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Alberta (8-3) 87, Calgary (9-2) 68 Before a near-capacity crowd of about 1,700 fans, the Bears avenged a pair of decisive losses at Calgary before Christmas, using a tight defensive effort to jump to a 39-26 halftime lead before rolling to a win against the Dinos. Alberta got its usual highly-competitive effort from 6'2" Alex Steele who had 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals to lead the way offensively. 6'1" Scott Leigh, continuing to evolve his game even with the return from injury of C.G. Morrison, went 4-7 from downtown and had 14 points. As importantly, Leigh did a stellar job on Calgary's point guard Jeff Price, limiting his penetration. Alberta won despite a foul-plagued game from 6'4" Andrew Parker who played only 13 minutes but was picked up by 6'5" Neb Aleksic who went 3 for 6 from downtown to finish with 17 points. Ross Bekkering led Calgary with 11 points and 17 rebounds while Robbie Sihota added 17 points and Henry Bekkering 13. The teams meet again tomorrow night in Edmonton. Here is another game report from Dino Hoop News courtesy of Wayne Thomas... Inept offense marred by 23 turnovers gave the Golden Bears all the opportunity to run up the score on the hapless Dinos who were down 39 - 26 at the half. The Dinos offense showed no consistency and they turned the ball over several times against a full court press. Calgary was in foul trouble for most of the game as Jeff Price and Henry Bekkering sat out much of the first half. Alberta was led by Alex Steele with 21 points. They hit 9 of 23 three pointers. Rebounding was even at 37 - 36 for Calgary. Robbie Sihota was high scorer for the Dinos with 17 and Henry Bekkering had 13. Ross Bekkering led both teams with 17 rebounds. The loss drops Calgary to 9 -2 in league play with Alberta now at 8 - 3.

Brandon (10-1) 82, UCFV (5-8) 59 The Bobcats spoiled the homecoming of former coach Barnaby Craddock by dominating the first half while jumping out to a 47-18 halftime advantage before cruising to an easy win at home against the Cascades. 6'5" Adam Hartman had 21 points while 6'3" Yul Michel added 17 points/8 rebounds and 6'3" Dany Charlery had 16 in the win. 6'3" Doug Plumb, just eligible after transfering from Minnesota State (NCAA Division 2), led the way for Fraser Valley with 19 points in his first official CIS action. Here is a game report from Jeremy Sawatsky Bobcats Celebrate Craddock's Return With Convincing Win Written by: Jeremy Sawatzky, BU Sports Information

BRANDON, MB – Barnaby Craddock wasn't exactly welcomed home with arms wide open.

The reigning CIS Coach of the Year watched his former team throttle his current team Friday night, as the 5th ranked Brandon Bobcats thumped the Fraser Valley Cascades 82-59 in Canada West men's basketball action at the BU Gym.

"I thought we played poorly tonight, and Brandon played well," said a visibly disappointed Craddock afterwards. "We knew if we wanted to compete we couldn't get down. We had a poor start, and they had a great start. Credit them for playing hard."

Craddock and BU coach Mike Raimbault – who served as Craddock's assistant during his tenure in Brandon – were presented with a
"2006-07 CIS National Runner-Up" banner prior to the game, in a ceremony that evoked smiles from both men. However, Craddock's happy demeanor didn't last for long. Brandon stormed out to a 20-2 lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter and held a 64-22 lead with
4:46 remaining in the third period, effectively ruining his first trip to the Wheat City since leaving the 'Cats six months ago.

"Obviously we wanted to play good," said Adam Hartman afterwards, who led the BU attack with 21 points. "I just tried to make sure I was ready. I really wanted to play well in front of him today, you know, show him what he left."

At one point in the night, a Brandon fan held up a sign listing several of Brandon's key players – Michel, Charlery, Hartman, Marcelin, Whyms – followed by two words printed in extra bold font:
Miss them?

"It was a very strange experience being on the other side of things, and obviously not a real pleasant one for me," noted Craddock, whose team fell to 5-8 with the loss.

It was perhaps the most inspired game of the season from a Brandon team that struggled last weekend at the Wesmen Classic in Winnipeg.
The 'Cats lost games to Brock and Calgary at the tournament, however, Friday's effort against their former coach was nearly flawless.

"We were extremely happy with the way we came out and played,"
commented Raimbault. "We played really hard defensively, pressuring the ball, getting in the passing lanes. We had great energy overall."

Yul Michel added 17 points and 8 rebounds for the 'Cats, while Dany Charlery notched 16 points and 6 steals. Doug Plumb led the way for Fraser Valley with 19 points.

The Bobcats improved to 10-1 with the win and now look ahead to Saturday night, when they face a Thompson Rivers team that struggled greatly during the first half of 2007-08.

"It's a good step for us," added Hartman. "We have UBC and Victoria next week, two tough teams with winning records… but we've got Thompson Rivers which is another good game tomorrow. Hopefully we can come out and do the same thing, put the foot down in the first half and go from there."

Another Brandon/UCFV report from Kim Moser at UCFV

Men’s Basketball: Cascades fall 82-59 to No. 5-ranked Bobcats

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – Brandon’s Adam Hartman (Virden, Man.) had a game-high
21 points as the No. 5-ranked Bobcats defeated UCFV, 82-59, on Friday night in Manitoba. With the win, Brandon improves to 10-1 on the year, while the Cascades fall to 5-8.

Hartman was one of three Bobcat players to reach double-digits as Yul Michel (Fernley, Nev.) and Dany Charlery (Montreal, Que.) added 17 and
16 points, respectively.

For UCFV, second-year guard Doug Plumb (Pitt Meadows, B.C.) was the lone highlight. Making his regular season debut, Plumb tallied 19 points in
26 minutes of action.

“We saw one of the best teams in the country tonight,” said UCFV head coach Barnaby Craddock who was making his first appearance in Brandon since leaving the Bobcats program six months ago. “They played very well tonight and showed why they got to the national championship last year.
We’ve got some room to improve if we want to play at that level.”

Brandon came out strong against their former coach building a 24-8 lead in the first quarter and a 47-18 advantage at the break. The Bobcats stretched their lead to 65-36 after three quarters before closing out the game with a 23-point victory (82-59).

“It wasn’t a real great experience,” said Craddock of his return. “It was nice to see friends, but it was a tough loss to swallow. We need to play a lot better.”

The Cascades will look to rebound on Saturday when the team travels to Regina. The Cougars improved to 6-5 on the year after a 99-65 win over Thompson Rivers on Friday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CST (6 p.m. PST).

- UCFV -


Here is another report on the Lakehead/Waterloo game

Wolves Lose Thriller to Warriors

(By Matt Prokopchuk: Sports Info Assistant) Fans who came out to see the Lakehead Thunderwolves’ first game after the December break saw quite a show. The Thunderwolves and the visiting Waterloo Warriors went toe-to-toe in a high scoring, back-and-forth contest which saw the Warriors hold on for a nailbiting 88-86 win.



The loss puts Lakehead at 4-5 in the very tight OUA West, while Waterloo bumps their record up to 4-5. The game came down to the final 3.3 seconds, when, trailing by two, Ryan Precious in-bounded the ball in the Waterloo zone to Thunderwolves newcomer Matthew Powell, who was then nailed with a travelling call while driving the lane. The call was hotly contested by the Lakehead bench.



The Thunderwovles were down by as much as eight points with under two minutes left, but freshman guard Kyle McConnell hit two deep running threes to pull Lakehead back to set up the closing dramatics.



Waterloo came into Friday’s action second-last in the OUA in points scored, and were without their leading scorer Cam McIntyre, but they displayed a balanced offensive attack led by senior forward Dan White’s 25 points.



Also putting up double digits in scoring for Waterloo were Jordan Hannah (16 points, 3 assists), Alan Goodhoofd (13 points), and David Burnett (12 points, 4 assists).



The Lakehead Thunderwolves welcomed a new face to the starting lineup, 6’5” freshman guard Matthew Powell. Powell, who had been a standout high school player in Toronto, came to the Thunderwolves at the start of the 2007-2008 season after one year at Casper College in Wyoming. He was not eligible to play during the first half of the season. Powell had a strong offensive game for Lakehead, dropping 14 points and adding 8 rebounds.



Thunderwolves head coach Scott Morrison says Powell had a pretty good first outing. “I though he had a decent game tonight,” he says. “I don’t think he’s near where he wants to be, or where we want him to be yet.”



Morrison says Powell’s offensive game was solid, but that he expects Powell will improve his defence. “He’s going to learn from that,” he says. “I expect he’ll be tougher tomorrow night.”



Offensively, the Thunderwolves were led by Kiraan Posey, who came into Friday’s action second in OUA scoring. Posey dropped 32 points, and added 8 rebounds and 6 assists.



Warren Thomas was also a force for Lakehead with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Lakehead dominated the boards, out-rebounding Waterloo 37-18. Post Matt Verboom also had one of his best games of the season; hitting for 9 points and playing strong defensively.



Both teams were hitting their shots Friday with the Thunderwolves enjoying a small advantage in field goal shooting, going 54.8 per cent, compared to Waterloo’s 53.4 per cent.



Scott Morrison says his team might have let one slip away. “Second half, I think we hurt ourselves a little bit on defence,” he says. “I think we could have put them away at the start of the fourth quarter, instead we kind of let them back in it with some easy baskets, and you’re not going to beat a good team like that.”



The two teams meet again at the Thunderdome Saturday night. Saturday’s game tips off at 8:00 pm EST and will be videowebcast live as well as broadcast live on radio in Thunder Bay on Lakehead Radio 102.7 FM (www.lakeheadradio.ca). Ordering information for the live videowebcasts is available at http://events.news-cast.com/events/Lakehead and viewers will need hi speed internet and Windows Media Player to watch the broadcasts. Alan Wickware will be calling the action live with Matt Prokopchuk providing the colour