CIS Hoops.ca

There were several teams in the CISHOOPS.CA TOP 10 which went down to defeat over the weekend, with only #1 Carleton and #2 Brandon winning their own tournaments. #3 Windsor had tight games all weekend, going 2-1 at McGill, including a 101-98 shootout loss to the host Redmen, who won the tournament with an impressive showing all weekend long. #4 Concordia lost to the host Winnipeg Wesmen in overtime in Winnipeg in front of the largest crowd of the weekend, over 1,300 fans at the Duckworth Center, proving again that CIS basketball is very well supported in Winnipeg. #5 Saskatchewan went 2-1, losing only at Brandon. #8 Brock also went 2-1, losing big to Cape Breton but coming back to defeat #10 Laval; the Rouge et Or had a tough 1-2 weekend, as both the Badgers and Rouge et Or look forward to next weekend's Jack Donohue Memorial tournament in Ottawa where they will meet again. #9 Acadia had a pair of decisive victories against Ryerson and UVic and remains undefeated. UVic had previously knocked off X on Friday night in Antigonish. #7 St. Mary's also won a pair of games but previously had been defeated by the Axemen on a neutral court in Moncton. The Toronto Varsity Blues, not recognized as a contender by this site previously, showed the so-called prognosticators that they their place in the ratings should be reconsidered by defeating highly-touted Calgary and knocking off host Waterloo en route to capturing the 40th Annual Naismith Classic at Waterloo. The Blues travel to B.C. next weekend for a series of games including a matchup with #6 UBC in Vancouver. Cape Breton Capers captured the UPEI Mickey Place tournament with 3 consecutives win including victories over Brock and Laval. 6'5" Eric Breland led the way in all 3 victories with sharpshooting wing 6'4" Paul Blake supporting Breland offensively.

GUYS WHO GOT OFF... There were a number of very strong individual performances over the weekend led by Lakeheads's 6'4" Kiraan Posey's 47 points on Friday against Saskatchewan at the Brandon tournament (Thunderwolves lost the game however). As well, 6'7" sophomore Boris Bakovic, who was one of the steadiest players on Canada's Young Men's team that performed at the FIBA World U19 championships in Serbia, had 36 points on Friday night in a loss to St. Mary's in Halifax. Bishop's guard Junior Nicolas fired in 32 points in a tight 5 point loss to Windsor at the McGill tournament and 6'1" Simon Farine, making his Dalhousie Tigers career debut, had 27 points to lead his club to a convincing win over Guelph. Fifth year guard Erfan Nasajpour paced the Wesmen with a game high 27 points, eight rebounds, six assists in their first round win against Fraser Valley and later was named tournament MVP leading the Wesmen to an overtime victory over Concordia. Windsor's 6'8" Greg Surmacz had back-to-back 30 points games against York and McGill and was named to the Redbird Classic tournament all-star team. Brock's All-Canadian Brad Rootes had a pair of 30+ point games at UPEI and is poised to have maybe his best season ever. 6'7" J.P. Morin went off for 38 points on Sunday in a loss to Brock and appears ready to push for Quebec league Player-of-the-Year this coming season. Carleton's 6'7" Aaron Doornekamp shook off a mediocre effort on Saturday against Guelph to dominate the championship game of the House-Laughton Classic against Dalhousie and was named tournament MVP for the second consecutive year.

COMING UP... There is plenty of CIS action again this coming weekend with the two top tournaments likely to be the Guy Vetrie Memorial tournament in Victoria featuring a battle of #1 Carleton and #2 Brandon, a rematch of last season's CIS championship game, plus Alberta Golden Bears and the host Vikes; plus Jack Donohue Memorial tournament in Ottawa featuring St. FX, Brock, Laval and the host Gee-Gees, who see their first CIS action this season. Stay tuned for a weekend preview later this week.

FINALLY... We expect to publish our *new* CISHOOPS.CA Top 10 in the next 24 hours. Also, we are trying to find a way to use the blog to take comments on-line from our readers. Please email with your thoughts on this - as of now, I am screening all comments prior to them being published. However, if the readership feels that the site would be more interactive and enjoyable to allow comments without screening, then I am happy to accommodate, subject to the ongoing maturity level of comments as judged by me. Please email me with your thoughts.