CIS men's basketball Friday roundup: Hunter gathers 20 as Gaiters upset Stingers

TORONTO - Third-year forward Alex Hill tallied 28 points as the Varsity Blues men’s basketball team defeated the Laurentian Voyaguers 104-88 on Friday night (Feb. 10) at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.

The win, Toronto’s second 100-plus point game of the season, lifts them within two points of the fourth-place Voyageurs (9-10) with an 8-11 record.

A Toronto native, Hill was 9-for-13 from the floor, including five three-pointers on the night.  Fourth-year guard and Hamilton, Ont., native Arun Kumar tallied 22 points and a game-high eight assists, while Andrew Wasik (Burnaby, B.C.) had 20 points and nine boards on the night.

Fifth-year forward Drazen Glisic of Sarajevo, BIH, added 17 points and seven rebounds in the win.

The Blues got out to a commanding 53-32 lead at halftime, but the Voyageurs battled back with 28 points in both the third and fourth quarters.  Toronto maintained their composure to round out the dominant win.

CIS leading scorer Manny Pasquale led all players with 35 points, while Alex Ratte had 26 in the loss.

The Varsity Blues return to the court tomorrow night as they host the York Lions at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym. Game time is set for 8 p.m.

Source: Toronto Sports Info

The Carleton University Ravens men’s basketball team defeated the RMC Paladins 115 - 43 to claim its 19th straight win of the season and stay on top in the country.

The Ravens dominated from the start, rushing out to a 39-7 lead after just one quarter of action. Philip Scrubb (Richmond, B.C.) sank three efforts in a row from outside the arc to add to the Ravens impressive points tally.

The Ravens' accuracy made light work of their opponents as they sunk over 50 per cent of their attempts from inside the paint and just under 50 per cent of their attempts from outside.

Elliot Thompson (Fredericton) and Thomas Scrubb (Richmond, B.C.) added their own three-point baskets in the second quarter to continue Carleton’s push for points.

With Carleton up 69-19 by halftime, the Ravens used their depth on the bench to finish the game.

Seven Ravens reached with double digits, led by Thomas Scrubb with 17.

The Ravens have now hit the century mark four times this season.

Carleton is next in action on Saturday, Feb. 11 as they travel to Queen's to take on the Gaels. Tip off is at 8 p.m.

Source: Carleton Sports Info

KINGSTON, Ont. - The Queen's Gaels fell short to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees this Friday evening at the ARC. The final score of the game was 93-61.

The Gaels came out fighting, trading baskets with Ottawa for the majority of the first quarter. Queen's went on a 6-0 run to end the frame up by five points, 23-18. The second quarter, however, was all Gee-Gees as they outscored the Gaels 30-11 and took a 48-34 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, the Gaels kept pace with the Gee-Gees, but could not close the gap between the two teams as the Gee-Gees took the frame by a 17-15 margin. The fourth was all Ottawa, as they closed out the game with a performance in the quarter.

The Gaels defence had trouble shutting down Ottawa's perimeter players as the Gee-Gees shot 61% from the field. The Gaels tried making up the difference by opening up their own perimeter offence but couldn't get anything to fall from range.

Mackenzie Simpson of Ottawa led the Gaels with 16 points, including 9 for 10 shooting from the free throw line and was named the Gaels player of the game for his efforts. Johnny Berhanmeskel of Ottawa led all scorers in the contest with 34 points on 12 of 18 shooting from the field.

The Gaels are back in action against the No. 1 Carleton Ravens Saturday evening at the ARC for the annual Marco W. Alessio Memorial game. Tipoff is set for 8:00 pm.

Source: Queen's Sports Info

ST CATHARINES, ON - The men's basketball team won 82-73 versus Brock on Friday evening. The T-Wolves used a balanced attack, and got huge contributions from Venzal Russell (Detroit, MI), who was 2 assists short of a 'triple-double', and Matt Schidmt (Thunder Bay, ON), who stepped into the starting center role for the first time in his Lakehead career.

Lakehead got out to an early lead and would repel Brock's best efforts to close the gap as the game elapsed. Adam Johnson (Baltimore, MD) got out to a quick start for Lakehead, scoring 10 points in the first quarter. Matt Schmidt would provide timely shooting start to finish, especially in the final minutes of the game to seal the victory, as he went 8 of 12 from the field to finish with 17 points and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes of work.

It goes without saying that Venzal Russell was a man on a mission, scoring 23 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, dishing out 8 assists and hawking 5 steals in an incredible display of all-around basketball talent. Adam Johnson, who has been flourishing of late coming off the bench, had 15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 14 minutes of play. Starting PG Greg Carter had 8 points, 6 steals, 3 assists and 4 rebounds.

The Brock Badgers were led by big man Mark Gibson with a double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds. Andrew Ferguson was an efficient 8-of-11 from the field (3-4 from three) for 19 points and 6 boards. Point guard Andrew Kraus had 11 points and 7 assists.

Coach Scott Morrison, who was without Yoosrie Salhia and Brendan King to injury, mentioned some positives from the game but also cautioned against any sense of full satisfaction:

"On the one hand we played hard and received some good production from our bench 'bigs' in the absence on Salhia and King.  On the other hand we had the chance to put Brock away in the 2nd half and let them back in the game with sloppy transition defense and some poor turnovers. We also gave Brock some good looks on penetration kick-outs by being a little slow on our rotations.  Brock is short-handed but the guys they have out there are very talented and can shoot the ball - we have to do a better job getting back on D and containing middle penetration tomorrow night."

The two teams will rematch tomorrow at 8 pm.

No webcast available- live stats will be available via Brock Badgers website. Look for link in media window under the 'schedule' tab, right at tip off time.

Source: Lakehead Sports Info

MONTREAL – Tim Hunter's 20 points led the Bishop's Gaiters to an upset of the No. 9-ranked Concordia Stingers, 78-75, in CIS men's basketball action at the Concordia Gym in Montreal, Friday night. The fourth-year forward went 7-for-20 from the field, including a pair of three pointers, as the Gaiters picked up their first win in the Concordia Gym since January 6, 2006.

The Gaiters trailed 39-31 at halftime, but Hunter scored seven points at the start of the third quarter to pull Bishop's to within three at 41-38. The Gaiters took their first lead of the half at 48-47 on a jumper by Ridolphe Aristile, making his first career start, and held a 54-52 edge after three quarters.

Bishop's threatened to pull away in the fourth, as an 8-0 run put them up 64-54 with 6:43 left. The Gaiters took their largest lead of the night as Sean Monplaisir found Matt McLean underneath to give the visitors a 74-59 edge with 2:48 to go.

However, the league-leading Stingers did not go away quietly. They mounted a late comeback, and Kafil Eyitayo pulled the Stingers to within two with eight seconds left. After a quick foul, Monplaisir made one of two free throws, to restore a three-point lead. Concordia had the ball for the final possession, but a desperation three-pointer by Decee Krah fell short, sealing the Gaiter victory.

For Bishop's (7-17, 7-13 CIS, 2-9 Quebec), Hunter was one rebound short of a double-double, as he had a game-high nine boards to go with his 20 points. Onnex Blackwood came off  the bench to score 14, while Mukiya Post added 13 and Aristil scored a career-high 11.

Concordia (18-9, 17-6, 10-2) was led by Kyle Desmarais, who scored 18 points, while Evens Laroche added 17 and Decee Krah chipped in with ten.

The Gaiters shot 42.6% from the field, while holding Concordia to 37.5%. The Gaiters committed 17 turnovers, while Concordia had 21 miscues. The Stingers held a slight edge in rebounding, 46-41.

With the win, the Gaiters move to with 1 ½ games of idle Laval, who are currently fourth in the Quebec conference. Concordia remains in first place, 2 ½ games ahead of McGill.

The Gaiters are back in action on Saturday night as they host the third-place UQAM Citadins (6-6). Tip off at the Mitchell Gym is set for 8 p.m.

Source: Bishop's Sports Info

SASKATOON - Reigning Canada West MVP Jamelle Barrett tallied 37 points in a 95-79 University of Saskatchewan Huskies victory over the visiting University of Manitoba Bisons Friday night at the PAC in Saskatoon.

The fourth-year point guard added 10 assists on the night while hitting 10-of-23 field goals and shooting 16-for-18 from the free throw line for the double-double. Fifth-year forward Michael Lieffers also recorded a double-double with 24 points and 19 rebounds. Peter Lomuro chipped in another 17 for Saskatchewan.

Four Manitoba Bisons scored double digits on the night with Kurtis Sansregret and Stephan Walton each recording 20 points. Keith Omoerah chipped in another 12 points and Jonar Huertas added 11. Omoerah also nabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

 With the win the No. 3 ranked Huskies improve to 14-4, while Manitoba drops to 8-11. Saskatchewan extended their win streak to eight.

From the first moments of the game, the Bisons were in catch-up mode. Saskatchewan found the basket early jumping out to a 20-6 lead. Manitoba was able to crawl back into the game finishing the first quarter down eight at 26-18.

The Bisons found their offensive stride at the beginning of the second quarter outscoring the Huskies 7-2 in the first three minutes of the frame. After Manitoba’s Huertas hit a layup, the Huskies’ offence explored once again, leading 50-41 at halftime.

Although Manitoba matched the Huskies’ 22 points in the third quarter, the first half lead built by the Huskies was too much to overcome. Saskatchewan outscored the Bisons 23-16 in the final frame.

Saskatchewan shot 46% in the game, while Manitoba shot 41%. The Huskies also outrebounded the Bisons at 50-40.

The two teams will battle again Saturday night. Tipoff is 8 p.m. at the PAC. The game will be webcast at www.canadawest.tv.

Source: Saskatchewan Sports Info

LETHBRIDGE – Back in the in comfort of their own gym, the stakes were pretty simple for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s basketball team: find one win in the weekend and make the playoffs. Aside from clinching a playoff spot, the ‘Horns rolled to a decisive 94-69 victory over the visiting University of Regina Cougars Friday night and cemented third place in the Prairie division.

Fourth-year swingman Julian Spearchief-Morris led the ‘Horns with 17 points, boosted by 5-7 shooting from beyond the arc. A host of ‘Horns followed with 14 apiece, including Terrance Blake, Morgan Duce, and Daryl Cooper. Post Derek Waldner pulled down a game high eight rebounds and Cooper also passed around six assists.

The Cougars were led by reserve Sterling Nostedt, who knocked down 18 points, including four treys, and forward Paul Gareau added 11. Third-year Connor Burns grabbed seven boards in the loss.

The ‘Horns spread the playing time around in the first half in particular and were led by fourth-year guard, Blake who was a perfect 3-3 from three-point land and dropped all of his 14 points before the teams headed to the locker rooms at the break. Nostedt matched him, however, with 16 of his 18 points falling the first half of play. The home team was stellar from the tipoff, running the score up to 13-0 before the Cougars hit the scoreboard due to a jumper by Nostedt. Though the ‘Horns held an 11 point advantage after the first frame, the Cougars pulled to within two with four and a half minutes to play in half before the ‘Horns earned 49-37 lead at the mid-mark buzzer.

The ‘Horns used the third quarter to take back control of the game, outscoring the Cougars 28-17 en route to a 77-54 advantage. They maintained that control throughout the entire second half, culminating in a high-flying Tyson McIntyre dunk off a Dallon Martin lob with four minutes left to play and pushing the spread to as high as 34 before the final buzzer sounded. Spearchief-Morris picked the torch up from Blake and nailed 5-7 from beyond the arc in the last two quarters, helping the ‘Horns to a three-point shooting percentage of 50 on the night, going 13-26.

With the win, the ‘Horns boost their record over .500 to 10-9 on the season, while the Cougars fall to 5-13. The two teams will match up again tomorrow night at 8 pm following the women’s game. As always, the games will be webcast on canadawest.tv.

Source: Lethbridge Sports Info

CALGARY – The Calgary Dinos got big nights from four of their starters Friday as they defeated the Winnipeg Wesmen 99-86 in the Jack Simpson Gym, improving to 9-10 on the year and clinching a playoff spot in Canada West’s Prairie Division.

Led by a sensational 30-point night by Tyler Fidler, the Dinos took the lead after 10 minutes and won a track meet to notch their fifth victory in a row after starting the season 4-10. Thanks to Saskatchewan’s win over Manitoba and Alberta’s annihilation of Brandon Friday night, the Dinos have clinched a berth in the playoffs and will face the No. 1 seed out of the Pacific Division in a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series in two weeks’ time.

Calgary’s starting five accounted for 92 of the Dinos’ 99 points on the night, with Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson adding 24 points, Boris Bakovic 17, and Keenan Milburn 17. But it was Fidler who led the way, shooting 9-for-13 from the field and 11-12 from the line to score his 30 in just 29 minutes. Fidler hauled in a game-high seven rebounds as well.

“Holy Fidler,” said Calgary head coach Dan Vanhooren. “He’s so much better when he has people around him hitting shots. We only shot 12 threes tonight, which is good – we knew where we were stronger and we went inside with the ball. I’m happy that we rebounded the ball so well in the second half, but our bench needs to contribute a little more.”

The ability to work the ball inside worked well for the Dinos, who shot 54.7 per cent on the night and scored 42 points in the paint. Calgary also ended up winning the rebounding battle by a 36-33 margin, but they had to out-glass the Wesmen 25-12 in the second half to make that happen.

After dominating on the glass in the first half and scoring 17 second-chance points as a result, the Wesmen were within three at halftime at 51-48. Calgary ran away with it in the third quarter, however, shooting 12-for-18 in the frame and outscoring Winnipeg 28-14 to build an insurmountable advantage.

Calgary’s lead was as much as 20 with four minutes to go in the game, but Winnipeg poured it on late to bring it back to a more respectable 13 points at the final buzzer.

The Wesmen spread out their scoring more than did the Dinos, with five players ending up in single digits and two more with nine. Mark McNee and Eric Zimmerman led the way with 16 points each, with Benny Iko chipping in 13 to go with seven boards off the bench. Andrew Cunningham added a dozen and Dominique Brown 10, while Brayden Duff and Travis Krahn each poured in nine.

Outside the Big Four of Fidler, Ogungbemi-Jackson, Bakovic, and Milburn for the Dinos, Patrick Walker’s one conventional three-point play was the most scoring of any Calgary player.

The Dinos will look to finish the season at the .500 mark and on a winning note when they host the Wesmen once more Saturday night. The game will celebrate Seniors’ Night in the Jack, with Fidler, Bakovic, Milburn, and Dustin Reding honoured in a pre-game ceremony on centre court.

Source: Calgary Sports Info

VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds emerged victorious in part one of the battle for the Pacific Division, as they shut down the Victoria Vikes' offence and came away with a 68-52 win at War Memorial Gym on Friday.

The win pulls UBC level with Victoria at 13-4, meaning the Pacific Division winner will be decided next week when the 'Birds and Vikes reconvene in Victoria for the last game of the regular season.

The 'Birds led from wire to wire, but it was the third quarter that really broke the game open for them. They outscored the Vikes 27-13 in the frame and held them to 3-20 shooting from the field.

Kamar Burke and Doug Plumb carried the 'Birds early while senior point guard Nathan Yu struggled through foul trouble. But Yu broke loose in the third, scoring 11 of his game-high 22 points.

"Thats what a great team does," said Yu. "When I get in foul trouble or Doug gets in foul trouble, one of us steps it up, and we're going to need that down the stretch and in playoffs because there's going to be some tough times."

The Vikes were dangerous on the offensive glass all game and particularly in the third, where they grabbed 10 offensive rebounds to UBC's eight defensive rebounds, but the T-Bird defence still proved to be too much, as the visitors only managed two second-chance points in the quarter.

The Vikes ended up with a 46-36 edge on the glass, but you can't blame fifth-year forward Kamar Burke for that. He recorded yet another double double with 17 rebounds and 17 points on Friday.

"Oh my goodness, I don't know how I did that," Burke said. "17 and 17 - that's big numbers. I just have to keep it up though. We've got one more game."

Burke gave a nod to coach Kevin Hanson's demanding practices during the week for getting the 'Birds sharp for their biggest game of the season.

"Today we brought it. I give all the credit to Kev because was just demanding so much of us. It was one of the hardest weeks of practice we've had all year."

UBC had 12 steals and forced 25 Victoria turnovers, leading to a 23-13 advantage in points off turnovers. They held the Vikes to 26 per cent shooting for the game and blocked four shots, three of which came courtesy of Balraj Bains. The fifth-year centre set a new UBC regular season record with his 29th block of the season.

The teams now have a week off to prepare for the final game of the season that will determine the division winner.

"It's going to be an absolute war," Yu said. "UVic is great at home. They probably have one of the best home gyms in Canada West. It's going to be packed for their seniors' night, and it'll be fun to try go and spoil it."

The 'Birds and Vikes square off in Victoria on February 17 at 8 p.m.

Source: UBC Sports Info