CIS Hoops.ca

NOTE: In the original post, I got my Buckley's confused - it was actually 6'2" Damian Buckley who missed the championship game with a knee injury and 6'3" Dwayne Buckley who took the game over in the last 4 minutes and was named a tournament all-star. This is has been corrected below.

6’8” tournament MVP Jamal Gallier’s basket with 1:45 remaining in the game gave the Stingers their first lead since early in the game and then 5’10” Levi Vann knocked down a couple of late 3’s to break open what was a very tight game for 38 ½ minutes as Concordia won their NIKE Invitational tournament with a 82-71 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks in a game that was much closer than the score indicated. Gallier’s heroics overshadowed a very strong effort down the stretch by 6’2” Dwayne Buckley who, according to Laurier Head Coach Peter Campbell, “took the game over in the last 3 or 4 minutes.” Buckley took over the reigns when it counted as the Stingers had to do without 6’3” Damian Buckley, who missed today’s game after hurting his knee yesterday against Laurentian. 6’3” Andre Johnny, who has stepped into the starting lineup after a couple of years providing depth off the bench for Concordia, led all scorers with 23 points. Laurier had a balanced scoring effort but probably their top player on the day was 6’7” center Trevor Csima, who had a 12 point/12 rebound double double, battling all afternoon with Gallier (19 points) before fouling out about 4 minutes remaining, after which time the Stingers had their way inside. The young Hawks stayed in the game in the face of typically-tough Stingers pressure as Laurier’s freshmen 6’5” Kale Harrison (tournament all-star), 6’1” point guard Austin Walsh and 6’5” forward Dominique Brown, “all showed they can compete against a Top 5 CIS team” according to Campbell. The Hawks were without 6’2” starting combo guard Jesse MacDonald, out with a bad ankle, as well as 6’4” freshman Brandon Greenwood, also nursing an ankle injury. In the consolation final, Memorial Seahawks pulled away in the final minute to defeat Laurentian Voyageurs 78-72. NIKE TOURNAMENT MVP: Jamal Gallier, Concordia; TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS: Andre Johnny, Concordia; Dwayne Buckley, Concordia; Kale Harrison, Laurier; Jeremy Feist, Memorial; Matas Tirilis, Laurentian. Concordia travels to Kingston, ON next weekend to face St. Lawrence College and Queen’s while Laurier travels to Sudbury to meet Laurentian on Friday night to kick-off Laurentian’s alumni weekend festivities which include a tribute to the Vees 1999 Wilson Cup championship team.