CIS CHAMPIONSHIPS: Lancers narrowly fall to Huskies in CIS quarter-final

The Lancer bench watches in anticipation as they make a fourth quarter surge to tie the game

Box Score

OTTAWA (CIS) - The No. 4 Windsor Lancers Men's Basketball team narrowly fell to the No. 5 Saskatchewan Huskies 71-68 in the CIS national quarter-finals on Friday night at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mbkb

A week after capturing the first Canada West title in team history, the Huskies advanced past the opening round of the national tournament for the first time in their fifth all-time appearance.

Saskatchewan gets back on the floor Saturday at 7pm against the winners of Friday's last quarter-final between No. 1 Carleton and No. 8 UQAM.

Ontario finalist Windsor resumes play at 1:30pm on the consolation side of the draw.

The Huskies, who led 24-12 after the first quarter, 44-27 at halftime and 65-53 after 30 minutes, were up by as much as 22 points in the second half and trailed only once in the game.

But the Lancers mounted a furious comeback in the fourth quarter when they outscored their Saskatoon rivals 15-6 and had seven chances to tie the match in the final 1:51, only to miss as many three-point shots.

The last opportunity came at the buzzer when Andre Smyth's desperate three-point attempt missed to the left.

“We just couldn't make shots in the second half,” said Saskatchewan head coach Greg Jockims, whose team shot 19% from the field (4-21) in the final 20 minutes to finish the contest with a 31% success rate (18-58).

“I'm proud of our team for hanging in, but at the end of the day it's still a loss," said Lancer head coach Chirs Oliver. "It leaves a bitter taste. Turnovers and missed foul shots cost us the game."

The Lancers turned the ball over 16 times and missed 10 of 21 attempts from the charity stripe.

“Being down early has not been unusual for us, so coming back was not a surprise. I really appreciate the character of this team,” added Oliver.

Showron Glover, a guard from Fresno, California who led the nation in scoring this year with 28.1 points per outing, paced the winners with 16 points, including 12 of 13 from the free throw line.

Fifth-year guard Michael Linklater of Saskatoon was named the Saskatchewan player of the game after he amassed 11 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Nolan Brudehl of Saskatoon added 11 points, while fifth-year forward Troy Gottselig of Findlater, Sask., had 10.

Fourth-year forward Isaac Kuon of Mississauga, Ont., scored a game-high 17 points in the loss and was chosen as Windsor's player of the game. Smyth, a native of Windsor, finished with 16 points, while freshman Enrico Diloreto of London, Ont., tallied 13.

Both teams not having made it to the CIS championship last year started the first quarter off rusty and unable to make perimeter shots. They quickly realized that shots weren't falling and took their chance in the paint, attacking the basket hard and attracting foul calls early.

Glover got his first two fouls of the game early, giving the Huskies no option but to bench him. The Huskies continued to be an offensive threat without Glover and started pulling away from the Lancers.

The Lancers struggled to make baskets drop in the early going, as they misfired from long range and from inside the post.

The action picked up halfway through the quarter as both teams started to hit some shots from beyond the arc.

For the Lancers, it was rookie Lien Phillip of St. Mark's, Grenada, who put up some points from within the paint with a couple of nice hook shots.

With 16 seconds remaining in the quarter, the ball in Husky territory and Jockims yelling at his team to keep the ball for one last shot, the Huskies managed to get a nice drive and dish play by veteran Linklater for an easy bucket. On the baseline inbounds play, Glover stole the ball from the Lancers and put up an easy layup to allow the Huskies to double Windsor in points going into the second quarter.

The second quarter started with the momentum in the Huskies' favour and would continue to the halftime buzzer. The Lancers initially played sloppy on the offensive end, creating turnovers and giving the Huskies transition opportunities while at the same time unable to put a dent in the Huskies' lead.

As the quarter was winding down the Lancers developed a chip on their shoulders, stepping up defensive play and not letting the Huskies get any uncontested looks. But at the end of the quarter it would again be the Huskies on top, outscoring the Lancers 20-15 and finishing the first half of play with a 44-27 lead.

Coming out of the halftime break, the Lancers had a chance to regroup, fighting the Huskies shot for shot in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

Isaac Kuon came out of the break strong hitting back-to-back threes, before the Huskies exploited his over aggressiveness on defence getting him in foul trouble.

With only minutes into the quarter Kuon, the only player to be able to make anything happen for the Lancers, sat down with four fouls.

Andre Smyth would pick up the slack for Windsor as he hit back-to-back threes to get the Lancers within 15 points before the Huskies took a timeout. Windsor picked up the pace on the offensive end showing a slight momentum shift.

The Lancers continued to battle as they slowly chipped away at Saskatchewan's lead.

The fourth quarter started with a momentum shift in the Lancers' favour. With Kuon back on the floor the Lancers picked up the pace and ran the floor in transition. Windsor was less tentative, jumping on every loose ball and fighting in desperation.

Despite missing shots, the Lancers were persistent on the offensive glass getting second and third opportunities and bringing it to within five points with half a quarter left to play.

Windsor's hustle was rewarded as they closed the gap to within one point in the last two minutes of play, 69-68.

After Saskatchewan increased their lead to three, Andre Smyth had a long distance three-point attempt in the final seconds to tie the game, but it didn't go down, giving the Huskies the 71-68 victory.

STAT LEADERS

Saskatchewan
Points: Showron Glover (16), Michael Linklater (11), Nolan Brudehl (11), Troy Gottselig (10)
Rebounds: Michael Linklater (8), Troy Gottselig (8)
Assists: Michael Linklater (4)

Milk player of the game: Michael Linklater

Windsor
Points: Isaac Kuon (17), Andre Smyth (14), Enrico Diloreto (13)
Rebounds: Lien Phillip (13), Isaac Kuon (8)
Assists: Josh Collins (5)

Milk player of the game: Isaac Kuon

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Friday, March 19
Quarter-final #1: Calgary 82, Cape Breton 74
Quarter-final #2: UBC 79, Lakehead 58
Quarter-final #3: Saskatchewan 71, Windsor 68
Quarter-final #4: No. 1 Carleton vs. No. 8 UQAM

Saturday, March 20
Consolation #1: No. 2 Cape Breton vs. No. 6 Lakehead
Consolation #2: No. 4 Windsor vs. No. 8 UQAM
Semifinal #1: No. 7 Calgary vs. No. 3 UBC
Semifinal #2: No. 5 Saskatchewan vs. No. 1 Carleton

Sunday, March 21
Consolation final (5th place)
Championship final

- Courtesy of the CIS -

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