CIS Hoops.ca

NOTE: In the original post I neglected to pass on that three OUA games will be shown via webcast on SSN Canada including Friday night games: #6 Toronto at home vs. #10 Laurier, #8 Windsor hosting York and #1 Carleton at Guelph.

Canada West... ** Three of the four pairs of CW games to be played this weekend are available via webcast (see below) - note all team records are for games against other CIS competition only.... With the entire West Division of Canada West (tough to get used to that - Pacific Division sounds so much more appropriate) idle this weekend as UBC and TWU tour the United States, likely the most interesting pair of games involve two East Division rivals in Saskatoon as the #9 Huskies (5-1, 0-0) host Brandon Bobcats (2-3, 1-1) in Saskatchewan's Canada West regular season debut. The Huskies played NCAA Division 1 Montana State tough, leading with 7 1/2 minutes to go before stalling offensively to lose by 12. The #9 ranked Huskies have athletic Showron Glover running the show from the point and this weekend's matchup with the 'Cats athletic guards and wings should be interesting. Brandon split a pair of games with Manitoba Bisons in the Wheat City last weekend. The teams will meet on Friday and Saturday with games beginning at 8 PM CT. Saskatchewan Brandon webcast In other Canada West games this weekend:
Fri/Sat Nov 6-7: #3 Calgary (5-0, 2-0) at Manitoba (3-5, 1-1) Bisons webcast Should be an interesting style contrast as the Bisons comparative lack of size justifying a small ball approach to offense (4 sometimes 5 perimeter players leaving paint open) vs. Dinos huge and talented front line. Dinos ability to guard the ball and play at the tempo Manitoba wants to play at should help determine which side is successful.
Fri/Sat Nov 6-7: Regina (2-1, 0-0) at Lethbridge (0-2, 0-2) The Cougars kick off their regular season on the road and return all five starters from a 13-9 squad last year. Regina is tough and plays an up-tempo game with tons of treys. The improved Horns with stellar guard Jeff Price making many of the decisions are playing their home opener.
Fri/Sat Nov 6-7: Alberta (4-4, 2-0) at Winnipeg (1-6, 0-2) Wesmen TV webcast
The young Bears have received recent sterling performances from veteran forward Harvey Bradford who looks to continue his fine play against a young Wesmen front line.

OUA... The first of four interlock weekends kicks off Friday night in 8 locations. Probably two of the more interesting games on Friday night are #6 Toronto Varsity Blues (6-1) hosting #10 Laurier Golden Hawks (4-1) in downtown Toronto and defending national champions and #1 Carleton Ravens (6-0) visiting Guelph to face the Gryphs where Guelph (2-1) has always played the Ravens very tough. On Saturday, CIS fans in Kingston have a tremendous day in store with McMaster meeting Queen's in an OUA Football semi-final playoff game followed by a game between two currently-undefeated teams as the #4 Marauders (7-0) and Gaels (4-0) meet at Bartlett Gym at 8 PM. Also on Saturday, the Varsity Blues host Waterloo (3-3) and look to avenge a loss to the Warriors at the Naismith Classic in Waterloo in October.
Full Weekend OUA Schedule
Friday, November 6, 2009
8:00 pm Lakehead (2-1) at Queen's (4-0)
8:00 pm #4 McMaster (7-0) at RMC (0-9)
8:00 pm Laurentian (2-3) at Western (1-3)
8:00 pm York (0-4) at #8 Windsor (2-1)
8:00 pm #10 Laurier (4-1) at Toronto (6-1)
8:00 pm Waterloo (3-3) at Ryerson (0-4)
8:00 pm #1 Carleton (6-0) at Guelph (2-1)
8:00 pm Ottawa (4-3) at Brock (2-3)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
3:00 pm Lakehead at RMC
3:00 pm York at Western
8:00 pm McMaster at Queen's
8:00 pm Laurentian at Windsor
8:00 pm Waterloo at Toronto
8:00 pm Laurier at Ryerson
8:00 pm Ottawa vs. Guelph
8:00 pm Carleton vs. Brock

In the "Q", one game this weekend to kick off the regular season and it is in Montreal on Sunday afternoon as Laval Rouge et Or (3-7) visit McGill (3-6) to face the Redmen.

AUS... All 8 teams are in action with the highligh the pair of games in Sydney on Friday and Saturday nights as Saint Mary's Huskies (3-6) visit Cape Breton Capers (5-1). Both games are available via Capers TV In another double header, Acadia travels to St. John's, NFLD to face Memorial Sea-hawks for a pair of two-point games on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. St. FX makes the longest trip of the regular season, playing at UPEI on Friday (game available on PantherTV) and then at UNB on Saturday. The night prior, the V-Reds host Dalhousie Tigers.
Full Weekend AUS schedule (4) = 4 point game; (2) = two point game
Fri. November 6th StFX (6-2) at UPEI (0-6) 8:00 PM (4) Webcast
Fri. November 6th #5 Dalhousie (7-1) at UNB (3-3) 8:00 PM (4)
Fri. November 6th Saint Mary's (3-6) at #7 Cape Breton (5-1) 8:00 PM (2) Webcast
Sat. November 7th StFX at UNB 8:00 PM (4)
Sat. November 7th Saint Mary's at Cape Breton 8:00 PM (2) Webcast
Sat. November 7th Acadia (3-2) at Memorial (0-2) 8:00 PM (2)
Sun. November 8th Acadia Memorial 1:00 PM (2)

********************************************************************************

Wayne Thomas from Dinos Hoops News previews Calgary's weekend at Manitoba... 1st year Manitoba Bisons Coach Kirby Schepp is trying to re-build a tradition of winning at the SW Winnipeg campus. The Bisons won the CIS Nationals in ’75-76, but haven’t been to the Tournament for 25 seasons. Schepp hopes to ‘make changes in the culture of the program’ he said on Monday, as he and his staff prepared for their two games with the visiting Dinos this weekend. Manitoba started their season last Friday with an 80-74 win in Brandon, ‘which the Bisons had not done in 14 years,’ exclaimed Coach Schepp. With only 4 players returning from last year, and missing 3 starters, Manitoba is fortunate to have added some fire-power in the form of 6’7”, transfer
(Victoria) forward, Sean Maxwell, who can shoot from the outside, and handle the ball like a guard. From Winnipeg, Coach Schepp landed two quality guards in Kurtis Sansregret, and Jonar Huertas, both of whom transferred from Red River College. Last season’s high scorer, Nathan Dixon (20 ppg) is a prolific shooter, and leads the way on a team that his coach says , “can shoot very well.” His backcourt mate is point man Eric Garcia, a 5-8”, 4th year, from Winnipeg. Coach Schepp suggested his team “has no answer to Calgary’s size ... we are among the smallest teams in the league.” But he is hoping their team rebounding can negate the larger Dinos, and that
their veteran guards can take care of the basketball, and give their 3 pt. shooters room to score from beyond the big Calgary forwards. The Dinos blew out a smaller Winnipeg team last weekend, and go in looking to keep the good defensive play going. Young Dinos guards appear to have settled in, and Jarred Ogunbemi-Jackson, who returns to his hometown, is “a first-class kid” according to Coach Schepp, who would have loved to have kept the 5’9” point guard at home, but says “ Jarred looks like he has a good fit there in Calgary, and he will do very well in that program.” Ross Bekkering leads the league in rebounds, and Tyler Fidler is the team assist leader, as well as averaging 19 ppg. Robbie Sihota is the Dinos scoring leader at 20 ppg.... Lakehead Preview After the breakout freshman campaigns of post Yoosrie Salhia and point guard Greg Carter, Lakehead Thunderwolves head coach Scott Morrison and his staff brought in a second consecutive elite recruiting class for the 2009-10 season. This young roster will look to continue their development into an OUA contender as they open their regular season this Friday at Kingston, Ontario when they take on the Queen’s Gaels, followed by a Saturday contest against the RMC Paladins. Both games tipoff at 8:00pm.... Lakehead enjoyed a successful preseason during which they went 6-1 against both Canadian and American competition and won the Brandon Super 8 Tournament at Brandon University in October. With a mix of interior strength, perimeter finesse, and all-around athleticism, the Wolves are poised to improve on their 6-16 2008-09 OUA regular season mark.... "Like every team this weekend our goals are to do everything we can to get two wins,” says coach Morrison. "We are focused on one game at a time and it starts with having focused and energetic practices this week. We are looking to make our offence more efficient and to concentrate on preparing to defend to different styles of offense this weekend."... Lakehead Thunderwolves... Lakehead’s all-time leading scorer Kiraan Posey is the team’s biggest departing athlete from 2008-09, and the Thunderwolves will need a balanced team offense to replace his points. Senior guard Jamie Searle has had the hot hand in the preseason while forward Andrew Hackner and post Andrew Quirion will provide leadership for a team looking to gel into a cohesive unit. OUA West all-rookie team members in 2008-09, post Yoosrie Salhia, and point guard Greg Carter will be counted on to perform like seasoned veterans and improve on their excellent debuts. Carter, a stingy defender, led the OUA with 2.85 steals in 2008-09, adding four assists, 6.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Down low, Salhia led the nation in rebounds per game, pulling down 11.15 per contest, and was the only OUA player to average a double-double with 10.8 points per game. He was seventh in the CIS with 1.65 blocks per game.... Also competing for front court minutes after demanding offseasons will be sophomores Brendan King and Matthew Schmidt. King, an athletic post is expected to cause matchup problems while Schmidt is developing into one of Lakehead’s top outside shooters....Guelph transfer Sebastian Kasiuk joins the Thunderwolves for his fifth and final year of CIS eligibility. He will add strength and toughness in the paint.... Shooting guard Cameron Hornby enters his third year of eligibility after splitting his last two seasons between South Dakota State in the NCAA and the Winnipeg Wesmen of the Canada West conference. He is expected to provide strong outside shooting and backcourt play... Joe Jones, a combo guard, transfers from Howard College in Baltimore, MD for his second year of eligibility, bringing a strong defensive and transitional game to the Wolves’ roster.... The freshmen group includes three players with impressive high school resumes. Matthew Nagy, a big guard out of Arkansas by way of Blair Academy in New Jersey helped his school win the New Jersey State Prep title. Ryan Thomson controlled the paint for St. Thomas Aquinas in Oakville, Ontario as they won the AA OFSAA Championships in March 2009 while athletic forward Anthony McIntosh of Ottawa was a member of the St. Patrick’s AAA OFSAA-winning team in 2008 when he played with new Lakehead teammate Carter... The Thunderwolves men’s basketball program is hungry to take a big step towards the top of the OUA. A strong group of leaders bolstered by a young, versatile roster will provide the Lakehead faithful with an exciting brand of basketball to watch for years to come.... Queen’s Gaels The Gaels, coached by Rob Smart are led by the combined talents of forward Mitch Leger and point guard Baris Ondul. Queen’s strong ball movement and perimeter shooting is their biggest strength and the Wolves must play quick and organized team defence to come out on top... Leger, a senior, stands 6’6” and is an all-star caliber player who gives Queen’s a solid inside/outside threat... Senior Ondul, from Istanbul, Turkey is a dangerous player who hurts the opposition with his three-point shooting and his dribble penetration. Lakehead’s point guard Carter will be counted on to contain his Gaels counterpart... RMC Paladins Head coach Scott James fields a big, strong roster that will look to create an interior advantage over the Thunderwolves.... The Paladins are led by the frontcourt duo of 6'9" Nick Cooke, and 6'7" Simon Dakin. Both players are double-double threats who will try to create scoring opportunities for their guards.