CIS Hoops.ca

Here is a perspective from a Concordia fan We Lost. The End.

For those of you so inclined, here is an interesting link to a site just pointed out to me here on press row The Odds on Tonight's Ottawa vs. Carleton game

Brandon 79, St. Mary's 74 FINAL Brandon survived a furious St. Mary's rally in the final two minutes to capture the first semi-final as the Bobcats could not put the game away on the foul line until the last 13 seconds when, up 3, Dany Charlery knocked in a pair to finally seal the game. The Bobcats took the game over with an early second half run bouyed by Canada West First Team all-star Charlery, who scored all off his 18 points after halftime and Player of the game 6'1" Chad Jacobsen, who went off for four consecutive long 3's, part of his 17 point effort including 5 for 6 from 3 point land. 6'5" Adam Hartman had 16 of his co-game-high 20 points in the first half when Brandon went after the undersized Huskies inside, getting 25 of their 31 first half points from their forward combination of Hartman, 6'9" Yuri Whyms (9 points, 12 rebounds) and 6'8" Stevens Marcelins (4 points, 5 rebounds). The Bobcats advance to tomorrow's championship game against the winner of the Carleton/Ottawa game coming up at 7:30 PM Eastern/8:30 Atlantic. Huskies star guard Mark McLaughlin got it going late, scoring 16 of his 20 after the intermission, while Cordell Wright added 13 points and 5 rebounds for St. Mary's, which received a standing ovation at the end of the game from the partisan crowd of about 7,000.

Other game notes...The game has completely lost its flow in the wake of a plethora of calls. Dany Charlery just converted a pair of free throws to give Brandon a 71-60. Cordell Wright, who has been a spark for the Huskies, just fouled out with 3:12 remaining on a ticky tack fifth foul off the ball, one of many calls at both ends that have left the crowd and both teams shaking their heads. Adam Hartman made one of two. On the very next possession, another questionable call resulted in Adam Hartman's fifth foul as an out of control Clint Bateman leaned in with no obvious contact but Hartman was whistled for the foul. Bateman made 1 for 2, possibly the Huskies last real opportunity to get back in the game as Yul Michel grabbed the rebound and was quickly fouled - but missed both. St. Mary's has outscored the 'Cats 14-8 over the last 6 minutes as Mark McLaughlin made a tough leaner and Ike Uchegbu took it up strong against Yuri Whyms to energize the crowd. Eric Glavic also got to the rim on a nice take around Adam Hartman, who has 4 fouls but the Bobcats remain in control.

Steady point guard Yul Michel interrupted a Huskies run with a driving lay-in and Huskies are showing signs of fatigue, missing on the line. St. Mary's had been on a mini 5-0 run after a steal and lay-in by Eric Glavic forced Brandon into a 20 second time out. Brandon is generally in control and are flashing their athleticism in the open floor, including a nice set for an allyoop dunk by Dany Charlery who has come alive in the second half. St. Mary's is in bonus and going to the line again. Brandon has 10 team fouls with 9:34 remaining.

Chad Jacobsen hit 3 consecutive 3's and already has 4 3's in the half, manufactured in a variety of ways including draw and kicks, in transition and on hand offs, as Brandon is currently on a 12-5 run. His first wide-open 3 off a nice in-bounds play followed by Dany Charlery's first two buckets of the game, the second a sweet spinning take in transition gave the 'Cats a 7-0 run to start the half and their largest lead at that point: 11.

The Bobcats took control about midway through the half as 6'5" Adam Hartman (16 points on 7-9 shooting and 5 rebounds) showed off his fine array of offensive skills leading Brandon on a 12-4 run and a 27-17 lead with 4 minutes left. But the pesky Huskies, who gave up 26 points to the Brandon front line in the half, stayed in the game on the early shooting of 6'6" Clint Bateman (9 points, 3 rebounds) and the late work of 6'3" Cordell Wright (6 points) who had 4 late points including a leaner at the buzzer, capping a 6-0 St. Mary's run to bring the game back to 4 at halftime. St. Mary's appeared to tire midway through the half and settled for perimeter jumpers but later in the half got back to their inside/out game offensively, getting 6'5" Ike Uchegbu more involved. Canada West Defensive Player-of-the-year Yul Michel has done an excellent job on Huskies Mark McLaughlin, limiting his catches in comfortable spots and keeping him in check off the dribble, although McLaughlin (4 points on 2-4 shooting, 3 turnovers) did have a sweet assist on a drop off to post Eric Glavic (4 points) to bring St. Mary's back and ignite a big crowd that is estimated to be in the 6,000 range thus far. 6'9" Yuri Whyms had 8 early points and added 8 rebounds in the half as the Cats outrebounded St. Mary's 25-11 including 8 second chances and holding the Huskies to zero offensive rebounds. Still, St. Mary's has stayed in the game playing scrappy, opportunistic ball, energized by the crowd.

In earlier games played today in the consolation round, Concordia got 25 points from Patrick Perrotte and 10 pts. 11 rbs. from Jamal Gallier to route Windsor 79-62 while UBC slammed Acadia 83-69 with Casey Archibald going for 28 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.