Friday 30 November 2007

Carleton outlasts Badgers

#1 Carleton (7-0) 71, Brock (4-3) 68 The Badgers stormed back late in the game to get 6'0" Scott Murray a look at a 3 at the buzzer that didn't fall and the Ravens pulled off a three point win at Bob Davis Gym. When 5'10" Mike Kenny hit a jumper with just over a minute to play, Carleton grabbed a 7 point lead but 5'10" Brad Rootes hit a three, the Ravens turned the ball over, Murray made one of two free throws and later 6'7" Aaron Doornekamp (24 points, 11 rebounds) missed a pair of free throws with 15 seconds to set up the final play. The Badgers stayed in the game on the foul line, going 32-42 as the Ravens were whistled for 28 fouls on the night. In fact, Brock, which was whistled for only 16 fouls in total, had to foul three times in the last 33 seconds just to put Doornekamp to the line with 15 seconds left. Carleton broke out to an early six point lead in the first quarter but a 3 pointer by 6'2" Mike Kemp gave the Badgers their first lead at 21-20 and later 6'6" freshman Jordan Johnson made 3 of 4 free throws which gave Brock their largest lead at 34-28 with 2 minutes remaining in the half and another late Kemp 3 gave Brock a 37-33 lead going into halftime. The Ravens, led by 4 straight points from 6'5" Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie, came out of the gate on a 6-0 run and the teams exchanged baskets until Kenny's jumper broke a 47 all tie and started a 9-1 Raven run and Carleton was up 6 after three quarters. The Ravens extended to a ten point lead at 69-59 on a pull up jumper in transition by 6'2" Stu Turnbull but 5 straight Brock free throws got it back to 5 after which Kenny's jumper started the frantic ending. Rootes led all scorers with 28 points on only 3-9 shooting but 20 for 23 from the foul line while Kemp had 11 points and 6 boards on only 3-11 shooting as the Badgers shot only 29.2% for the game (14-48). Turnbull added 18 for Carleton while 6'4" Ryan Bell had 6 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists and Kenny added 7 points. Brock entertains Ottawa on Saturday while Carleton travels to Guelph.

#10 Ottawa (7-0) 76, #4 Guelph (6-1) 64 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe had 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, going 10-20 from the floor leading the Gee-Gees led by as many as 16 in defeating the Gryphs in Guelph to remain undefeated in league play. Gibson-Bascombe went only 1 for 7 from downtown, part of a 1-11 effort by the Gee-Gees as a team, but Ottawa shot 67% on their two point shots as 6'9" Dax Dessureault added 15 points and 6 boards. "They played hard, physical defense against us", stated Guelph coach Chris O'Rourke, "We simply didn't compete against a good team and it cost us. They got to more loose balls and tough rebounds than we did and that was the difference". Three other Gee-Gees were in double digits including 6'3" Donnie Gibson (10 points), 6'3" Sean Peter (10 points, 5 boards) and 6'5" David Labentowicz (10 points, 7 rebounds). Guelph's high scoring trio of 6'4" Nick Pankerichan, 6'4" Borko Popic and 6'4" Jonathan Moscatelli went a combined 11 for 32 while 6'8" Duncan Milne had a quiet 6 point, 6 rebound evening for Guelph.

Laurier (2-5) 85, Laurentian (1-6) 61 The Golden Hawks dominated from late in the first quarter onward to go up 19 by halftime and then cruised to an easy win at home against the Voyageurs, defeating them for the second time this season. 6'5" freshman Kale Harrison had his outside jumper working as he finished with a game-high 27 points including 4-7 from 3 and added 7 rebounds. 6'5" sophomore Justin Golob added 20 making 5 of 8 from downtown while 6'5" Matt Walker had a solid all round game, pushing a triple double with 13 points/10 rebounds and 6 assists. 5'10" Darrell Drake led Laurentian, which cut the halftime lead to 14 midway through the second half before imploding, with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

McMaster (3-4) 92, Queen's (4-3) 81 The Marauders shot 57.1% from the floor including 12 for 24 from three point land, led by 6'2" freshman Tyrell Vernon who had a game-high 24 points on 4-8 shooting from downtown as Mac grabbed a key road win in Kingston. The game was close throughout until an early 4th quarter run gave Mac a 10 point lead midway through the final frame. 6'1" Jermaine DeCosta made his open looks all night finishing with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for the Marauders while 6'5" freshman Brett Day added 12 and big, strong 6'7" Mouchtar Diaby was a load inside, scoring 10 and adding 7 boards. The Gaels shot an uncharacteristic 28.9% from downtown and were led by 6'6" Mitch Leger's 22 points on 3-9 3's. Mac outrebounded Queen's 33-20.

Waterloo (2-5) 82, York (1-6) 72 6'3" Cam McIntyre finally displayed the promise talked about with a tremendous 37 point effort, leading the Warriors to an easy win over the Lions in Waterloo. Waterloo led by 18 after three quarters, holding York to only 11 points in the third. 6'3" Tut Ruach led York with 21 points and 6 assists. Warriors Report from Curtis Dauber: A battle of two teams each looking for their second win of the season was under way tonight as York travelled to Waterloo to take on the Warriors. The first half was close as York was able to shoot over 50% from the field. However, Waterloo was able to really push the tempo and a 3 point basket by big man Sinclair Brown gave Waterloo a 3 point lead going into the half. The Warriors started the second half on fire, holding York without a point for the first 5 minutes. In total they outscored York by a score of 27-11 in the quarter highlighted by the down right ridiculous shooting of rookie Cam McIntyre. Cam scored from deep, from pull ups, drives, post ups - York had no answer for Cam. Cam ended the day with 37 points, the second most ever for a Warrior rookie in league play behind former All Canadian Sean Van Koughnett. Cam shot 13-20 which included going 7-10 from 3. However Cam wasn't the only star for Waterloo. Veteran point guard Dave Burnett really set the tempo for the game finishing with 12 points and 7 assists. Included in those points were a "killer cross" which actually knocked Yorks Jason Holt to the ground and out of the game as he twisted his knee trying to deal with Burnett. For the game Waterloo shot 41% as did York. Waterloo hit 11 3's and York 9. The biggest difference was in Waterloo having 14 more shots throughout the course of the game. Next up for the Warriors of Waterloo is the last game of the OUA interlock against Laurentian.


Western (3-4) 86, #7 Toronto (5-2) 77 The Mustangs were energized with a 28 point fourth quarter in coming from behind to beat the Blues in Toronto as NCAA Division 1 transfer 6'10" Colin Laforme had 17 points and 11 rebounds in his Western debut while 6'5" Brad Smith had 20. The Blues led by 12 at halftime and by 9 after 3 quarters but watched the Mustangs come from behind. 6'2" Rob Paris went 5-6 from downtown to lead all scorers with 25 points while 6'6" Ahmed Nazmi had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. 6'3" Mike Degiorgio had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 10 assists before fouling out.

Lakehead (4-3) 103, RMC (0-7) 52 51-26 at halftime.

#9 Windsor (5-2) 79, Ryerson (2-5) 72 The Lancers blistered the Rams for 52 first-half points and then held on to defeat the hometown Rams in Toronto. Ryerson stayed in the game on the glass as they outrebounded Windsor 44-26 including 18 offensive rebounds. 6'7" Greg Surmacz had 23 points and 9 rebounds for the Lancers while 6'7" Boris Bakovic finished with 25 points/8 rebounds for Ryerson.

In the "Q" Concordia defeated 85-75 while Laval avenged an earlier home loss to McGill with a 68-56 win over the Redmen in Montreal.

Manitoba had their first win of the season defeating Regina 75-73 in Regina.

Editorial in today's Ottawa Citizen

Very good piece in today's Ottawa Citizen by Ken Grey, City Editorial Page Editor entitled Sports, Money and the Universities LINK SHOULD WORK NOW

Friday's Action in the CIS

QUEBEC
6:00 pm ET UQAM (0-2) at #6 Concordia (2-1) The Stingers finally return home for their QSSF home opener against the winless Citadins.

8:00 pm ET Laval (2-2) at McGill (2-1) These teams met two weeks ago in Ste. Foy with the Redmen coming away with an 86-83 overtime victory. 61 fouls were called in that game as McGill came back from an early deficit and 6'4" Sean Anthony hit a big 3 with about 20 seconds remaining to secure the win.

ONTARIO (all games Eastern time)
8:00 pm #10 Ottawa (6-0) at #4 Guelph (6-0) A battle of unbeatens highlights the OUA interlocking schedule for this evening as two coaches who worked together on Canada's Student team entry that won a Bronze medal at this summer's FISU games tangle in the Royal City. Gryphs coach Chris O'Rourke's team emphasizes defense, is very scrappy especially at home and has great depth in the backcourt and on the wings. Gee-Gees coach Dave DeAveiro has a solid starting five and Ottawa's success could depend on the contributions they get from their young bench. 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe was a member of the FISU games team this summer and returns to gym in which he broke his wrist two seasons ago. Since interlocking play began six years ago, each team is undefeated in league play on their home courts against each other.

8:00 pm Western (2-4) at #8 Toronto (5-1) Western comes off a pair of lopsided losses to Carleton and Ottawa to face another top OUA East side in downtown Toronto. Western expects to have Division 1 transfers 6'10" Colin Laforme and 6'6" Keenan Jeppesen eligible to play this weekend. Jeppesen played his last game for Brown of the Ivy League last November 28th against Wagner.

8:00 pm #9 Windsor (4-2) at Ryerson (2-4) The Lancers look to rebound after last weekend's mediocre showing on the road in Ottawa, although Windsor did push Carleton. Ryerson relies on the tremendous exploits of 6'7" Boris Bakovic, who had back-to-back 30+ point games last weekend.

8:00 pm McMaster (2-4) at Queen's (4-2) An interesting matchup in Kingston as a pair of very young team go at it. Both teams have several freshmen in their rotations however the Gaels have more quality experience with 6'3" senior Simon Mitchell and 6'6" sophomore Mitch Leger. Mac's 6'2" Tyrell Vernon is one of the better freshmen in the OUA West while 6'5" lefty Jon Ogden has been a top freshmen in the OUA East thus far.

8:00 pm Lakehead (3-3) at RMC (0-6) The Paladins look for their first win this season at home against the Thunderwolves, who are on a three-game winning streak including a pair on the road last weekend at Laurentian and at York.

8:00 pm #1 Carleton (6-0) at Brock (4-2) Last time these two teams met at the Bob Davis Gym two seasons ago, the Badgers pulled off an upset, sending the Ravens to their first loss against CIS competition in regular season play in about 2 years. Brock's starting 6'2" wing Rohan Steen injured his ankle last weekend and his status is uncertain for the entire weekend. LIVE VIDEO WEBCAST!

8:00 pm Laurentian (1-5) at Laurier (1-5) This game features the second round of student vs. mentor as rookie Vees Head Coach Shawn Swords faces off against his former coach at Laurentian, Peter Campbell. The teams met earlier this year in Sudbury with Laurier pulling off a two point victory. Live video webcast on Hawkcast

8:00 pm York (1-5) at Waterloo (1-5) Both teams won their first games of the regular season last weekend at home. Waterloo live audio cast

CANADA WEST
11 PM ET/ 8:00 pm PT Victoria (8-2) at #2 UBC (9-1) In the feature game on the Canada West slate, the arch-rivals meet in Vancouver in back-to-back games to close the first half of the season. Expect the Birds to try use their depth and push the tempo behind table-setting sophomore 6'1" point guard Alex Murphy and Canada West's second leading scorer 6'3" Chris Dyck. UVic will likely counter by trying to control the pace and make it more of a half-court game behind 6'1" sophomore college transfer Brandon Dunlop, one of the top newcomers in Canada West. Up front, Vikes emerging 6'7" forward Mitch Gudgeon has had several big offensive games this season and will do battle with 6'7" Matt Rachar and 6'8" Bryson Kool among others. UBC swept UVic in last season's Pacific Division final and hopes to put more distance between them and the Vikes in the battle for first place. The Vikes have the stingiest team defense in Canada West at only 64.6 ppg with UBC second at 71.6 points per game allowed. The T-Birds continue to own the conference's most explosive offense at over 90 points per game while Vic ranks 13th in team scoring in the 14 team conference. UBC audio web cast

9 PM ET/8:00 pm CT Manitoba (0-8) at Regina (4-4) Both teams will try to break losing streaks as the Cougars, undefeated at home in 4 games, have lost 4 in a row at Saskatchewan, at Alberta and twice at Brandon. The Bisons have had several tight games but have been unable to get over the hump, still one of only two winless teams in Canada West. LIVE STATS!

10 PM ET/8:00 pm MT Alberta (5-3) at Lethbridge (0-8) The Bears complete a four-game road swing through southern Alberta and are licking their wounds after a pair of losses in Calgary while the Horns are looking for their first victory of the season. Preview + Sephton Spence article from Lethbridge Herald

10 PM ET/8:00 pm MT Saskatchewan (5-3) at Calgary (7-1) The Dinos can put more space between them and the Huskies in the battle for home playoff advantage in the Central Division (third place team must go on the road while first place team gets home advantage in the final). No word on the health of 6'7" Andrew Spagrud who injured his ankle and did not play in last Saturday's Saskatchewan victory over Lethbridge. NUTV Video Webcast

11 PM ET/8:00 pm PT Simon Fraser (5-5) at Thompson Rivers (1-9) The Clan have won 5 of their last 6 games after an 0-4 start and are beginning to look up at second place as a possible target. 6'8" Greg Wallis has consistently performed at a high level all season long and was recently rewarded for his efforts, being named Canada West Male Athlete of the week this past week. TRU Audio webcast

11 PM ET/8:00 pm PT Trinity Western (3-7) at UCFV (4-6) The Spartans need at least one win this weekend over the Cascades to remain close in the battle for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Pacific.

4th Quarter Surge Propels Bobcats at Winnipeg

#5 Brandon (8-1) 87, Winnipeg (4-5) 69 The Bobcats broke open a tight four point game after 3 quarters, ending the game on a 23-8 surge to pull away and defeat the hometown Wesmen in front of 1,200 fans at the Duckworth Center. Winnipeg took a 2 point lead into halftime but shot only 27% after halftime. 6'3" Dany Charlery and 6'5" Adam Hartman had 26 points apiece for Brandon, each going 3 for 6 from downtown while 6'1" Yul Michel added 16 points and 8 assists while 6'8" Stevens Marcelins contributed 11 rebounds in the win. Brandon went 25-33 from the free throw line against only 9 for 12 by Winnipeg. The Wesmen also shot only 3-16 (18.8% from downtown) highlighted by a 2 for 8 effort from behind the arc by 5'9" Erfan Nasajpour (20 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists). Winnipeg got an outstanding performance from 6'6" freshman Ben Kingdon who was a perfect 6 for 6 from the field, scoring 14 points and adding 17 rebounds including 9 offensive boards. Brandon/Winnipeg Box Score Here is a report from the Wesmen site The Brandon Bobcats took advantage of some second half struggles by the Winnipeg Wesmen and came away with a 87-68 victory over the Wesmen Thursday night in Winnipeg. The Wesmen struggled to shoot just 27% from the field in the second half and only managed to score 22 points in the half. Fifth year forward Adam Hartman and third year guard Dany Charlery led Brandon with a game high 26 points each. Fifth year guard Yul Michel finished with 16 points and eight assists. The Wesmen had three players in double digits, led by fifth year guard Erfan Nasajpour, who finished with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. First year post Ben Kingdon had his best game of his young career finishing with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Fifth year forward Matt Opalko chipped in 11 points in the loss. Both teams came out on fire in an exciting back and forth first half. Winnipeg connected on 53% of their shots from the field which helped hold a slim 46-44 lead at halftime. Brandon opened the third quarter on a 12-4 run to hold a 56-50 lead near the midway point of the quarter. Winnipeg would go on to outscore Brandon 10-8 to only trail 64-60 after three quarters. The fourth quarter was all Brandon as the Wesmen shooting went cold and could only score eigh points in a tough way to end the game. Brandon would outscore Winnipeg 23-8 in the final quarter. The loss drops Winnipeg's record to 4-5, while the Bobcats sit at 8-1 and in first place in the Great Plains Division of the Canada West Conference. The two teams will meet in Brandon on Saturday night. Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

Thursday 29 November 2007

SMU Handles X

St. Mary's (4-2) 86, St. Francis Xavier (4-2) 70 6'5" Aaron Duncan (pictured) had 26 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists and was named Player-of-the-Game while 6'2" Mark McLaughlin had his own mini-run bridging the third and fourth quarters, finishing with 17 points, as the Huskies came up with a relatively easy win over X before 1,200 fans at the Tower in Halifax. The Huskies got out to an early lead that they extended to 10 by halftime and then got the lead up to as high as 19 before X made a mini-run to get it back to 10 in the fourth quarter. But that was as close as the X-Men got. Steady 6'1 point guard Mark Ross continue his fine play setting the table for SMU's array of scorers, handing out 9 assists while 6'7" Derrick Coleman had another steady 12 point/5 rebound effort for St. Mary's. X's 6'8" freshman center Islam Luiz Toledo (21 points on 9-10 from floor/12 rebounds) was double teamed inside from the very beginning with the tactic paying dividends for SMU almost immediately as the Huskies created some turnovers which led to easy, early scores. Toledo came alive in the second half, showing an improved low post game with a series of left-handed jump hooks and making a living on the offensive glass (6 "o" boards). After a quiet first half, 6'2" Tyler Richards (21 points overall, 17 after halftime) also played a role in the mini X run in the second half but it was not enough as the Huskies go into the holiday break on a winning note. 6'3" Dwayne Johnson added 12 points and 8 rebounds for X. Both teams are now off until after Christmas and will both participate in the Rod Schoveller Memorial tournament at Dalhousie.

Two Games on Thursday in Winnipeg & Halifax

The final weekend of the first half of the 2007-08 CIS regular season begins tonight with a pair of rivalry games as #5 Brandon Bobcats visit the Duckworth Center to meet the Winnipeg Wesmen where as is customary a large crowd in expected in one of the best on-campus facilities in Canada, and the St. Mary's Huskies finally return home to the Tower to face arch-rival St. FX.

9 PM ET/8 PM CT #5 Brandon (11-3 overall, 7-1 in Canada West) at Winnipeg (6-3 overall, 4-4 in Canada West) The Wesmen played their game in Burnaby against Simon Fraser without starters 5'11" Matt Opalko and 6'7" Dan Shykarnyk plus 6'6" sixth man Mike James, so needless to say they are banged up but so are the Bobcats, who lost 6'1" Tarik Tokar to injury during Friday night's win over Regina and have not had 6'9" Yuri Whyms for at least three weeks. The Bobcats will rely on their one/two scoring punch of 6'5" Adam Hartman (19.0 ppg/5th in Canada West) and 6'3" Dany Charlery (18.5 ppg/6th in Canada West). Charlery is coming off a season-high 29 point performance against Regina this past Saturday. 6'8" Stevens Marcelin had a season-high 15 rebounds in Friday's win against Regina. Expect Brandon to put full-court pressure on the Wesmen from the opening tip-off and try to keep the ball out of the hands of creative 5'9" Erfan Nasajpour, who leads Canada West in scoring at 22.0 ppg, including a 30.7 ppg average over his last 3 games highlighted by a season-high 41 point effort in an overtime win against UVic. Erfan is the only Wesmen in the Top 20 in Canada West scoring. Winnipeg will try to control the tempo and hopes to get the crowd into the game early and maintain what is usually a very good home court advantage. This is the first of four regular season meetings this season between these two teams. The teams have played one common opponent, with the Wesmen losing twice in Regina while Brandon comes off a pair of home wins against the Cougars. The game is available on internet radio (very well produced and commentated) Winnipeg Radio CFRW 1290 Game coverage

St. Francis Xavier (10-5 overall, 4-1 in AUS) at St. Mary's (12-4 overall, 3-2 in AUS) The Huskies finally return home after playing their past 13 games away from the Tower to officially play their AUS league home opener against arch-rival X. St. Mary's last home game was way back on Oct. 13th, a one point win over UVic. The Huskies are only 3-3 in the past 6 games including an 81-70 loss at St. FX in the championship game of the NIKE X tournament when the X-Men came from 8 points down after 3 quarters to rip off a 33-14 run to end the game. 6'8" freshman Islam Luiz Toledo established his season-high with 27 points in that game while 5'10" Christian "T-Bear" Upshaw added 23. The Huskies, who played without 6'5" starting forward Ike Uchegbu in that game, were led by 6'1" Shane Morrison with 23. X had their six game winning streak snapped at home on Saturday night as Cape Breton salvaged the second game in last weekend's home-and-home set. X welcomed back 6'3" Dwayne Johnson to the lineup after missing a pair of games against MUN with a hand laceration. Johnson averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds in the two games against CBU and has significantly improved his offensive package this season. Expect a big crowd at the Tower in Halifax tonight for this game. Halifax Chronicle-Herald article Quackenbush looking forward to home court and Halifax Daily News preview article

Tuesday 27 November 2007

NACBB Top 10 Released Today

As mentioned in previous postings about the CIS Top 10, it is an inexact science and positions can be taken both pro and con for any ranking (outside of not ranking Carleton #1). However, today's rankings bring up at least two glaring discrepancies in my opinion. The most obvious to me is knocking the Toronto Varsity Blues completely out of the Top 10 despite an overtime loss on the road at a Guelph team that is ranked and rides a 11 game winning streak - moving the Blues from #8 to #11 after that single loss, which they then rebounded from with a solid win against a very good Brock team is questionable. Toronto is two spots below a Calgary team they defeated head-to-head on a neutral court in October. As well, with all due respect to the St. Mary's Huskies, who had a great start to their season, moving them up to #8 despite having to go to overtime against one of the lowest ranked teams in Canada is a stretch. As well, the Huskies are only one week removed from losing twice, the second time badly, at Cape Breton, who are ranked below them. True, St. Mary's have not yet played a home regular season game and I have no doubt that the Huskies will be heard from in the second half of the season as Coach Ross Quackenbush seems to always find a way to get his team's going late in the year, but if these rankings are indicative of the Top 10 teams in Canada right now, I think the Huskies do not belong right now. St. Mary's has an opportunity to support these rankings and prove me wrong on Thursday night when they host X in Halifax.

Courtesy of the NABCC ...

NABCC Top Ten
November 27, 2007

LW League Votes
-- ------ -----
1. Carleton (43) #1 6-0 516 votes
2. UBC #4 9-1 471 votes
3. Acadia #6 5-1 390 votes
4. Concordia #3 2-1 359 votes
5. Brandon #7 7-1 358 votes
6. Windsor #2 4-2 315 votes
7. Guelph #10 6-0 229 votes
8. Saint Mary's #9 3-2 193 votes
9. Calgary #12 7-1 165 votes
10. Alberta #5 5-3 129 votes
11. Toronto #8 5-1 120 votes
12. Ottawa #15 6-0 57 votes
13. Cape Breton #11 5-1 19 votes
14. Queen's #13 4-2 18 votes
15. St. Francis Xavier NR 4-1 3 votes

(Belated) Weekend Recap

Belated recap this week as my 24 week pregnant wife is passing a kidney stone which she says is more painful than child birth itself. Needless to say I have been sidetracked so patience is appreciated.

Here is this week's RPI courtesy of Mark Cheers and the Bob Adams CIS Sports Page as well as some always-provocative thoughts from Neate Sager in Out of Left Field, which I visit daily for keen insights virtually all sports-related issues.

AUS Plenty of exciting action across the country this past weekend with the valiant effort by winless Memorial at home in a double overtime loss on Saturday against St. Mary's probably being the most noteable. 6'3" third-year guard Robert Grant was incredible as Chad Lucas notes in Posting Up Grant's 38 point effort is a season-high in AUS regular season play... The Huskies won a bit more comfortably on Sunday afternoon as 6'1" fifth-year point guard Mark Ross was credited with 17 assists which apparently ties an AUS single-game record also held by Augie Jones and Randy Nohr. Without diminishing the tremendous effort of Ross, who we've stated here is one of the most solid, underrated guards in the CIS, it still must be noted that assists are probably the most inconsistent and difficult statistics to maintain any degree of integrity since interpretations and importance is keeping them among scorers vary so widely. I've been at games where I've counted numerous obvious assists and then the final official stats show much fewer. Conversely, there are other tables that are much quicker to hand out assists and some can be felt to favour the home team's star. Nonetheless, Ross's accomplishment on Sunday was clearly very strong and worthy of note... Huskie teammate 6'2" Mark McLaughlin averaged 27 points per game over the weekend including 32 in St. Mary's overtime win. McLaughlin leads the AUS in scoring (league games only) at 23.0 ppg while Acadia's 6'5" Leonil Saintil, coming off what was for him a relatively quiet weekend, still is fourth in scoring at 17.3 ppg and 1st in rebounding at 15.5 rpg. Cape Breton's 6'5" fifth-year forward Eric Breland is second in conference scoring at 17.8 ppg and second in rebounding with 9.8 rpg. 6'2" Tyler Richards leads St. FX in scoring and is third in the AUS at 17.4 ppg while Cape Breton's 6'7" sophomore Scott Jaspers-Fayer, who played limited minutes as a freshman, has come on since the start of the regular season and is leading all AUS players in field goal percentage at .694... Dal's 6'5" Germain Bendegue had arguably his strongest game as a Tiger this season with a 17 point, 10 rebound effort, which included 7 offensive rebounds, in Dal's win at UNB on Saturday. Dal later swept the weekend series... The schedule is light in the AUS this coming weekend as the first semester draws to a close with only two games: St. FX visits arch-rival St. Mary's in Halifax with the Huskies finally returning home after spending much of the first half of the season on the road - Thursday's game is actually St. Mary's regular season home opener. On Saturday, Cape Breton travels to UNB for a four-point game.

QSSF The standings are very tight in Quebec although if you check the CIS site, last season's standings are still posted. On the QSSF site, McGill remains undefeated at 2-0 which is peculiar since Concordia pounded the Redmen this past Thursday... As a fan, this is, to say the least, disappointing and for those who ponder why our sport isn't regard as "mainstream" by the mainstream media, this situation plus the abysmal OUA and CIS stats are a possible clue as to why (see below for more)... As far as we can tell without going thru each game and pulling out our abbacus, 6'7" J.P. Morin leads the "Q" in scoring at 25 ppg and in rebounding at 11.3 rpg. Bishop's 6'1" Junior Nicolas has had a fine start to the regular season, averaging 24.3 ppg while shooting .550 from the field including a stellar 14 for 27 from three point land; his 14 3's lead all Quebec players in the regular season... A pair of McGill Redmen sits third and fourth in the scoring derby in the "Q" as 6'3" Moustafa El-Zanaty averages 22.5 ppg and 6'4" Sean Anthony is at 18.0 ppg... Laval's Marc-Andre Cote is shooting a blistering .714 from the floor while averaging 7.3 rebounds per game... Just 3 games in the "Q" this weekend with UQAM playing at Concordia and Laval at McGill on Friday followed McGill at UQAM on Saturday.

OUA As mentioned in a previous post, probably the best all-round performance in a big spot was offered up by 6'7" Aaron Doornekamp of the Carleton Ravens as he established what are believed to be career-highs in points (33) and rebounds (17) as the Ravens held off the then-#2 Windsor Lancers before a packed house at the Raven's Nest on Saturday night. The fourth-year forward showed observers that he is the clutch player that his team can look to in important spots now that Osvaldo Jeanty has graduated. Ryerson's 6'7" Boris Bakovic authored a pair of 30+ point games including a 39 point effort against Brock and with at least 2 other 30+ point games this regular season, you would expect the sophomore from Toronto to be leading the OUA in scoring. But a quick visit to the OUA web site surprisingly shows a pair of York Lions tied for the lead in scoring with 32 points per game as Tut Ruach, also averaging 67.3 minutes per game, and Matt Terejko, with a workman-like 55 minutes per game, are off to tremendous, record-setting starts. It is obvious that OUA stats as on their site are simply flat out incorrect as many players are averaging over 40 mpg, Ottawa's 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe has apparently played in only 4 games and many other inaccuracies prevail in only a quick first glance of the site. The CIS stats page is even more inaccurate as Simon Fraser's Greg Wallis is listed as the leading scorer in Canada averaging 37.4 points per game in 56.8 minutes per game and Junior Nicolas has apparently played only 1 game all season. It is now Tuesday at noon and these stats continue to be incorrect; as a fan of the game, I'm not sure what else can be said... Lakehead's 6'4" Kiraan Posey had 29 against Laurentian and then 20 against York in a pair of road victories for his Thunderwolves (3-5), who have won 3 in a row... The Vees Darrell Drake had 26 points and 8 assists in the loss to Lakehead... Brock's Brad Rootes appears to have fully recovered from his ankle injury as he had 26 against Ryerson and then 20 against Toronto over the weekend but the Badgers had some bad news on the injury front as the St. Catharines Standard is reporting that defensive stopper and key starter 6'3" Rohan Steen is likely to miss this weekend's pair of big games against Carleton and Ottawa with an ankle injury... We've mentioned it previously but I don't recall ever remembering a torrid three point shooting streak the likes that 6'4" Jonathan Moscatelli of Guelph currently is riding. After making only one of his first 6 threes from the start of the regular season, Moscatelli has made 12 of his last 13 three pointers including 4 for 4 vs. York last weekend, 3 for 3 vs. Toronto on Friday and 4-5 vs. Ryerson on Saturday... The OUA East holds a slim 25-23 advantage in the cumulative interlock standings as the final set of games between the divisions closes this coming Friday and Saturday. Last season, the OUA East won the season series comfortably after 5 consecutive seasons of relative dominance by the West.

CANADA WEST The difficulty of winning on the road in Canada West action has been discussed ancedotally and the statistics bear out the fact that wins away from home are precious. After this weekend's games, home teams have won 39 of 56 games in Canada West regular season play (70%). Conversely, in other conferences, the disparity is much lower. Asking teams to travel as long as 8 hours to play a Saturday game after playing on Friday night is a receipe for less-than-stellar efforts, poorer product for the fans and in some cases higher chance for injuries to players. Apparently, Canada West coaches will discuss these issues and hopefully maximize the number of games that can be played either Thursday/Saturday or Friday/Sunday such as what Brandon and Winnipeg are doing this coming weekend... Congratulations to 6'8" Greg Wallis who was named Canada West Male Athlete of the week for his efforts in a pair of wins for the suddenly-hot Simon Fraser Clan, who defeated Winnipeg and Manitoba at home over the weekend. Wallis had double doubles in both games including 27 points and 10 rebounds against Winnipeg. In all Wallis shot 20 for 30 from the floor, including several big dunks, over the weekend. 6'7" teammate Nolan Holmes had 20 rebounds in the win against Winnipeg... The undermanned Wesmen, suffering injuries to starters 6'7" Dan Shynkaryk and 6'0" Matt Opalko, got a split in B.C. behind the great work of 5'9" Erfan Nasajpour, who had 25 against the Clan and 26 against Trinity Western in the Wesmen win over the Spartans... Congratulations to 6'6" Tyler Hass who recently joined a number of other great players on the Victoria Vikes 1,000 point career list... The Bekkering brothers took turns leading their Calgary Dinos to victories over their Central Division rivals Alberta Golden Bears as Henry dominated inside with 28 points and 9 rebounds on Friday before watching brother Ross take over on Saturday with a 20 point/11 rebound effort... 6'2" freshman Chris Bodnar, just added to the Saskatchewan Huskies lineup after playing a major role on the Huskies football team, had a career-high 20 points in a win against Lethbridge over the weekend... Bodnar's teammate 6'2" Kyle Grant put his team on his shoulders with 22 second half points (25 in total) to lead the Huskies to a win on a night when 6'8" Andrew Spagrud missed his first-ever Canada West regular season game in his five year career due to an ankle injury that he sustained in the first quarter of the Friday game but kept playing on the rest of the night... Two of the top players in Canada West had big games on Saturday night as the Brandon Bobcats grabbed a strangle-hold on first place in the Great Plains conference. 6'3" Dany Charlery had his season-high of 29 points while adding 10 rebounds and 4 assists while 6'5" Adam Hartman added 25 as the Bobcats swept Regina Cougars, handing them their 3rd and 4th losses in a row after a 4-0 start... Manitoba's Isaac Ansah had a strong 27 point effort in the Bisons' loss at Trinity Western... Winnipeg's 6'1" Cam Hornby, who transfered back to Canada after one season and a bit in the U.S. in NCAA Division 1, has struggled since becoming eligible three games ago. Hornby has made only 4 of his first 21 field goal attempts including 1 for 11 for 3 point land for a total of 10 points in 3 games. Expect his shooting touch to improve as he gets comfortable after not playing in live, competitive action for almost two years.

Articles

Chad Lucas picks his Stars of the Week in his Posting Up blog

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix article on Chris Bodnar which includes an update on the ankle injury to 6'8" Andrew Spagrud Bodnar makes quick transition

David Larkins enters his weekly piece ranking each of the 14 teams in Canada West in his The Point After blog

A weekend recap in the Hamilton Spectator of McMaster Marauders split against York and Laurentian Mac is tossing away its free throws

Jim Wallace of the St. Catharines Standard reviews Toronto Varsity Blues victory at Brock on Saturday afternoon Governor Simcoe graduate gives Badgers the Blues

U of W sports roundup including quotes from Lancers Head Coach Chris Oliver in today's Windsor Star.

Monday 26 November 2007

CISHOOPS.CA Top 10 for November 26th, 2007

With all conferences well into their regular season schedules, there have been enough games played to begin to assess and rank teams based on who they've played instead of speculating on talent and potential which weighed heavily on the pre-season and early season rankings. While Carleton is clearly #1, the remainder of the rankings are up for debate based on schedule strength, key wins and losses and how teams have done most recently. Teams with few losses and relatively easier schedules can be ranked high but 1 or 2 subsequent losses can cost those teams in subsequent rankings. With one more week to go until the exam/holiday break, next week's Top 10 will be last for the calendar year 2007.

#1 Carleton (12-0 overall, 6-0 in OUA, #1 last week) (2-0 this past weekend: defeated Western 78-50 and then-#2 Windsor 81-73 at home) Riding the nation's longest winning streak at 15 games (including last season's 3 game run to the national championship), the Ravens unleashed their 6'7" Moser Award candidate Aaron Doornekamp on the Windsor Lancers and in a big spot he put on a display worthy of the Player-of-the-year with 33 points and 17 rebounds as Carleton avenged last season's Wilson Cup loss to the Lancers. NEXT: at Brock Friday night and at #4 Guelph on Saturday night.

#2 UBC (10-1 overall, 9-1 Canada West, #3 last week) (2-0 this past weekend: defeated Thompson Rivers 101-81 and 110-72 at home) Another pair of easy wins for the T-Birds against Pacific Division competition at home as 6'8" Bryson Kool appears to be rounding back into form after several months of getting back to full strength after injuries. UBC is one of only 2 CIS teams with fewer than 2 losses, their only loss coming at Calgary three weeks ago. But the T-Birds have only one win against a Top 10 team, defeating Toronto at home in October, with the remainder of their wins against teams with .500 or lower records. NEXT: UBC entertains arch-rival UVic for a pair of games at home this coming weekend.

#3 Acadia (10-2 overall, 5-1 in AUS, #6 last week) (2-0 this past weekend: had a pair of victories at UPEI, 88-54 and 84-75) The Axemen have won five in a row after an regular season opening night loss at home to St. Mary's and have moved up in the rankings as others have fallen. Acadia's only two losses are to the Huskies and their margin of victory in other games has been generally high although none of their wins outside of the pre-season opener against St. Mary's have been against Top 10 teams. The Axemen need to win some quality games to maintain this lofty ranking. NEXT: Acadia has completed their first half AUS regular season schedule and now plays next at the Wesmen Class tournament between December 28th and 30th in Winnipeg.

#4 Guelph (12-2 overall, 6-0 in OUA, #9 last week) (this past weekend: 2-0 defeated U of T 79-75 in OT and Ryerson 95-87, both at home) Winners of 12 in a row (tied with Carleton for the nation's longest win streak for this season), Guelph continues to win all the close games and has an emerging talent in 6'4" Jonathan Moscatelli, who has made 10 of his last 12 three-point shots and despite playing only about 20 minutes per game, has been on the floor late in games and has led Guelph offensively down the stretch. Combined with 6'3" Nick Pankerichan who is having his best season and 6'9" Duncan Milne, the Gryphs are currently the top team in the OUA West. Guelph has quality wins at Queen's and at home against Cape Breton and Toronto. As well, the Gryphs pushed #1 Carleton at home losing by 3 at the House-Laughton tournament in Ottawa, one of only 2 losses on the season. NEXT: Host #10 Ottawa (Friday) and #1 Carleton (Saturday) this weekend.

#5 Brandon (11-3 overall, 7-1 Canada West, #7 last week) (2-0 this past weekend: defeated Regina at home twice 76-64 and 95-77) The Cats rolled over the Cougars at home and have opened up a three-game lead atop the Great Plains division. Brandon was without usual rotation players 6'1" Tarik Tokar and 6'8" Yuri Whyms for Saturday's game but was still able to win comfortably. Two losses to Alberta and a set back against top ranked Carleton by 3 at the UVic tournament in October are the only blemishes on the Cats season. Brandon has a pair of wins against Saskatchewan and a nice road win at UVic during the Vetrie tournament; the remainder of the victories are against .500 or lower teams. NEXT: Thursday/Saturday home-and-home set against Winnipeg this weekend beginning at the Duckworth Center on Thursday night.

#6 Concordia (6-2 overall, 2-1 in QSSF, #5 last week) (1-1 this past week: won at McGill 81-62 and lost at Laval 68-62). Playing their first three QSSF league games on the road, the Stingers could not hold an early lead in bowing to Laval on Saturday. Concordia has battled injuries to both Buckley brothers the entire first semester but has played by far the fewest games against CIS competition of any of the Top 10 contenders. A key road win at overtime against Queen's helps as does the win this past Thursday at McGill however the overtime loss at Winnipeg against the unranked Wesmen and a lack of stronger opponents on the schedule weighs down on the ranking. NEXT: Concordia closes their first semester by hosting UQAM on Friday.

#7 Toronto (12-3 overall, 5-1 in OUA, #8 last week) (This past weekend: 1-1 with a 79-75 overtime loss to then #9 Guelph and a 70-66 win at Brock) The Guelph game was as billed: two very even teams slugging it out into overtime before the Gryphs prevailed. 6'3" Mike Degiorgio continues to be the fifth-year leader the Blues need, hitting a big shot late in regulation against the Gryphs that almost gave the Blues the win. Toronto did a great job bouncing back to beat a very capable Brock team in St. Catharines. The Blues have quality wins against Calgary (neutral site at Waterloo) and at Brock. Toronto's only losses have come at Simon Fraser, which has won 5 of their last 6, at #2 UBC and at #4 Guelph. NEXT: The Blues get another shot at a quality win when they entertain #9 Windsor on Saturday and also play a solid Western Mustangs side at home on Friday.

#8 Calgary (9-2 overall, 7-1 in Canada West, "also considered" last week) (2-0 this past week: defeated then #4 Alberta twice at home 95-74 and 98-73). Took command of first place in the Central Division by two games with a pair of lopsided wins against Alberta, beginning with Friday night's win in which the Dinos took complete control late in the third quarter and dominated the fourth. Saturday's game was basically over in the first half as Calgary's depth and athleticism created all kinds of problems for the Bears. Calgary has also defeated UBC at home but has losses against Toronto (neutral court in Waterloo) and at Simon Fraser. The Dinos still need that big win on the road to move further up the rankings but fully deserve a spot in this week's Top 10. NEXT: Host division rival Saskatchewan Huskies twice to complete the first half of the season.

#9 Windsor (8-3 overall, 4-2 in OUA, #2 last week) (this past week: 0-2 lost at Ottawa 78-61 and at #1 Carleton 81-73) Once again, the Lancers squandered an opportunity for big road wins in losing a pair in the Nation's Capital. Two of Windsor's prized fifth-year players had less than stellar weekends as 6'5" Kevin Kloostra averaged only 7 points in the losses, shooting 5 for 21 in total, while 6'0" Ryan Steer was outplayed at Ottawa on Friday but did recover to have a solid offensive performance against Carleton. 6'8" Greg Surmacz has been the most consistent Lancer all season while 6'3" Isaac Kuon had a pair of solid shooting games this weekend. All 3 of the Lancer losses this season have been on the road and they have a couple of quality wins including last weekend's victory over Queen's at home and a neutral court win against Cape Breton. NEXT: The Lancers get another chance at winning a big road game this Saturday night at #7 Toronto; prior to that Windsor visits Ryerson in downtown Toronto.

#10 Ottawa (10-2 overall, 6-0 in OUA, NR last week) (this past week: 2-0 defeated then-#2 Windsor 78-61 and Western 84-67) The Gee-Gees are riding a six-game winning streak and comfortably handled the Lancers at home in a game that was basically over early in the fourth quarter. 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe is having an all-conference-type start to the season and Ottawa's starting five ranks up there with the top quintets in the nation. Ottawa is undefeated at home and is beginning to develop their bench but currently relies on 30+ minutes from at least 4 of their starters against quality opposition to have a chance to win. In addition to Friday night's win against Windsor, Ottawa has home wins against St. FX, Brock and Laval. The Gee-Gees still do not have that signature win on the road and have lost to a Waterloo team that has only 1 other win against CIS competition this season, that coming this weekend against winless RMC. Ottawa also was soundly defeated in Alberta earlier this year. NEXT: at #4 Guelph (Friday) and at Brock (Saturday).

DROPPED OUT OF TOP 10:
Alberta (10-4 overall, 5-3 Canada West, #4 last week) (Lost twice at Calgary 95-74 and 98-73)
Cape Breton (11-4 overall, 5-1 in AUS, #10 last week) (this past weekend: 1-1 split with St. FX)

Also Considered:
Queen's (9-3 overall, 4-2 in OUA)
St. FX (10-5 overall, 4-1 in AUS)
St. Mary's (12-4 overall, 3-2 in AUS)

Sunday 25 November 2007

Sunday Afternoon in the AUS

A light CIS schedule today as there are only three games, all in the AUS and all the second leg of two-game series.

Saint Mary's (3-2) 84, Memorial (0-6) 60 6'1" Mark Ross had 17 assists and the Huskies took a 47-22 lead into halftime and comfortably defeated the Seahawks. 6'2" Mark McLaughlin had 22 points while 6'6" freshman Luke Reynolds got some time and had his best game as a Huskie scoring 14 points and adding 6 rebounds. Shane Morrison and Aaron Duncan each added 12 for St. Mary's, which shot 63.5% from the floor.
Dalhousie (3-3) 84, UNB (0-6) 61 The Tigers once again got a strong effort from their front line, outrebounding the Reds 42-28 including 18 offensive rebounds to sweep the two game series in Fredericton. 6'7" sophomore Sandy Viet grabbed 8 offensive rebounds and finished with a 17 point/10 rebound double double while 6'1" Simon Farine again set the table, coming close to a triple double with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists. Michael Anderson led UNB, which shot only 28% from downtown, with 17.
#6 Acadia (5-1) 84, UPEI (3-3) 75 The Axemen scored 34 points to retake the lead in the third quarter and rode to a nine-point win at Charlottetown. With the Panthers up by 3 at halftime, Acadia stormed out of the gate in the third quarter as 6'5" Sean Berry had 23 points while 6'4" Luckern Dieu added 11 points/7 rebounds. Acadia won reasonably comfortably despite only 7 points and 6 rebounds from 6'5" Leonel Saintil, who played only 20 minutes. 6'2" point guard Andrew Kraus had a solid 9 point, 8 assist afternoon against only 1 turnover while James Burke made 3 of 7 from downtown to finish with 9 points. Brent Mclaren led UPEI with 23 points while 6'6" freshman Manock Lual added 14 points/8 rebounds. Report from Scott MacDonald of UPEI Panthers Basketball blog What a difference tempo makes. Last night UPEI was never able to get into an offensive rhythm, losing to the Axemen. In the rematch, the Panthers were able to get several key Acadia players in foul trouble early and forced the tempo of the game as they led for the first half. After losing the rebounding battle yesterday, the Green and White came out prepared to do battle on the glass and outrebounded the Axemen for the game 34-32. They also were able to spread the floor and shoot 49% from the floor in the game. Tied at 9 midway through the first quarter, Manock Lual scored in the paint on his older brother Achuil from Acadia to key a 6-0 run. Brent McLaren then made two free throws, and grabbed a defensive board and hit Jared Budd full court in transition to push them to 15-9. Acadia's James Burke hit a triple, which was answered by rookie Panther Vlad Farcas's turnaround jumper in the paint. UPEI led 17-12 at the end of the quarter. As the second quarter began, the young frontcourt of the Panthers found their way to the basket as Lual and Anthony McDougald were active on the glass and banging around the hoop. Lual opened the scoring, dropping two on his brother again, while McDougald was able to beat the 24 second buzzer with a jumper from 12 feet out. Andrew Black drove past two Axemen defenders on the baseline, and McDougald scored on a second chance putback effort making it 25-16. UPEI ran their switches and doubles on the dribbler and in the post to perfection, not letting Acadia get any easy hoops. McLaren hit a three with a minute remaining to push the Panther lead to 32-26, but Axeman Peter Leighton got open on the perimeter with 2 seconds left hitting a three of his own, making it 32-29 at the intermission. Acadia used a pair of hoops from long range to take a lead in the second half, but sophomore wing Jon Cooper was able to match them basket for basket. Cooper made two free throws tying it at 34 all, then slipped by defenders on the wing for a layup, then banged home a threepointer of his own to make it 39-38 Acadia. The Panthers continued to find Lual and McDougald inside, but Shawn Berry had a big quarter of his own as he led the Axemen charge. UPEI closed it to four on a hoop from Lual, and then UPEI's Tim Butler blocked a threepoint attempt of Acadia and found Lual on the other end to bring them back to two. Acadia went on a quarter ending run, and led 63-54 heading into the fourth. The story of the fourth quarter was the play of rookie Vlad Farcas, as he was a perfect 5-5 from the field to score 11 points in the quarter while also being active on the glass. Farcas and McLaren combined to do most of the damage for the Panthers as they shrank a 16 point Acadia lead down to just 7 late in the quarter. McLaren stopped the Acadia run with a three making it 70-57. Leonel Saintil scored a layup, then McLaren hit another from downtown. Farcas then scored the next 7 Panther points on a series of jumpers and a triple of his own. After Berry scored in the lane, McLaren hit another jumper cutting it to 78-69, then stole the next Acadia possession and found Vlad underneath for two, 78-71 with 1:38 left in the contest. UPEI was forced to foul, and Acadia made 1-2 from the line giving the Panthers a chance to sneak back in it, but UPEI had an offensive foul giving the ball back to the Axemen. Saintil then went to the line, and once again they were 1-2, grabbing their own offensive rebound. Again they went 1-2 from the line, with Farcas getting the defensive board. Jared Budd then found Farcas under the rim and he scored, followed by UPEI forcing a turnover. McLaren scored on a quick two, and it was 81-75 with just 24 seconds left. Acadia went to the line again and scored two. UPEI had several opportunities late but couldn't find the twine, ending the game. McLaren led the Panther attack with 23 and 5 assists, Lual scored 14 and took down 8 boards, Farcas went 6-6 from the field for his 13 points. Berry had 23 for Acadia, while Luckern Dieu had 11. The Panthers move into the XMAS break at 3-3.

Late Canada West Scores and Various Game Reports, Articles

Simon Fraser (5-5) 82, Winnipeg (4-4) 73 The Clan dominated the glass against an under-manned Wesmen side missing starters 6'8" Dan Shynkaryk and 5'10" Nick Lother, and got another sterling performance from 6'8" Greg Wallis to defeat the visiting Wesmen. Wallis had a game-high 27 points on 12-19 shooting and added 10 rebounds while fellow big 6'6" Nolan Holmes had 11 points and a season-high 20 rebounds including 17 defensive as the Clan pulled into third place in the Pacific Division. 5'9" Erfan Nasajpour kept Winnipeg in the game with 25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals. Winnipeg/Simon Fraser Box Score plus video from the game courtesy of Simon Fraser Sports Info

Victoria (8-2) 65, Fraser Valley (4-6) 63 Victoria had another come-from-behind victory over UCFV as Mike Tucker from UVic Sports Information Reports... Another comeback needed for Vikes victory VICTORIA - For the second straight night the University of Victoria Vikes needed to overcome a halftime deficit to defeat the Fraser Valley Cascades. Behind 17 points from Mitch Gudgeon, the Vikes downed the Cascades 65-63. Gudgeon scored seven points in the final frame, none bigger than a two-handed dunk with four minutes left to give the Vikes a four-point lead. Gudgeon drove baseline and poster-ized the Cascades defender with a vicious throw-down, and along with two late free-throws, secured the weekend sweep over Fraser Valley. The Vikes trailed 41-38 after the first half of play, and entered the final frame tied after Cascades fifth-year guard Lee Jackson ended the third quarter with a NBA-range three ball. Jackson totaled 11 points before fouling out. The Cascades made eight three-pointers versus one by the Vikes. After Gudgeon gave the Vikes an early lead in the fourth, the Vikes were able to control the clock with the lead in hand. The Vikes managed to extend their possessions, getting several second chance looks with seven offensive 'boards. In one trip down the floor, the Vikes grabbed three offensive rebounds before Tyler Hass made the Cascades pay dearly with a bank shot for a five-point lead with one minute remaining. On Fraser Valley's final possession they missed a three-pointer, but kept the ball in play. Freshman Tristian Smith scored on a drive through the lane, for his 10th point of the night, but left no time remaining on the clock. For the second night in a row Dwayne Harrison held the Fraser Valley high with, scoring 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting. The Vikes shot 41.5 percent. Second-year guard Brandon Dunlop netted 14 points, and helped force two of the Cascades 16 turnovers. Hass finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Last weekend Hass surpassed 1,000 career points in a Vikes uniform. With the victory, the Vikes move to 8-2 with a stranglehold on second-place in the Canada West. The Vikes will play their final two games prior to the exam break next weekend when they take on the UBC Thunderbirds. The Vikes take on the defending Canada West champs Friday and Saturday November 30-December 1. The first-place T-birds are 8-1 and ranked fourth in the CIS. Fraser Valley/UVic Box Score plus Report from UCFV web site as well here is Ron Ruach's column in this morning's Victoria Times-Colonist Defense saves the day for Vikes

#3 UBC (9-1) 110, Thompson Rivers (1-9) 72 6'8" Bryson Kool (pictured) continues to rebound for a series of injuries that have held him back, scoring a game-high 26 points and adding 11 rebounds in just 18 minutes as the T-Birds took a comfortable early lead and then completely ran away from the WolfPack in the fourth quarter. 6'3" Chris Dyck addded 23 points for the T-Birds who now prepare for a pair of games at home next weekend against arch-rival UVic Vikes. 6'5" Kamar Burke had 11 points, 17 rebounds and 5 assists for TRU but turned it over 6 times, part of the 27 turnovers the WolfPack had as a team. Thompson Rivers/UBC Box Score
plus Game report from UBC web site

Trinity Western (3-7) 83, Manitoba (0-8) 80 Jason Keegstra had 18 points to lead the Spartans to offset a tremendous 27 point effort from Manitoba's Isaac Ansah. Manitoba/TWU Box Score plus Game Report from TWU site

Articles from last night's action: Chad Lucas recaps all the AUS action including the wild game in St. John's in his very strong Posting Up blog

Wayne Kondro's piece in the Ottawa Citizen on Carleton's eight point win over Windsor Ravens fend off sharp Lancers

John Browne from the St. John's Telegram captures the essence of the Seahawks double overtime loss at home at the hands of St. Mary's Huskies during which MUN's third year guard Robert Grant had a career game with 38 points and 15 assists Glorious Heartbreak

Halifax Daily News has a roundup of the AUS games played yesterday Benedegue leads Dal

A couple of columns we missed earlier that appearance in the Guelph Mercury Listen Up Gryphs making a statement plus Greg Layson's article on the Gryphs overtime win against Toronto Gryphs win in OT

A recap of Saturday's Saskatchewan victory over Lethbridge from HuskieHoops.com

Finally, here is a quick recap of Cape Breton's win over St. FX last night; courtesy of Al Charters Well CAPERS fans the team hit the road tonight for the second of a home and home series with the STFX X-Men. Ater dropping the first game at home the CAPERS rebounded to defeat the home team 72-61. It was a total team effort as every one contributed in one way or another, and it was a great team accomplishment as STFX is a very tough team to play in their building. The
CAPERS moved to 5 wins and 1 loss with one game left at UNB prior to the Christmas break. The CAPERS were led by Paul Blake with 17 points and 7 rebounds and by their leader big Eric Breland with 15 points and 9 rebounds and 4 assists, followed by big Scott Jasper-Fayer with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, Mark McGarrigle twinkled the twines for 11 points and big Phil N'Krumah hit for 7 points and 8 rebounds, Tremaine Fraser and Chris Noodle rounded out the scoring with 5 points apeice. STFX were led by Tyler Richards with 23 points and Christian Upshaw and Dwayne Johnson with 12 each. Coach Charters comments after the game are as follows: "Tonight we played with much more energy and attention to detail in terms of following a scouting report. It is always good to beat a good team on their own court. We really need a good week of practice to prepare us for playing in Fredericton and we require continued improvement." The CAPERS game at UNB will take place Saturday, December 1st at 3pm.

Saturday 24 November 2007

Results from Saturday Night

Calgary (7-1) 98, #4 Alberta (5-3) 73 Calgary led 55-35 at halftime and rolled to another lopsided win over the #4 Bears. From Calgary Sports Info... DINOS MAUL BEARS, SWEEP WEEKEND CALGARY – After a quiet outing Friday, Ross Bekkering was a monster for Calgary Saturday night, leading the unranked Dinos over the fifth-ranked Alberta Golden Bears 98-73 in the Jack Simpson Gym. Bekkering (3rd year, Taber, Alta.) exploded out of the gates, scoring 16 points and hauling down 10 rebounds in the first half as Calgary opened up a 20-point halftime lead and never looked back, picking up his sixth double-double in eight games this season. “Ross is a great athlete and he works really hard,” said Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren. “From a rebounding perspective and on the defensive side of the ball, Ross is huge part of why we’re successful. I’m really excited for him to be playing this well in his third year. Much of Calgary’s offensive success was the result of excellent defence, which held the Bears to only 36 per cent shooting from the field. “I thought it was a team effort, and defending Alex (Steele) is always tough. Jeff (Price) did a better job on him tonight, and our help side was always there. It made it really tough for him, especially in the first half. I give a lot of credit to the guys for their focus on our game plan.” Steele (5th, Edmonton), the Bears’ top scorer, was held to only four points in the opening half and 14 overall. Bekkering finished the night with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Robbie Sihota (3rd, Calgary) also finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and hauling down 10 rebounds. Cody Darrah (5th, Edmonton) hit four threes and finished with 14 points, while Henry Bekkering (4th, Taber) and Price (3rd, Calgary) scored 10 apiece. Forward Richard Bates (5th, Sherwood Park, Alta.) was the best player on the floor for Alberta, scoring 16 points to go with a dozen boards. Steele and Andrew Parker (5th, Edmonton) scored 14 each, while Harvey Bradford (3rd, Skookumchuck, B.C.) had 11. The weekend sweep gives the Dinos sole possession of first place in the Canada West Central Division with at 7-1, four points ahead of 5-3 Alberta. “These are two big wins for multiple reasons,” Vanhooren went on. “With big crowds and recruits in the stands both nights, this bodes well for a lot of aspects of our programs. It puts us in first by ourselves, and one of our goals is to finish first in the division and host the Final Four. “We’ll have to refocus, though, and come out strong against Saskatchewan next week. They’re an experienced team and we haven’t had much success against them lately, so we need to be ready.” The Dinos and Huskies will hook up next weekend in the Jack Simpson Gym to wrap up conference play before the December exam break, while the Golden Bears close their opening semester with another trip south to face the 0-8 Lethbridge Pronghorns.
Saskatchewan (5-3) 92, Lethbridge (0-8) 71 6'2" Kyle Grant had 22 of his season-high 25 points in the second half and the Huskies rolled to a victory despite playing without 6'8" Andrew Spagrud, who missed the first league game of his five-year CIS career after sustaining an ankle injury early in last night's game. Freshman Chris Bodnar got his first career start and had career-high 20 points (12-14 from FT, 2-3 3FG). The Huskies also got a career-high 20 points plus 5 steals from Troy Gottselig (8-11 FG). Saskatchewan/Lethbridge Box Score

#7 Brandon (7-1) 95, Regina (4-4) 77 Written by: Jeremy Sawatzky, BU Sports Information #7 Bobcats Sweep Cougars, Improve To 7-1 BRANDON, MB – The 7th ranked Brandon University Bobcats completed a two-game sweep of the Regina Cougars on Saturday night, cruising to a 95-77 victory at the BU Gymnasium. Despite the absence of a pair of starters in Tarik Tokar and Yuri Whyms – both of whom missed the game due to injury problems – the 'Cats lit up the Cougars offensively and knocked off their divisional foes for the 8th straight time. To make the victory even more impressive, 5th year point guard Yul Michel sat on the bench for most of the first half due to foul trouble. "It's definitely a luxury for a coach to be able to look down the bench and pick and choose who you want to go with in a situation like this," said first year Brandon coach Mike Raimbault. "All of our guys are capable of stepping up and putting in a big performance." It was a pair of starters, however, who did most of the damage on this night: Dany Charlery delivered 29 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, while 5th year forward Adam Hartman added 25 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. "We just had to step up, everybody, even the rookies… everybody chipped in and did what they had to do," commented Charlery. "The ball was dropping for me, I felt good, so I just kept going." With the win, the 'Cats improved their record to 7-1, three games ahead of the 4-4 Cougars for first place in the Great Plains division standings. "Every time we step on the floor we're capable of beating anyone," added Raimbault. "Tonight especially we had a lot of people who needed to step up because of the absence of Tokar… I'm pleased with the guys who came off the bench and got the job done." Freshmen Kevin Oliver notched 14 points in 21 minutes of action, while Michel finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists despite playing only 23 minutes. Bryden Wright led the way for Regina with 24 points. Jamal Williams scored 20 and Jeff Lukomski dropped 18.

#10 Cape Breton (5-1) 72, St. FX (4-1) 61 6'4" Paul Blake, in only his second game back after missing three weeks with a hamstring injury, had a team-high 17 points and added 7 rebounds as the Capers avenged Thursday's loss at home to the X-Men by returning the favour Saturday night in Antigonish. 6'5" Eric Breland was his usual load inside with 15 points/9 rebounds and 5 assists. X, which trailed by 11 after three quarters and could not bring it back in the fourth, got 23 points and 6 rebounds from 6'2" guard Tyler Richards.

St. Mary's (2-2) 110, Memorial (0-5) 98 DOUBLE OVERTIME The Seahawks got a herculian 38 point, 15 assist effort from Robert Grant but could not hold off the Huskies, who outscored MUN 17-5 in the second overtime to claim an important win at St. John's. 6'2" Mark McLaughlin had 32 points to lead St. Mary's while 6'5" Aaron Duncan added 25 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals for the Huskies. Reliable 6'1" point guard Mark Ross had 8 points and 9 assists against only 2 turnovers for SMU, which survived a scare by the hometown Seahawks.

#6 Acadia (4-1) 88, UPEI (3-2) 54 Thanks to UPEI Basketball blog for this game report... An 8-8 tie 4 minutes into the game quickly turned into an Acadia advantage, as the Axemen scored from inside and out to take the 88-54 win over the Panthers in Charlottetown. Leonel Saintil was a beast on the boards for Acadia as he gobbled every ball near him powering the Axemen attack for 8 points, 16 boards and 6 steals, and his rebounding ability was the big difference in the contest. UPEI had quality looks at the basket but their young frontcourt didn't match up with the experience and length of Acadia who seemed to clog up the middle all night long. Peter Leighton led Acadia with 20, including 6/9 from long range, while Luckern Dieu had 19, and Shawn Berry 12. Down 26-15 at the end of the first period UPEI looked like they were going to make a game of it as they forced Acadia into a 24 second shot clock violation to start the second quarter. They followed it up with a defensive stop the next time down the floor, with Jared Budd hitting a layup in traffic, then getting a steal. Panther faithful thought the tide had turned, but Acadia was able to handle the Panther run and stay ahead 35-20 with 5 minutes left in the half. Jon Cooper then stole the ball and dunked on the break, and Manock Lual took an offensive charge and scored on the other end bringing UPEI to 40-26 at the break. Acadia seemed to get every offensive break in the second half as they hit 50% of their three pointers for the game, and Panther attempts came up short. Chad MacDonald came off the bench to score 5 straight UPEI points, but they were never able to get into an offensive sync for the game. Manock Lual and Jared Budd led the Panthers with 11 each, with Andrew Black scoring 7. The two teams meet again on Sunday afternoon at 3pm, with the game webcast on Panthertv.ca.

Dalhousie (2-3) 62, UNB (0-5) 60 6'5" Germain Bendegue had a terrific effort in and around the paint, scorching the Varsity Reds for 20 points and 17 rebounds, including 7 on the offensive glass as the Tigers survived at UNB. Dal overcame an uncharacteristic poor shooting performance by 6'1" Simon Farine, who went only 3 for 16 from the field, but still scored 9 points and added 7 rebounds, 7 assists. 6'5" Drew Stratton chipped in with 13 points and 8 rebounds for Dal while Michael Anderson had 20 for the losers.

McGill (2-1) 95, Bishop's (2-2) 83 Bishop’s sqaundered a 50-36 lead at halftime as the Redmen upped their tenacity on defense and Bishop’s turned it over 16 times in the second half (as against only 5 in the 1st), allowing McGill scoring 59 points after the intermission. Bishop’s had held Concordia to 65 for the entire game last week and just did not get it done defensively. 6'3" Mustafa El Zanaty had 18 of his 22 points in the second half and 6'4" Sean Anthony added all of 16 in the second half as well. 6'4" Matt Thornhill had 12 and 6'6" Yannick Chouinard added 10 for McGill. For Bishop’s 6'1" Junior Nicolas had 28, 6'6" Herman Tesfaghebriel had 24 pts in 18 minutes while Damon Thomas Anderson had 11 pts and led all rebounders with 9.

Laval (2-2) 68, #5 Concordia (2-1) 62 After a slow start, Les Rouge et Or turned up the "d" and won a big game at home. The Stingers led by as much as 8 in the first half but a late Laval run got them back to within 2 by halftime. A series of third-quarter scores by 6'4" Jerome Turcotte (14 points, 6 rebounds) finally allowed Laval to take their first lead and the lead changed hands a few times until the final 2 minutes when Les Rouge et Or got a huge putback from 6'4" FO Hebert followed up by a huge three from 5'9" Xavier Baribeau on a nice feed by 6'7" J.P. Morin with the shot clock running out to take the lead for good. Morin led Laval with 26 points and 9 rebounds while 6'1" Damian Buckley led Concordia, who played without 6'3" Dwayne Buckley - out with a knee injury -, with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Ottawa (6-0) 84, Western (2-4) 67 The Gee-Gees remained undefeated in league play behind 19 points from 6'3" wing Donnie Gibson, who is emerging as a key cog in Ottawa's starting unit. Gibson was 8 for 15 from the field and added 12 rebounds as Ottawa took leads as large as 22 in the second half, primarily by attacking the offensive glass (19 "o" boards) and outrebounding the Mustangs 44-33. 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe added 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for the Gee-Gees while 6'9" Dax Dessureault had a solid 13 points/8 rebounds as the Gee-Gees got surprising contributions from deeper in their bench than they normally go. 6'6" Brad Smith led Western with 19 points including a pair of emphatic dunks while 6'8" Alan Paron added 14 for the Mustangs, who turned the ball over 18 times on the night.

#1 Carleton (6-0) 81, #2 Windsor (4-2) 73 6'7" Aaron Doornekamp went off for a career-high 33 points and added 17 rebounds as the Ravens sent the Lancers home with a pair of weekend losses. 6'4" Ryan Bell added 14 points and 5 assists for Carleton while scrappy 6'3" wing Stu Turnbull added 11 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in another strong, consistent effort. 6'1" Ryan Steer shook off a mediocre performance against Ottawa with 21 points including 4 for 7 3's while 6'8" Greg Surmacz added a 13 point/11 rebound double/double. Isaac Kuon had another nice offensive performance with 16 points including 4 for 7 3's but 6'5" Kevin Kloostra finished with only 5 points before fouling. The Lancers go back on the road next weekend to face U of T and Ryerson in Toronto.

Lakehead (3-3) 81, York (1-5) 59 The Thunderwolves won going away after leading by 25 after 3 quarters as 6'4" Kiraan Posey had another solid effort with 20 points and 13 rebounds. 6'7" Warren Thomas added 18 points/7 rebounds as Lakehead held York to just 27% shooting for the evening. 6'7" Matt Terejko led the Lions with 17 points/9 rebounds.

McMaster (2-4) 84, Laurentian (1-5) 74 The young Marauders had a solid, character-building come-from-behind win after trailing by 4 entering the fourth quarter. 6'2" freshman Tyrell Vernon had 22 points including several big shots in the final quarter to allow Mac to split the weekend. 6'8" Mouchtar Diaby had 13 points/7 rebounds while 6'1" Amino Bello went 3 for 7 as part of his 13 points for Mac. 6'8" Joe Polizzi, despite playing on a very sore and injured ankle, contributed 9 points in 26 valiant minutes while 6'6" freshman Brett Day, despite scoring only 4 points, was instrumental in the fourth quarter surge. Laurentian placed 4 players in double figures including 6'6" Matas Tirilis who had 17 points/7 rebounds.

#8 Toronto (5-1) 70, Brock (4-2) 66 Despite going only 2 for 15 from downtown, the Blues took a very important road game by holding off a very good Badger team down the stretch. Brock came to within 1 late in the game after 4 consecutive Blues turnovers allowed the Badgers to almost come all the way back from a 12 point fourth quarter deficit. 6'2" Rob Paris returned home to his native St. Catharines and knocked in 20 points for Toronto while consistently-strong 6'3" guard Mike Degiorgio again flirted with a triple/double, scoring 14 points, while adding 7 rebounds and 8 assists. 6'7" Nick Snow played all 40 minutes and had 7 points plus a game-high 15 rebounds. 6'2" Mike Kemp led the Badgers, who played without 6'3" starting wing Rohan Steen out with an ankle injury, with 25 points including 4-10 from 3 while 5'10" Brad Rootes had 20 points but made only 5 for 19 after knocking down his first 2 shots of the game (both 3's) and had only 5 assists (a low total by his standards).

#9 Guelph (6-0) 95, Ryerson (2-4) 87 Once again, 6'4" Jonathan Moscatelli was a key contributor to the Gryphs win, going 4 for 5 from downtown (he is now 11 for his last 12 three point shots) to finish with 19 points as Guelph rallied from 3 down at halftime at home to remain undefeated. 6'7" Boris Bakovic had another 30+ point game, scoring 31 and adding 9 rebounds while 6'10" brother Igor Bakovic had 23 points/10 rebounds and 6'10" Joey Imbrogno added 17 points to keep Rye close. 6'4" Nick Pankerichan led Guelph with 21 points.

Queens (4-2) 61, Waterloo (1-5) 53 (with thanks to Curtis Dauber) In a ragged affair, the Gaels jumped out to an early 6 point lead about midway through the first quarter and the lead remained in that vicinity until the Gaels led 41-31 after three quarters. Queens had their long-range shooting going as despite hitting only 5 two pointers on the night, the Gaels nailed 13 three's and 12 foul shots. 6'3" Simon Mitchell had 14 points/7 rebounds while 6'6" Mitch Leger added 14 points/11 rebounds in the win. Waterloo simply could not put the ball in the basket. Queens collapsed inside taking away any advantage Waterloo might've had down there, and a 7-29 effort from behind the arc just wasn't good enough. Dan White led the way for Waterloo with 17 points 4 rebounds and 3 steals, Sinclair Brown had 11 and point guard Dave Burnett chipped in with 8 points and 7 rebounds.

Laurier (1-5) 91, RMC (0-6) 63 GOLDEN HAWKS GET FIRST WIN By Mike Quigley... The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks got into the win column for the first time in the 2007-08 OUA season with a 91-63 defeat of the RMC Paladins at the WLU AC on Saturday night. The loss leaves the Paladins as the only OUA team without a win in league play. The game opened much as one might imagine featuring two teams both looking for their first victory. Although it took the Golden Hawks 4:36 to score their first basket, they were only down 1-0 at the time. RMC scored to regain the lead, the Hawks countered with another basket and then the Paladins hit a 3 for their last lead of the game. Laurier’s shooters, who had struggled tremendously over the losing streak suddenly found their range, scoring on their final 7 possessions of the first quarter, including 3 successive 3's, to lead 21-11 after the 1st. The 2nd quarter has been a nightmare for the Hawks during this bad stretch, often scoring less than 10 points during the period. After scoring first, the Golden Hawks looked like they might run into similar difficulties, missing on 5 straight possessions including 2 turnovers and 0/2 from the foul line. However, back to back 3's gave the young team needed confidence. A 10-2 Hawks run after the 5:00 minute mark gave the Hawks a 39-21 lead. Laurier’s defense slipped a little during the final minute of the quarter giving up back to back open 3's but the Hawks took a 41-27 lead into the dressing room at the half. Laurier opened the 3rd quarter on fire scoring on their first 8 possessions to jump ahead 60-32 and take control of the game. Except for a couple of defensive breakdowns and 3 turnovers, the Hawks executed their game plan and led 70-45 at the end of 3 quarters. RMC did not give up and continued to battle the Hawks through each possession. Back to back to back 3 pointers cut the Hawk lead to 20 at 76-56 but that was as close as they came. The Hawks kept running which will be the key to this team’s success. It resulted in layups, open looks and trips to the foul line. In the end, the Hawks won all 4 quarters of the game, coming away with a 91-63 victory and finally getting into the win column. The Golden Hawks were led in scoring by Justin Golob (2nd yr., F, St. Catherines, ON) who finished with 20 points including 6/12 from behind the 3 point arc. Three Hawks, Trevor Csima (5th yr., post, Oakville, ON), Matthew Walker (4th yr., wing, Waterloo, ON) and Kale Harrison (1st yr., wing, Stratford, ON) added 14 points each while Dominique Brown (1st yr., wing, Woodbridge, ON) had 11. Harrison led the Hawks with 11 rebounds while Csima and Brown had 9 each. Jesse MacDonald (3rd yr., point guard, Brantford, ON) dished out 9 assists while Andrew Pennycook (2nd yr., post, Toronto, ON) blocked 5 shots. Andrew Cuff (3rd yr., point guard, Toronto, ON) led the Paladins with a game high 27 points, including 4 3's and 9/10 from the foul line. Simon Dakin ( 1st yr., F, Comox, BC) and Nicholas Cooke (1sr yr., F, Toronto, ON) led RMC with 7 rebounds each. The Hawks will now prepare to close out the first half of their season and the end of the crossover games with the OUA East when they host Laurentian University on Friday night and York University on Saturday night. Both games tip off at 8:00 pm at the WLU AC. Both these games have significant importance to certain members of the coaching staff.

Saturday's Action in the CIS

See below for details on tonight's action in the CIS (all games listed as Eastern time). Games to watch include the second of two between Calgary and Alberta, available on web cast (LATE NOTE: Unfortunately this game will NOT be webcast tonight but the Dinos expect to have several other future games available). Last night's game, although marred by a constant parade of players to the free throw line, nonetheless was exciting, filled with great athletes and an excellent atmosphere bouyed by a big crowd in Calgary. Webcast quality for this game was great for a first go-round. Windsor faces undefeated Carleton but after the Lancers were dropped by Ottawa last night, expect the Lancers to drop from their #2 ranking from earlier this week. This afternoon's Toronto at Brock game will also be interesting with teams having contrasting styles. Out east, Cape Breton and X resume their rivalry after the X-Men came away with a win in Sydney on Thursday night. In the "Q", Concordia and Laval meet for the first time since last season's QSSF conference championship game in which the Stingers won handily. I am committed to a wedding function for much of today but hope to have updates whenever possible. Thanks to all those coaches, SID's and fans who have been dropping me emails with updates, post game comments and thoughts; please keep them coming; it is very helpful and appreciated...

NOTE: Ten of tonight's twenty-one CIS games will have some form of live media for fans who cannot get to the gyms to follow, including 5 of the 7 Canada West games.

CIS GAME SCHEDULE AND PREVIEW FOR SAT. NOV. 24TH

4 PM #8 Toronto (4-1) at Brock (4-1) The Blues try to bounce back from their first loss of regular season, in overtime in Guelph last night, while the veteran Badgers have won 4 consecutive games. Badgers Live video Webcast PLUS LIVE STATS!
6:30 PM Saint Mary's (2-2) at Memorial (0-4) The Huskies look to recover after a pair of losses last weekend in Cape Breton against the struggling Seahawks in the first of two games in St. John's this weekend between the two teams.
7 PM #10 Cape Breton (4-1) at StFX (5-0) The second of a weekend home-and-home set between the two bitter rivals. X held on for a victory on Thursday night in Sydney to remain undefeated in AUS play. X-Men Webcast
7 PM Dalhousie (1-3) at UNB (0-4) The Tigers won their first of the AUS regular season with a decisive win over UPEI and hope to use that victory to get going against the Varsity Reds.
7 PM #6 Acadia (4-0) at UPEI (1-3) 6'5" Leonil Saintil is already threatening the AUS single season rebounding record after last weekend's effort. In an all-Ottawa matchup in the post, Saintil will do battle against Panthers 6'6" Manock Lual, one of the better first year players in the CIS this season.
8 PM McGill (1-1) at Bishop's (2-1) Both teams come off losses at the hands of the Concordia Stingers with the Gaiters having a look at a three to win the game last weekend while the Redmen struggled in their regular season home opener on Thursday.
8 PM #5 Concordia (2-0) at Laval (1-2) In a rematch of last season's QSSF championship game, the Stingers look to remain undefeated against Les Rouge et Or.
8 PM Winnipeg (4-3) at Simon Fraser (4-5) The Wesmen got a great effort from 5'9" Erfan Nasajpour in their win at TWU last night while the Clan have won 4 of their last 5 games and are getting all-conference-like efforts virtually each night from 6'8" Greg Wallis. Clan Radio Network plus LIVE STATS!
8 PM Ryerson (2-3) at #9 Guelph (5-0) The Gryphs gutted out a big win over U of T last night to remain undefeated and must keep 6'7" Boris Bakovic from going off - Bakovic had 39 at Brock last night.
8 PM RMC (0-5) at Laurier (0-5) In a battle of winless teams, the Hawks look to take advantage of home court and get their first win of the season.
8 PM Queen's (3-2) at Waterloo (1-4) The Gaels look to make it two in a row on their road trip through Kitchener-Waterloo.
8 PM McMaster (1-4) at Laurentian (1-4) A pair of young teams that have had some success this season look to gain a measure of consistency as the Marauders lost at York last night after committing 32 team fouls while the Vees lost a shootout to Lakehead. LIVE STATS
8 PM Lakehead (2-3) at York (1-4) Two of the better players in Canada face off as the Thunderwolves 6'4" Kiraan Posey and Lions 6'3" Tut Ruach, both capable offensive threats, lead their respective teams in a game in which both teams could challenge the century mark.
8 PM #2 Windsor (4-1) at #1 Carleton (5-0) This game has lost some of its lustre after the Lancers were pounded by Ottawa last night but both teams are nationals contenders and Windsor is very capable of playing with Carleton. The Ravens look to avenge last season's Wilson Cup championship game loss at Windsor. Carleton again played all 12 players who dressed last night in routing Western while the Lancers are still trying to get consistent, quality production for deeper in their bench. 6'3" Isaac Kuon had 16 first-half points last night and provides great athleticism, especially on the offensive glass, for Windsor. Carleton Radio
8 PM Western (2-3) at Ottawa (5-0) The Gee-Gees continue to play well at home, where they are undefeated in six league and exhibition games, including last night's confidence-building win against #2 Windsor. The Mustangs are without 6'4" wing Andrew Wedemire, likely out until Christmas. Gee-Gees Live Video Webcast
9 PM Lethbridge (0-7) at Saskatchewan (4-3) The Huskies prevailed last night after trailing big in the third quarter. 6'8" Andrew Spagrud finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds despite twisting his ankle in the first quarter last night. The Huskies need a win to stay close to front runners Calgary and Alberta.
9 PM Regina (4-3) at #7 Brandon (6-1) The Cougars look to halt a three-game losing streak by trying to salvage the second of a two-game weekend set against the Bobcats. Brandon won last night and interestingly did not start 6'1" fifth-year point guard Yul Michel although Michel did play significant minutes off the bench. 6'9" Stevens Marcelins had another double double as 6'10" Yuri Whyms continues to be out with an injury.
10 PM #4 Alberta (5-2) at Calgary (6-1) The Dinos ran away from the Bears with a decisive fourth-quarter run in a game plagued by numerous foul calls but played in front of a boisterous crowd at the Jack Simpson Gym. Both teams have numerous tremendous athletes and this could be the most exciting game of the night in the CIS.
11 PM UCFV (4-5) at Victoria (7-2) The Vikes rallied back to win last night after a 54 point second half surge, their biggest offensive outburst of the season. Live Web Broadcast on Vikes Radio Network
11 PM Thompson Rivers (1-8) at #3 UBC (8-1) The T-Birds look to continue their winning ways after having 11 players play at least 10 minutes during last night's route of the WolfPack. UBC Radio Network
11 PM Manitoba (0-7) at Trinity Western (2-7) Both teams come off losses last night with the Bisons still seeking their first win of the regular season. Spartan Web Radio