and 5'11" point guard Willy Manigat who each added 8 points. 6'5" Mitch Leger led Queen's, which again was without starting guard Baris Ondul with a hamstring problem, with 21 points and 5 rebounds. The Gaels complete their regular season with a home-and-home against RMC while Ottawa prepares for their regular season home finale next Saturday night when they host Carleton.
#3 Carleton (19-2) 83 at RMC (1-19) 28 The Ravens jumped out to a ridiculous 53-8 lead at halftime and coast to the 55 point win, holding RMC to 20% shooting including 2 for 19 from three point land.

OUA EAST STANDINGS including tonight's results
* Carleton 19-2
* Ottawa 17-4
$ Toronto 13-7
$ York 13-7
$ Queen's 10-10
Laurentian 6-14
Ryerson 6-14
RMC 1-19

* clinched first round playoff byes
$ clinched playoff spot

CANADA WEST
Manitoba (7-15) 72 at Regina (9-13) 80
Winnipeg (9-13) 75 at #1 Brandon (20-2) 84 The Wesmen opened the door for Regina to grab home advantage in their playoff series beginning next week by bowing to the Bobcats in Brandon. Brandon's solid all-round swingman Dany Charlery pushed a triple double with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists while 6'10" Yuri Whyms dominated inside with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Winnipeg's star guard Erfan Nasajpour had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
UCFV (6-17) 55 at #5 UBC (20-3) 96
Simon Fraser (11-12) 68 at Trinity Western (9-14) 66
Alberta (15-7) 90 at Lethbridge (6-16) 76
Saskatchewan (13-9) 79 at Calgary (11-11) 70

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