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Concordia 79, Dalhousie 75 (Shoveller championship semi-final)

Ryerson 87, Laval 84  The Rams captured their own RNIT championship for the first time in recent memory going back to the days of the Ed Dearmon Classic.  Rye took charge in the third quarter with a 32-11 run to lead by as many as 24 with 6'9" Bjorn Michaelsen scoring 9 points during the run with 6'3" Jordan Gauthier (team-leading 20 points; one of six Rams in double figures) nailing back-to-back 3's in the decisive third quarter.   Laval coach Jacques Paiement was very complementary in defeat:  "They are really active and athletic we just could not stop them in transition.  They are really good and will be even better for a while." Laval, which finished the game on a 21-6 run in the final 7 minutes but only got it to 3 at the end, went 9 for 12 from downtown in the second half and 15 for 24 for the game.  Rouge et Or was very balanced offensively as well with 5 guys with at least 12 points.  Box Score

Winnipeg 82, UBC Okanagan 49 (Wesmen Classic 3rd Place game) Mark McNee (Winnipeg) 21 pts Player of the Game; Bret Macdonald 13 pts  from Wpg SID  The Winnipeg Wesmen wrapped up the 45th Annual Wesmen Classic with a convincing 82-49 victory over the UBC Okanagan Heat Friday afternoon at the Duckworth Centre. Mark McNee led the Wesmen with a game high 21 points and nine rebounds.  McNee was named Player of the Game for his performance. Travis Krahn added 14 points, including three-three pointers. Third year forward Brayden Duff added 12 points and fifth year guard James Horaska playing in his final Classic finished with 10. First year guard Bret Macdonald led the Heat with 13 points.  Yassine Ghomari added 11 points, five assists. Winnipeg fell behind 13-1 at the midway point of the first quarter but found their legs in the final four minutes to trail 17-16 after one. The Wesmen continued to ride the momentum in the second quarter outscoring the Heat 23-11 to lead 39-28 at halftime. Winnipeg continued to put pressure on the Heat in the second half scoring 43 points and limiting the Heat to 21 points in the final
twenty minutes.
#3 Lakehead 83, Bishop's 72 (Classiques des Citadins)  The Wolves finished the third quarter on a 15-1 run including consecutive 3's on 3 straight possessions (two by 6'5" Ryan Thomson, the hero of their win over McGill on the first night of the tournament) to take a 15 point lead and kept the spread around 10 for the remainder of the game to finish 3-0 in the tournament.  Thomson went 4-8 from downtown and finished with 15 points.  Box Score

#2 St. FX 78, UPEI 69 (Rod Shoveller Memorial tournament championship semi-final)    Will Donkoh keyed a fourth quarter run with some flashy plays in transition and on the defensive end and X finally took the lead for good with about 2 minutes remaining to win what was a much tighter game than the final score indicates.  UPEI led by as many as 4 midway through the fourth but the Panthers thinner lineup tired, giving up easy scores and missing several free throws down the stretch and X took advantage to advnace to tomorrow's final.
X finished the third quarter on 10-2 run led by the slashing takes of Donkoh including the tying and go ahead baskets to give X their first lead since very early in the game.  But UPEI re-took the lead by 4 early in the fourth.  Panthers struggled when they went to their second team, turning it over and failing to find consistent offense anywhere when Jonathan Cooper (20 points in the first half - scoreless in third quarter) and Jermaine Duke went to the bench.  Donahan Moss made some perimeter j's to keep UPEI close.  Panthers starting five of Manock Lual, Jon Cooper, Moss, Duke and point guard Terrence Brown is strong but there is a noticeable drop-off after that.
The Panthers used a variety of zone presses after makes, 2-3 and 1-3-1 defenses around some solid man in the quarter court to forge leads as high as 7 in the first half.  Cooper had some acrobatic finishes inside, primarily in transition plus a couple of threes to finish the half with 20 points.  X, playing without injured 6'7" Bol Kong (knee - in street clothes on X bench), got a very strong first-half performance from 6'5" Jeremy Dunn, who made the Panthers pay with a couple of threes at the end of press breaks, who had ~15 points in the first half and finished with ~20 points.  Panthers trying to give X a taste of their own medicine by getting some easy scores and turnovers off pressure.  X has generally attacked the zones well is remains in striking distance.  X welcomed back Shane Coupland (Australia) who missed yesterday's game vs. Ottawa and has been largely ineffective as a starter today.

Manitoba 91 UNBC 69  from Wpg SID  Yigit Ozsayiner (Manitoba) 16 pts Player of the Game; Dennis Stark (UNBC) 13 pts.  Note:  Ozsayiner is Manitoba's 6'6" Turkish import, a post player who just started his Bisons career this week at the Wesmen Classic; by all indications he will be a difference maker.  The University of Manitoba Bisons defeated the UNBC Timberwolves 91-69 in the consolation final of the Coca Cola Wesmen Classic. Yigit Ozsayiner led Manitoba with a game high 16 points. Stephan Walton, Keith Omoerah and Marko Milosevic all scored 13. Xavier Smith added 12. Dennis Stark led the Timberwolves with a double-double 13 points and 10 rebounds. Manitoba was successful on 53% shooting from the field in the opening half and went into the locker room leading 49-29 at halftime. Manitoba kept their double-digit lead for the entire second half to secure the win.
Walsh 96, Toronto 82 (RNIT Third-Place Game)  Walsh used a 22-11 run early in the third quarter to defeat the Blues in the Third Place game of the RNIT.  Blues trailed by as many as 16 but got it to 9 with just over 4 minutes remaining on a three by 6'5" Alex Hill (team-high 18 points) but could come no closer.  Box Score

Saint Mary's 96, RMC 45 (Shoveller consolation round)

Ottawa 76, Acadia 73 (Shoveller consolation round)  6'6" Warren Ward's desperation three from halfcourt at the buzzer gave the Gee-Gees an exciting three point win over the Axemen.  Acadia's star 6'10" center Owen Klassen, who was questionable for the game after banging his shoulder in Thursday's loss to UPEI, played 28 minutes in the game today.  Ottawa was coming off an emotionally-draining first round overtime loss to X.

Sheridan 89, Waterloo 71 (RNIT Consolation round)  Bruins pulled away with a resounding 27-2 run in the first six and half minutes of the fourth quarter to blow open a tight game and win their second consecutive consolation game.  Khalud Abdel had 26 to lead all scorers including 7 points in the decisive run.  The Warriors played without 4 of their top 6 scorers including OUA All-Star Cam McIntyre, Mike Wright, Brendan Smith and Andrew Melbourne.  Box Score

Montreal Dynamo 75,  McGill 64 (Classique des Citadins)  Dynamo overcame a 15 point lead after going into a zone and later creating McGill turnovers.  Coach David DeAveiro substituted freely throughout the game, giving playing time to all 15 players on his roster.  David Brownrigg led Dynamo with18 points.

Guelph 94, Memorial 72 (RNIT Consolation round)  Gryphs rebounded from a pair of sub-par results , jumping out to a 41-6 first quarter lead before coasting to an easy win over Memorial in one of two consolation round games at the RNIT tournament in Toronto.  6'2" veteran wing Danny McCarthy once again led the way for Guelph with 29 points while 6'7" Adam Bering added 22 while 6'3" Drew Morris, who has battled injuries all season, came off the bench to contribute 18 in the winning effort.  Both teams now prepare for resumption of league play beginning next week.

Minot State 105, Keyano College 75 (Wesmen Classic consolation round)

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A pair of tournament championship games (45th Wesmen Classic & RNIT), semi-finals at the Shoveller and the final day of Classique des Citadins highlights today's CIS games in Canada.  Yesterday's action produced several overtime games including the 3 OT thriller between UNB and McGill at UQAM and X's come-from-behind overtime win over uOttawa before a jam packed house at the DalPlex who were rewarded with one of the more exciting matches in the CIS this season between two athletic teams. 

45th Wesmen Classic championship pits Valley City vs. Brandon with Gil Cheung's Bobcats seemingly catching their stride after not having their coach in tow for a significant portion of the first half as Cheung joined his fellow University employees on strike.  We have all no doubt enjoyed the game reports from Dave Crook, our Winnipeg-based correspondent and thank Dave for his great coverage.

In Toronto, at the Ryerson National Invitational tournament, the host Rams meet improving Laval Rouge et Or.  Ryerson had an important win over a very strong Walsh College team last night and Rouge et Or shook off a tough start to defeat the Varsity Blues in the other semi-final.

Shoveller semi-finals have X vs. UPEI, which sets up as a great matchup of two undefeated AUS teams led by good friends Steve Konchalski and Tim Kendrick.  The other semi pits hosts Dalhousie against #10 Concordia Stingers.  Both games are available on SSN Canada.

Not mentioned here yesterday was the tremendous effort of Ottawa's 6'3" Johnny Berhanemeskel, who finished with 31 points including numerous long, big 3's.  Also, Acadia's star forward/center 6'10" Owen Klassen left yesterday's game vs. UPEI with an elbow injury and coach Steve Baur reports that x-rays on Klassen's elbow came up negative but there is enough swelling and lack of motion range that his status for the final two games of the tournament is questionable.  Klassen is very likely to be ready when league play starts again in just over a week.