Saturday 29 December 2007

Saturday, December 29th CIS Action

All three CIS tournaments are in the championship semi-final round and there are several strong matchups in Halifax, Toronto and Winnipeg. We have the entire championship schedule below including key games between #9 Ottawa and #5 Concordia plus #3 Calgary facing off against Brock. The consolation round at the Wesmen Classic has Acadia meeting Brandon in a pair of teams ranked in the Top 10 for most of the season. The organizers of the Rod Shoveller Memorial tournament have implemented a very reasonable consolation schedule, changing the brackets to have as many inter-conference games as possible (see schedule below). The Laval/Queen's game at the Dearmon tournament is another interesting consolation round game.

CIS TOURNAMENTS: CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND SCHEDULES FOR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29TH

5 PM ET/6 PM AT #9 Ottawa (12-3) vs. #5 Concordia (8-2) (Rod Schoveller Memorial Championship Semi-Final in Halifax at Dalplex) A pair of athletic teams meet for the first time in about 3 seasons. 6'8" Jamal Gallier, still battling a leg contusion injury, is a questionable starter for the Stingers while Gee-Gees starting 6'3" wing Donnie Gibson is out for the tournament with a back injury. Yesterday, 6'1" Vlad Pislaru started in his placed and knocked down a pair of threes.

6 PM ET York (3-13) vs. Western (8-7) (Ed Dearmon Memorial Championship semi-final at Ryerson) The Lions try to make it two in a row featuring a skew toward playing some of their younger talent (both freshman Dalton Olinoski and sophomore Jason Hoult played 30+ minutes in yesterday's win over Laval) and dropping back into a zone as a defensive adjustment. The Mustangs are playing all 12 guys in the rotation and look to push the tempo offensively and defensively.

7 PM ET/ 8 PM AT St. FX (11-6) at Dalhousie (9-7) (Rod Schoveller Memorial Championship semi-final in Halifax at Dalplex) These teams met in early November in an AUS league game worth 4 points and X wore the Tigers down inside, led by 6'3" Dwayne Johnson and 6'8" Islam Luiz de Toledo, pulling away to win by 10. The Tigers welcome 6'1" shooting guard Andrew Sullivan back for this game after his broken wrist sidelined him for the entire first half of the AUS regular season. Look for X to push the tempo and for Dal to run most things through 6'1" Simon Farine.

7 PM ET/6 PM CT Minot State (5-8) at Winnipeg (7-8) (Championship semi-final 41st Wesmen Classic in Winnipeg) The hometown Wesmen came alive in the third quarter yesterday against RMC, allowing only 2 points after a somewhat-listless first half. The Beavers took a ten point win from Manitoba. Expect a large crowd at the Duckworth Center, one of the top venues in the CIS, for this one.

8 PM ET #10 Toronto (14-4) vs. Waterloo (5-10) (Ed Dearmon Memorial Championship semi-final at Ryerson) The Blues handled the Warriors relatively easily in their OUA league meeting in November in Toronto however Waterloo is on a nice streak, winning their last 4 in a row. The Blues will be without 6'2" Rob Paris, their starting wing and top 3 point shooter, who left yesterday's win against McGill with a severely sprained ankle and will miss the remainder of the tournament.

9 PM ET/8 PM CT Brock (9-9) vs. #4 Calgary (12-2) (Championship semi-final 41st Wesmen Classic in Winnipeg) This could be an explosive matchup, especially if the Badgers shoot the ball like they did in the fourth quarter last night. Brock likely has the edge in the back court with Brad Rootes and Mike Kemp however the Dinos are loaded up front. This game will feature an interesting contrast in styles between two of the better teams in the CIS.

Other Games of Note:
6:30 PM ET Broward Community College vs. UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN; Coconut Creek, FLA (BCC Holiday Classic) Saskatchewan's Andrew Spagrud looks to become his school's all-time leading scorer. #1 Carleton is also at this tournament however the Ravens do not play until Sunday.

There are also several exhibition and consolation games in tournaments involving CIS teams on both sides of the border including the aforementioned changes to the Shoveller tournament as follows:
NOON ET/1 PM AT Laurier vs St. Mary's
2 PM ET/3 PM AT UNB vs Laurentian

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