Thursday 21 October 2010

Teeing up the Weekend in the CIS

Canada West Regular Season  According to the Canada West web site, every game this weekend will have LIVE! video and most will have live! stats  Click here to access the site and follow the games.  There are five doubleheaders including a Manitoba/Winnipeg home-and-home.  Regina is on an exhibition tour of North Dakota and Alberta and Fraser Valley are idle this weekend from Canada West play although the Cascades do host Portland Bible College, a U.S. Junior College in an exhibition game in Abbotsford on Saturday night.

Friday's Games
Winnipeg at Manitoba 8:00 PM CT   - home and home between two teams which could surprise on the upside as the season progresses
Thompson Rivers at Brandon 8:00 PM CT - New coaches Scott Clark and Gil Cheung make their CW debuts with their new teams with the most intriguing matchup probably being 7'0 center Greg Stewart vs. 'Cats 6'8" flyer Isaiah James.
Trinity Western at Lethbridge 8:00 PM MT  - the Spartans have what could be a dominant front line against a Lethbridge group looking to find a consistent decision maker in the backcourt.
Saskatchewan at UBC 8:00 PM PT - the best matchup of the weekend (times 2) in Vancouver
Calgary at Victoria 8:00 PM PT  - Vic's experienced guards may have an edge over the Dinos who are still without 6'0" Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson who has an ankle injury.  The Vikes don't have a natural matchup for 6'8" Tyler Fidler but then again not many in the CIS do.

Saturday's Games
Regina at Dickinson State 3:00 PM CT (Exhibition)
Manitoba at Winnipeg 8:00 PM CT
Thompson Rivers at Brandon 8:00 PM CT
Trinity Western at Lethbridge 8:00 PM MT
Calgary at Victoria 7:00 PM PT
Saskatchewan at UBC 8:00 PM PT


Tournaments and Exhibitions
Voyageur Challenge at Laurentian in Sudbury is part of the 50th Anniversary celebrations of Laurentian University which includes Peter Campbell's induction into the Laurentian Sports Wall of Fame.  The basketball tournament includes a rematch of last weekend's Concordia/Laurier game in which the Stingers staged a dramatic comeback as well as Campbell vs. Campbell as John's Dalhousie Tigers take on Peter's Laurier Golden Hawks.  Expect Dal Tigers to come away with a pair of victories with the Laurier/Concordia rematch being another tight encounter. Complete Schedule:
Friday (both games at Ben Avery Gym) 
1:30 PM  Concordia vs. Laurier
3:30 PM  Dalhousie at Laurentian
Saturday
11:00 AM Concordia at Laurentian (Ben Avery)
2:00 PM  Dalhousie vs. Laurier (at Cambrian College).


Laval Rouge et Or Classic includes Carleton, UNB and Saint Mary's.  Laval games will be shown by Rouge et Or TV  Laval gets a pair of injured players back including 6'5" twenty-seven year old wing Alexandre Prophète who will immediately enter the regular rotation.  Friday's first game of the tournament between Carleton and Saint Mary's should be a contrast in styles and the Huskies ability to control tempo, generate second-chance points and get easy scores in transition likely to decide the game.  Sunday's Laval/Carleton finale could be a preview of two Final Eight teams.
Friday
4 PM Carleton vs. Saint Mary's
8:30 PM UNB at Laval
Saturday
4 PM UNB vs. Carleton
8 PM Saint Mary's at Laval
Sunday
11 AM UNB vs. Saint Mary’s
  3 PM Carleton at Laval


McGill Redbird Classic includes UPEI, Queen's, Western (3 game round-robin tournament Friday through Sunday).  The Mustangs get their first consistent CIS action with all three other teams playing multiple CIS games over the past couple of weeks.  No word yet on whether or not the Gaels injury problems have been resolve although 6'2" guard Dan Bannister, a veteran scoring presence in their backcourt did not play last weekend and Gaels also lost Timothy Boyle early in one of their games in Saskatoon.  UPEI went 1-2 in their own tournament while McGill picked up a very important win this past Sunday vs. Windsor.  Western should be favored to capture this tournament pending the return of at least two of their top front court players 6'8" Adam Jespersen and 6'5" Andrew Wedemire although 6'6" Garrett Olexiuk may also return.
Friday
4:00 PM UPEI at McGill
8:00 PM Queen's vs Western
Saturday
3:00 PM Western at McGill
7:00 PM Queen's vs UPEI
Sunday
Noon Western vs UPEI 
4:00 PM Queen's at McGill


Jack Donohue Memorial Tournament at uOttawa includes Toronto, St. FX, UQAM.  At least two teams with legitimate aspirations for their league titles arrive in Ottawa with X coming off a 3-0 start at the UNB tournament which included wins against OUA bronze medalists Lakehead and arch-rival Cape Breton in a rematch of their AUS championship game from last season.  UQAM will have a bit of a different look with much more size than in past seasons and how quickly Olga Hrycak's young big men develop will dictate Citadins early-season success.  UQAM got ready for the Donohue last night in Montreal dropping an 85-66 match to Worchester Polytechnical Institute, one of the better NCAA DIII teams.  The host Gee-Gees must replace a pair of program stalwards in 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe and 6'3" Donnie Gibson but return arguably Ontario's best pure scorer in 6'6" Warren Ward to their young roster.  The Varsity Blues also lost significant fifth-year talent from last season but have experience up front and look to fifth-year point guard Anthony DeGiorgio for leadership for their comparatively young back court.  Expect Friday's X vs. UQAM game to go a long way in determining who takes the Donohue, which at 36 consecutive seasons, is the second longest running tournament in the CIS behind the Naismith.
Friday
6 PM  St. FX vs. UQAM
8 PM  Toronto at Ottawa
Saturday
6 PM  Toronto vs. UQAM
8 PM  St. FX at Ottawa
Sunday
Noon  St. FX vs. Toronto
2 PM  UQAM at Ottawa

Exhibitions:  Highlights include Acadia Axemen tour of OUA West with three games at McMaster, Guelph and Brock and a two-game set in Lennoxville between a pair of winless teams as Waterloo visits Bishop's

Thursday:  Regina at Montana State-Northern
Friday
Regina at Great Falls Great Falls, MT
Windsor at North Ohio Lima, OH
Waterloo at Bishop's 7 PM ET
Acadia at McMaster
Guelph Phoenix at Guelph
Saturday
RMC at Brock
Waterloo at Bishop's 7 PM
Guelph Phoenix at York
Acadia at Guelph
Portland Bible College at Fraser Valley
Sunday
Acadia at Brock

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