One of the more straight forward Top 10's of the season with the top 7 teams from mine all winning convincingly and two teams that some were questioning, St. FX and Windsor, bouncing back for resounding wins. One new entrant has essentially their full team back and is winning.
#1 Carleton (28-0, 21-0) (LW: #1) Two more dominant performances in downtown Toronto as the Ravens shoot a ridiculous 18 for 27 from three point land against U of T on Friday and then follow up with a 49 point win against an improving Ryerson team. Decade-plus long staples of Carleton basketball were on display again: defending, rebounding, taking good shots and making them. Ravens finish out the season on Friday night at Montpetit Hall against the Ottawa Gee-Gees and 6'6" Warren Ward who exploded for 41 points on 16-18 shooting on Saturday night against Toronto.
#2 UBC (23-2, 20-2) (LW: #2) A home sweep against Thompson Rivers - second game was reasonably tight as the WolfPack cut a big lead to 5 in the fourth quarter - sets up the Thunderbirds final pair of games at arch rival Victoria next weekend. UBC clinches first place in Canada West and the probable host berth in the Canada West Final Four with one victory next weekend. Graduating seniors Josh Whyte, Brent Malish and Alex Murphy were honoured prior to the game.
#3 Cape Breton (17-6, 16-1) (LW: #3) Idle this week, which allows 6'1" Jimmy Dorsey to give his ailing shoulder some healing time. CBU still hasn't clinched first place in the AUS but with three 4 point games remaining, home-and-home against UNB and home to UPEI, one victory wraps up first (Capers own the tie-breaker with second-place Dalhousie).
#4 Saskatchewan (25-4, 18-4) (LW: #4) Jamelle Barrett was at it again during the weekend home-and-home sweep over Regina with a pair of superlative efforts, including 33 points last night. Saturday's game in Saskatoon was played in front of 1,700 fans and graduating seniors Rejean Chabot and Trevor Nerdahl were honoured prior to the game. Huskies travel to Calgary to close their season with the Dinos playoff lives on the line.
#5 Trinity Western (22-3, 21-3) (LW: #5) A pair of dominant wins in Winnipeg against the Manitoba Bisons continues to illustrate the wide and growing chasm between the top 4-5 teams in Canada West and the rest of the pack. Spartans have completed their regular season and, unless UBC loses twice at Victoria next weekend, will host a CW quarter-final best-of-3 playoff in Langley against the 7th place finisher - that team still to be determined.
#6 Lakehead (21-10, 16-4) (LW: #6) The Thunderwolves clinched their first-ever OUA West regular season pennant with a pair of home wins against Brock and will be the #1 seed in the West playoffs. 6'6" post Yoosrie Salhia dominated inside on Saturday against the Badgers. Lakehead finishes their season at Western next weekend for a pair of games and even with a pair of losses will finish first as they own the tie-breaker with Windsor.
#7 Dalhousie (17-8, 11-5) (LW: NR) Tigers continue to show they are peaking at the right time with a dominating win at home against Acadia on Wednesday. As mentioned last week, Dal is defending with much more purpose and is getting all-conference performances from their two best players, 6'1" Simon Farine and 6'9" Joe Schow. Tigers still have an outside shot at first place however Dal must win out and first-place Cape Breton needs to lose all three of their remaining games. Dal can play spoiler with two home games against Saint Mary's and a pair at Acadia with both Huskies and Axemen still battling for a spot at the AUS tournament.
#8 St. FX (22-6, 11-5) (LW: #7) X-Men's dominating performance over Acadia Saturday night, holding the Axemen to 28% shooting, reminded the nation what this group is capable of when focused. 6'3" Dwayne Johnson is back from injury and Coach Steve Konchalski started 5 seniors last night but 6'5" Jeremy Dunn did not play. X has 4 games remaining but will officially finish in third place regardless of what happens in the final two weeks of regular season play.
#9 Windsor (16-8, 14-6) (LW: #10) Just like that, the Lancers have jetted out of their slump with 3 dominating victories including two over Laurier, who had been their main competitors for second place and a first-round playoff bye. Last night's win over the Golden Hawks on the road was especially emphatic with a 60+ point second half. 6'3" Isaac Kuon is carrying the Lancers offensively through most important stretches and defensively the group is re-focused as witnessed last night at Laurier.
#10 Concordia (17-5, 10-4) (LW: NR) Clearly this is a different team with a healthy 6'3" Evens Laroche on board and with a pair of wins this week over Laval and at improving UQAM, Stingers are back in the hunt for a QUBL regular season pennant and a chance to host the Q championship game if they get there. 6'2" veteran Decee Krah has also elevated his offensive game down the stretch providing Stingers with at least 3 solid weapons including 6'2" QUBL POY candidate Kyle Desmarais. Stingers finish off with a pair of home games including next Saturday's match with cross-town rival McGill Redmen who currently own the tie-breaker between the two teams.
Dropped out of Top 10:
Toronto (20-9, 14-7) (LW: #9)
Also Honourable Mention:
Alberta (17-9, 16-8) (LW: HM)
Laval (15-8, 9-4) (LW: HM)
Victoria (16-9, 15-7) (LW: HM)
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