Hoops: Tracking the top teams; Spagrud sets scoring record

What's shaking for the top teams on this next-to-last week of the regular season:

  1. Carleton: They improved to 21-0 in the OUA East with a 13-point home win over Queen's, who hung in for a half.

    There might be some consternation over the 113-27 final score from the Ravens' game Friday vs. RMC, which looks like a typo. What could have been done? Carleton used all 12 guys and didn't give any of their starters major burn (Mike Kenny, nine minutes; Ryan Bell, 10; Aaron Doornekamp, 13; Stu Turnbull, 16). RMC only used seven players.

    In university, it's like everyone knows what they're getting into. No school should have to apologize for playing the game well. So long as the Ravens weren't trying to throw crazy alley-oop dunks (which isn't their style) or do things they wouldn't normally do in the course of a game, it's fine.
  2. Brandon: The Bobcats close out the regular season tonight vs. Winnipeg after a 21-point win in the front end of the home-and-home.
  3. Calgary: The Dinos, who didn't have anything on the line, split at Saskatchewan. Andrew Spagrud had 28 points, 11 rebounds in the Huskies' win Saturday, setting (as far as anyone knows) the CIS career scoring record in his final home game.

    The Dinos will await the Alberta-Saskatchewan semi-final winner.
  4. Toronto: The Varsity Blues (15-5 in the OUA East), who split with Laurentian and York, are still in line to finish second in the division. Tut Ruach went off for 32 points in York's upset 72-67 win (and also had 31 in a loss vs. Ryerson on Saturday. Queen's will have their hands full with Ruach in the first round of the playoffs).
  5. Acadia: They'll be well-rested for St. FX at home next Tuesday. The X-Men scored 90 points in their last game against a good Saint Mary's team.
  6. Cape Breton: A tag-team effort on the glass by Eric Breland and Paul Blake, who each had double-doubles, helped the Capers get by UPEI 73-61 in their lone game of the weekend. Cape Breton has St. FX in next Friday.
  7. Ottawa: The Josh Gibson-Bascombe-less Gee-Gees (win over RMC, loss to Queen's), might be dropped from some voters' top 10 this week. They're a top-5 team with him. Without him, Jacob Gibson-Bascombe, and with Sean Peter limited by a hip pointer (as cishoops.ca noted), they scored just 48 points and shot 29% against the Gaels. If you have to rank the teams as they are, they probably shouldn't be ranked.

    Friday was tough to watch, knowing how far Dave DeAveiro's brought his team along (and this is coming from a Queen's grad).
  8. Windsor: The Lancers, whose magic number for wrapping up the OUA West regular-season title is down to one, got by Laurier 67-61 on Saturday behind Greg Surmacz's 26 points. They'll probably move up to No. 7 next week.
  9. UBC: The T-Birds' 81-62 win over Fraser Valley didn't leave a lot of hints about a first-round upset. Cascades guard Doug Plumb had a 2-for-14 shooting night on Saturday, while point guard Tristan Smith had five turnovers. Granted, no one knows how much either team wanted to show.
  10. Alberta: Not much to say; the Golden Bears took care of business against Lethbridge. They'll face Saskatchewan in a division semi-final.
  11. Laval: Someone will have to be squeezed out to fit the Rouge et Or into the Top 10. It might have to be Ottawa. J.P. Morin had a 24-point, 15-rebound night in Friday's 68-61 win over Concordia, who the Rouge et Or limited to 29% shooting.
  12. Brock: Lakehead, which is in tough for a playoff spot (unless they can sweep Guelph at home next weekend) played the Badgers tough on Saturday, losing just 75-73. Brad Rootes had 11 points, 11 assists to get his team closer to that first-round bye.

    The Badgers have Western in next Wednesday for a potential OUA West semi-final preview.

For anyone who was wondering, cishoops.ca did clarify last week that if Carleton wins the OUA East, there will be a special play-in game for the Final 8 between the division runners-up at the West team's court. FYI: Toronto won on Brock's home floor earlier this season, but the Badgers are now a much different team.

Next PostNewer Post Previous PostOlder Post Home

3 comments:

  1. You're right about the Carleton-RMC game.
    Sure, it was brutal to watch a juggernaut like Carleton abuse a sad sack outfit like RMC.
    However, there was no concerted effort on the Raven's part to run it up...they are just that good and RMC is just that bad.
    This was nothing like that 115-0 football game St. Mary's had against Mount Allison, where the coach admitted he was trying to stick it to them by using gadget plays and passing on 3rd down.
    This was simply a case where Carleton played their entire roster, ran their usual offence and played their usual intense D. The poor Paladins simply could not cope.
    Really though, you have to think that RMC has to reconsider its participation in the CIS, at least in the sport of basketball.
    They had some relative success when Kevin Dulude played there, but studs like that guy don't often opt for RMC.
    Look for RMC to re-enter the OCAA within the next few years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RMC shot something like 18.5 per cent... it was ugly. Carleton didn't even dress one starter, Manny Jean-Marie.

    To think RMC was only a couple points from going to nationals when it had Dulude.

    There was talk that Algoma up in Sault Ste. Marie will join the CIS for basketball, maybe in a couple years. If UOIT gets it going, they could easily take RMC's place on the schedule, since they're only 90 minutes from Kingston.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So you're the one passing me at 135 km/h on the 401. ;-)

    ReplyDelete