Winnipeg 69 at Regina 71; Regina wins Best-of-3 series 2-1. 6'5" Jamal Williams had 22 points and 11 rebounds, making all 8 of his free throws in the waning minutes and both of his 3 point attempts as the Cougars outlasted Winnipeg, coming back to take the final two games of the weekend Best-of-3 to win the Great Plains division semi-final and the right to face #1 Brandon in the division final next weekend. Williams pair of free throws with 1:39 to play gave Regina the lead for good, the first of 8 consecutive makes by Williams and 10 straight overall for the Cougars in the last 1 1/2 minutes, which was a perfect 23-23 (100%) from the stripe on the afternoon. The game featured several lead changes and the Wesmen had their final advantage at 1 on a pair of Matt Opalko free throws with 1:45 to play. Earlier, Brad Fekula's clutch 3 gave Regina a 61-60 lead with just over 2 minutes to play. Winnipeg had two chances to tie the game late but Erfan Nasajpour and Ryan Roper both missed 3's with under 20 seconds remaining and the Cougars completed the win at the line. Regina had their largest lead of the half at 6 after Jeff Lukomski stripped Ivan Saric and fed Paul Schubach to lead 52-46 with about 7 1/2 minutes to play. But Winnipeg battled back on pair of big 3 from Opalko (8 points, all down the stretch) and solid stops. Nasajpour, who was ineffective all weekend, shot only 5-18 overall including 0-2 from 3, finishing with 13 points this afternoon and averaged only 12.7 ppg on 30% (15-50) shooting including 20% (2-10) from downtown after leading Canada West in scoring. Paul Schubach added 18 from Regina.
Saint Mary's (8-8, 22 pts) at Dalhousie (8-10, 18 pts) 6'5" Ryan DeWinter came off the bench with 22 points on 7-10 shooting as the Tigers all but locked up the sixth and final playoff spot in the AUS, coming back from an early 10 point deficit. 6'3" Monte Francois (13 points, 6 assists) led the first half comeback, creating off the dribble and finding DeWinter and 6'5" Germain Bendegue for easy scores and leading a 14 turnaround which gave Dal a 45-41 lead at the intermission. Bendegue had 11 of his 17 points in the first half, getting Huskies big man Ike Uchegbu into foul trouble while DeWinter, a starter earlier in the season, had his season-high showing off his solid array of offensive skills. Dal shot 53.7% overall to push their record at Dalplex to 7-1 in league play and look to officially clinch a playoff spot when they host first place Cape Breton next Saturday at home. Mark McLaughlin had 17 of his 25 points in the first half, many when he got free in transition while Clint Bateman added 19, keeping the Huskies in the game after the intermission. St. Mary's again played without 6'5" Aaron Duncan, who's status is unknown for the remainder of the season. The Huskies are in position for either the fourth or fifth seed in the AUS tournament and a probable date with UPEI Panthers in the first round.Click here for a complete look at all of yesterday's action in the CIS.
Two games in the CIS today, the most important being Game Three between Winnipeg and Regina in Regina beginning at 3 PM Eastern/2 PM local time. Follow the game using Regina's LIVE STATS! by clicking here . As well, in the AUS: 2 PM Eastern/3 pm Local Saint Mary's (8-7, 22 pts) at Dalhousie (7-10, 16 pts) The Tigers and Huskies meet for the third time in 11 days with Dal looking to finally salt away a playoff spot. We will go over the AUS playoff scenarios more in the next few days however a win over their cross-town rivals for all intents and purposes should seal the deal for the Tigers. Dal, which recently has started losses poorly, ordinarily falling behind by double digits before halftime, needs stronger efforts from 6'2" Andrew Sullivan and a 40 minute effort from 6'6" Germain Bendegue. Huskies 6'2" Mark McLaughlin has picked up his offense recently in the absence of 6'5" Aaron Duncan.
The coverage for the Canal War in Ottawa between the Ravens and Gee-Gees was generally thin from the print media as only Wayne Kondro from the Ottawa Citizen filed a report which appear near the back of the print edition of the Citizen Sports section (not yet up on the Citizen web site) and the Ottawa Sun chose not to cover the game. Fortunately, Neate Sager from Out of Left Field , the tremendously comprehensive sports blog, did a sterling job covering the game. Neate is an accomplished journalist who recently has helped step up coverage of CIS sports in Eastern Ontario, complementing the solid job Wayne Kondro has done as the lone consistent voice for many years. I urge you to bookmark his site for a daily review of all key happenings in the sports world. Here is Neate's story from last night's game SHAKESPEARE’S PLAY RIGHTS GEE-GEES IN FINAL ACT OF WIN OVER RAVENS . As well, check yesterday's edition of this blog for an in-game review Neate has termed glogging (or game blog).
Huskiehoops.com provides its usual comprehensive report from last night's Calgary at Saskatchewan game that had such an exciting but peculiar ending Huskies Survive Late Scare to Sweep Dinos
UBC rallied from a five point first half deficit to claim an 84-78 win over Trinity Western at home and a sweep of their Best-of-3 Pacific division semi-final. UBC and Vic now face off in the Pacific division finals next weekend in Vancouver Second half surge carries T-Birds to victory
Ron Ruach from the Victoria Times-Colonist reports on Victoria's tough win over Simon Fraser to sweep their series Vikes Sweep Clan Also, a report from the UVic web site Vikes Sweep Clan
Drew Kuzminski's herculian effort last night (33 points, 12 rebounds) pushed the Great Plains division semi-final to a third and deciding game this afternoon. The Penticton News reports on Drew's thoughts on his career Kuzminski Looks Back on 4 Years Also, Tim Switzer reports on Game One of the Regina Winnipeg series Article from Regina Leader-Post
Windsor Lancers swept Lakehead with a tremendous defensive effort, holding the T-Wolves to only 46 points. Here is a report on Friday's overtime game from the Thunder Bay Source Lancers Need Overtime to beat Lakehead Men
1 comment:
Sad that a game as important as Ottawa versus Carleton wouldn't get more media coverage. The real story there is that the national champs for the last four years are being given a major run for their money this year by their cross town rivals. A late season game between the two teams should get more coverage.
Observer2005
Post a Comment