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Game 4: Carleton 86, Acadia 38, FINAL SCORE The Canal War, Part IV, is now set, as the Carleton Ravens were never threatened, pounding the defenseless Acadia Axemen; the 4-time defending CIS Champs will tangle with their cross-town rivals, the Ottawa Gee Gees, in Saturday's second Championship Semi-Final; the Gee Gees have won two of the three earlier meetings this season, but this is the Nationals, and this is Carleton, so look for a classic match-up; with Ottawa knowing the Ravens better than anyone, it might indeed be the toughest obstacle Carleton has faced in the last 5 years at the Metro Centre ... Carleton's in a different league than their AUS counterparts, able to impose their will offensively; look for Coach Dave Smart to give his bench lots of minutes down the stretch, resting his starters for Saturday's semi-final ... The energy was short-lived, as the defending champs regained control, opening their biggest lead of the night ... 5 straight points by the Axemen brought a bit of life to the Metro Centre ... In what must have been Les Berry's nightmare, Carleton totally dominated the opening 20 minutes; Acadia could get nothing going offensively, and weren't much better on the defensive end; Berry has quite a task in front of him, as the teams head to the locker room ... An intentional technical foul on Lual, his 3rd personal of the half, sends the Ravens to the line; Acadia seems totally disorganized at the moment ... It's all Carleton, as a 10-0 run has allowed them to pull away; Acadia is in danger of getting blown out, and needs to start generating some offensive very soon ... With the Axemen being on the wrong end of a number of controversial calls, the Ravens have begun to pull away; what has raised the ire of Coach Les Berry the most is 5-6 travelling violations that were not called; Acadia needs to stay composed, as Berry signals for a time-out ... With Carleton leading 13-6, freshman guard Mike Kenny was whistled for a flagrant foul, sending Achuil Lual to the charity stripe ... After spotting Acadia the first basket, Mike Moser Award winner Oz Jeanty knocked down a shot from beyond the arc, igniting a 9-0 Raven run ... Dale Stevens back at the keyboard, as Mark steps behind the mike once again for the videowebcast. The Metro Centre is ready for the final game of the evening, as the 4-time defending champion, and 3rd seeded Carleton University Ravens tip off against the AUS Champions, the 6th seeded Acadia University Axemen. The joint is rockin', with about 4,000-5,000 loud fans in attendance. Carleton has their supporters, but for the most part, as expected, it's a pro-Acadia gathering. It's a tough atmosphere for the Ravens, but one they have faced a lot in their 4 year run. Tip-off to come.


Ottawa 92, UBC 85 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe went 5-7 from three point land for a team-high 23 points offsetting a tremendous effort by Canada West MVP Casey Archibald as the Gee-Gees advanced to tomorrow night's championship semi-final by defeating the #2 seed T-Birds. With score tied at 55 early in the second half, the Gee-Gees went on a 15-2 run led by Gibson-Bascombe and 6'5" fifth-year forward Jermaine Campbell (20 points including 14 in the second half) to break the game open. The T-Birds, behind the play of the incomparable Archibald (32 points on 13-15 shooting including 5-6 from 3), cut the deficit to 1 at 72-71 but the Gee-Gees pulled away as 6'5" Curtis Shakespeare (12 points, 6 boards) had 4 consecutive points including a tough turnaround on the left block to restore a comfortable Ottawa cushion. Archibald made several unbelievable takes to the rim and hit at least 3 NBA 3's in Gee-Gees faces but Ottawa survived with solid sets in the quarter court and tough "d" in the last 3 minutes, holding the T-Birds without a field goal on 4 straight possessions.

Here is a running commentary on the game... UBC fouling early putting Jermaine Campbell on the line for 2 shots who misses but Sean Peter grabs a big "o" board and UBC fouls Gibson-Bascombe for Bryson Kool's 5th foul. Shakespeare 4 straight points including a tough turnaround. Gibson-Bascombe hit another clutch 3; Ottawa has the ball up 4 with 3:20 remaining. Casey Archibald just went on a personal 5-0 run highlighted by a long 3 but Archibald appears to be cramping up. Alex McLeod just made a big 3 point play off an in bound play. Casey Archibald is singlehandidly keeping UBC in the game with great takes and just now a long 3 right in Gibson-Bascombe's mouth. In a game of runs, the Gee-Gees went off on a 15-2 run as Donnie Gibson hit a 3 and Willy Manigat hit a breakaway layin, Ottawa scored the last 10 points. Josh Gibson-Bascombe and Jermaine Campbell have led the Gee-Gees in the first 9 minutes as Campbell came alive inside and his three pointer from the left wing gave the Gee-Gees a 65-57 lead. The difference has been Gibson-Bascombe has been on the floor for the entire second half. 5 straight points but Archibald's long 3 gave UBC the lead back. Then Campbell had a conventional three-point play. Josh killer cross-over and then steal and layin by Jermaine Campbell restored Ottawa's lead to 4.

UBC closed the half on a 25-9 run with Gee-Gees star guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe on the bench with 2 fouls and also nursing a suspected re-injuring of his ankle. The Gee-Gees had a comfortable 28-14 lead and UBC coach Kevin Hansen reverted to a zone which turned the momentum around as Ottawa had several unforced turnovers. Adam Freisen's 3 from the right wing gave UBC the lead for the first time with under a minute to play and Casey Archibald's runner at the buzzer put the T-Birds on top going into halftime. Gibson-Bascombe had 10 points including 3-4 from 3 in only 9 minutes of play while Casey Archibald had 10 for the T-Birds. Both teams turned the ball over 11 times and there were 22 fouls called in a very aggressive game. However, the Birds, who had 6 turnovers in the first 6 minutes and 9 mid-way through the half, started taking better care of the ball while the Gee-Gees, especially their second unit looked rattled. Ottawa did a solid job on the defensive glass and had 10 offensive rebounds but shot only 34% as opposed to UBC's 52% for the half.

Jason Birring's 3 from the top of the bowl brought UBC back to 32-30 with a 7-0 run. UBC's zone created a number of Ottawa turnovers, many unforced as the Gee-Gees squandered an early 14 point lead at 28-14. Jermaine Campbell, now saddled with 3 fouls, had broken an earlier UBC run with a pair of free throws. Both Josh Gibson-Bascombe and Curtis Shakespeare are on the bench with 2 fouls. Ottawa missed at least 3 wide-open layups that helped bring the momentum back in the T-Birds favour. UBC used a zone to get back into the game and draw back to within 5 but back-to-back 3's by Josh Gibson-Bascombe restored an 11 point Ottawa lead. After Willy Manigat hit a long 3 from the left side, the Gee-Gees were on a 9-0 run themselves to lead by 14. Campbell 3 from left wing gives Ottawa an early 3-2 lead. Ottawa doubling all ball screens and creating turnovers 5-2 after a Curtis Shakespeare put back and two Sean Peter free throws. Shakespeare's offensive rebound and an Alex McLeod 3 gives Ottawa an 11-0 run. McLeod's second 3 gives Ottawa a 14-2 lead. Josh Gibson-Bascombe 3 17-2. UBC has already turned it over 6 times. Alex McLeod has 8 early points. UBC on a 7-0 run as Ottawa's shot selection poor and the T-Birds have dealt with Gee-Gees double teams much more intelligently.