AUS
StFX at Saint Mary's 8:00 PM AST Historically one of the top rivalries in the CIS, X have won 8 of the past 10 meetings between the 2 teams since the Huskies dramatic victory in the AUS semi-finals in 2007-08. 6'1" Joey Haywood has scored 40+ points in 3 of the past 6 games for Saint Mary's and averages a CIS-leading 29.1 ppg. X-Men have an explosive guard of their own in 5'10" Christian "T-Bear" Upshaw who enters the final 6 or so weeks of his career trying to replicate his dominating play from his POY season in '09-'10. X's depth is an advantage but both teams can play up tempo so expect an exciting, high scoring affair at the Tower.
OUA West
Brock at Guelph 8:00 PM EST Coach Chris O'Rourke has done an incredible job with his Gryphons this season given all the injuries to key players Guelph has had to deal with. Saturday's come-from-behind win at Waterloo was case in point as Guelph finished the game with 3 non-descript freshman and a bottom-of-the-rotation sophomore on the floor with 5'11" Mike Petrella, who has accepted the load offensively and has delivered. Brock comes off a dramatic, character-building win at home against Windsor and hopes to get 6'6" Mark Gibson back soon from an ankle injury. Guelph needs this victory desperately to remain in the OUA West playoff race.
Laurier at Western 8:00 PM EST A rematch of Saturday's Golden Hawks victory over the 'Stangs in Waterloo as Laurier tries to deal with 6'5" Andy Wedemire, who had 29. Laurier tried to pull away a couple of times but the resilient Mustangs were able to come back twice in the fourth quarter but could not finish it off. The Hawks made their runs when they had success on the offensive glass and got open looks in transition. Laurier looks to keep pace with Lakehead and Windsor atop the standings while Western needs a victory to keep ahead of others in the playoff race.
McMaster at Waterloo 8:00 PM EST The Warriors and Marauders last met in an OUA West quarter-final playoff game last March with Waterloo upsetting Mac in Hamilton. Marauders are beat up entering this one without 6'8" Taylor Black, 6'3" Victor Raso, who it was recently revealed was playing with a broken toe before he rolled his ankle and, likely, 6'8" Scott Brittain. Warriors could not close against Guelph at home on Saturday as both big guys 6'6" Alan Goodhoofd and 6'7" Brendan Smith battled foul trouble all night but Waterloo did get a career game out of 6'3" Tim Rossy with 23 points.
OUA East
Toronto at Ryerson 8:00 PM EST The emerging Rams have played small-ball recently to a great degree of success, especially defensively. Ryerson wants to run, press and get to the rim so Blues will have to convert quickly in defensive transition and limit Rye's ability to drive the paint. Toronto hopes to have 6'6" Drazen Glizic, a key piece of their rotation, back after he missed both games this past weekend with an ankle injury. This game should offer an interesting contrast in styles at Kerr Hall in downtown Toronto.
Ottawa vs. Carleton at Scotiabank Place "Capital Hoops Classic" 8:00 PM EST This game lacks the headline status of past Capital Hoops Classics which ordinarily featured #1 or #2 Carleton against an Ottawa Gee-Gees team regularly in the Top 5. Still, Gee-Gees 6'6" Warren Ward is an explosive scorer and as Laurier's 6'5" Kale Harrison proved earlier in the year, if Ravens are not there mentally, guys can go off. Expect 6'5" Cole Hobin to draw the assignment of guard Ward while 6'9" Louis Gauthier is the most experienced and arguably best offensively-skilled post player in the game so Ottawa has some weapons. Still, Carleton is deeper and can match Ottawa's athleticism in the back court with 5'10" Willy Manigat, 6'2" Phil Scrubb and 5'10" Mike Kenny and has several players who have played numerous games in this type of environment. Ottawa has been riding 6'2" Jacob Gibson-Bascombe at the point for major minutes recently. But the biggest question will be how Ottawa deals with multi-talented matchup nightmare 6'6" Tyson Hinz. The big stage with several thousand screaming rival fans has a way of punctuating this cross-town rivalry and bringing out some of the most exciting basketball of the season.
3 comments:
On paper at least, the Carleton-Ottawa matchup heavily favours the Ravens.
Carleton is a better team than they were at this stage last season despite the loss of Kevin McCleery.
His departure has been more than made up with the arrival of Phil Scrubb and the emergence of sophomore Tyson Hinz,
Hinz may not have the bulk of the imposing 6'8" McCleery but he has added strength and has an array of impressive post moves.
With every game played, Hinz is drawing favourable comparisons to former star Aaron Doornekamp.
Scrubb has been a sensation, upgrading an already strong back court with his poised and mature game.
The most astonishing fact about Scrubb is he only turned 18 this past November.
Ottawa, on the other hand, can't help but miss the considerable presence of graduated stars Donnie Gibson and Josh Gibson-bascombe.
Their loss, coupled with the extended absence in November of Warren Ward due to injury. has seen the Gee Gees fall from a top 10 team last year to a squad desperately trying to reach the ,500 mark this year.
Both teams need this game.
For the Gee Gees, the reasons are obvious.....they can still finish as high as third place but could finish as low as 6th.
For Carleton, an 11th straight first place finish is all but mathematically assured but remaining unbeaten is important.
If Carleton runs the table, it would practically guarantee them the wild card if they happen to be upset in the OUA playoffs.
In this game, the Ravens bench will ultimately prove the difference as the Gee Gees don't have enough horses to run with Carleton for the full forty.
Tonight's Huskies/x-men game will be on live.halligonia.ca
Huskies and X-Men are on live.haligonia.ca tonight at 8:00 atlantic
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