CIS Hoops.ca

Greg Layson's article on Guelph freshman Adam Bering from Windsor Gryphs rookie out to impress

Final Weekend For League Play in Canada West... The Canada West regular season wraps up this coming weekend as the Dinos travel to Saskatchewan to take on the Huskies, in what has become the traditional venue for these two squads for their finale. The Huskies will howl for their 5 graduating seniors, Andrew Spagrud, Kyle Grant, Rob Lovelace, Jordan Harbidge, and Mark Lynch, all of whom have been instrumental in forging a winning program over the past 5 years under the tutelage of Head Coach Greg Jockims. Spagrud gets the headlines as he chases the all-time scoring title, but Grant, Harbidge, and Lovelace have accompanied him in establishing this Huskies team as one of the best in U of S history. Lynch, who joined after three years at Mount Royal in Calgary, is hoping to duplicate his playoff outburst last season when the Huskies knocked off the Bears at Alberta in the Central Final... Other match-ups for the week include ... Lethbridge at Alberta, Brandon and Winnipeg in a home and home, and Regina at Manitoba. On the coast, the only minor question mark is whether Simon Fraser can claim 3rd against UCFV, which should be easy enough with a home win over Trinity.

Canada West Review #5 ...
1. Brandon - 18-2 ... the Bobcats keep sailing along with no hint of any playoff upset possible.
2. Calgary - 17-3 ... the Dinos brushed aside Winnipeg and Manitoba without Ross Bekkering, and will try and keep the momentum on the road in Saskatoon.
3. Alberta - 14-6 ... Yes, the Bears are moving up. They beat UBC and Vic on the road, and they might be the team nobody wants to play in the playoffs.
4. UBC - 16 - 5 ... the T-Birds are up and down with some signs of concern from Coach hanson over his post play once again.
5. Saskatchewan - 11-9 ... the veteran Huskies are making a last stand, and their win over the Vikes in Victoria gets them more notice.
6. Victoria - 13-8 ... still a defensive record promising to be a tough in playoff action.
7. Simon Fraser - 12-10 ... the Clan can be dangerous in a short series, and have the bigs to take Vic or UBC to the wire.
8. Fraser Valley- 11-10 ... the Cascades are in the hunt, but with not enough ammo.
9. Regina - 9-11 ... having the tie-breaker with Winnipeg, let's give the Cougars an edge for 2nd.
10. Winnipeg - 9-11 ... is Erfan going to go for the Wesmen? Not possible without him.
11. Manitoba - 5-15 ... a chance for the Bisons to act as spoilers at home.
12. Trinity Western - 3-19 ... will be motivated against SFU.
13. Lethbridge - 3-17 ... difficult season comes to a close for Pronghorns.
14. Thompson Rivers . 3-18 ... ditto the Wolfpack.

Notes ...
> Calgary remains in the third spot in National rankings behind #2 Brandon and #1 Carleton. Toronto had two big wins and move up, along with the Golden Bears. parity amongst the top teams in Ontario have had all but Carleton absorb key losses, and Canada West saw some of that with UBC and Victoria taking it on the chin.
> The National rankings are important, just so you fans are aware, for two main reasons. - the CIS Nationals will include one wildcard team, to be selected based on these rankings over the course of the whole season.
- the seeding of the Nationals is done by reference to these CIS Coaches Rankings.
> Spagrud has 24 points to score against the Dinos if he is to break the Canada West scoring mark set by the Dinos Richard Bohne, Raymond, AB, in his 4 years at Calgary.
> the tallest two brothers in CIS basketball? The Unsworths ... Chris of the Dinos is 6'8", but is 2 inches shorter than his big brother Clint of the Huskies.