Game 1: St. Clair Saints 108, St. Mary’s Lightning 93

The St. Clair Saints showed why they are one of the favourites at the 2023 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men's Basketball National Championship. Eventually.

After shaking off some first-half nerves that led to them being tied at the break with the St. Mary's Lightning, the silver medallists from last year’s CCAA Championship used a 34-point third quarter to pull away and secure a 108-93 victory.

The move sends St. Clair to the event’s semi-final on Friday night, while St. Mary’s falls to the consolation side of the bracket and will play in a bronze medal quarterfinal game on Friday.

Thursday’s opener saw St. Clair get out to an early lead in the first quarter, prompting a timeout from Lightning coach Nathan Ruff. After the timeout, the rest of the quarter tilted in favour of St. Mary’s, which took a 27-22 lead into the second quarter.

The next two quarters saw St. Clair’s Chad Vincent-Simon scored 20 of his game-high 28 points as the Saints tie the game up by half at 50-50 and then take a 84-66 lead into the final quarter of play.

St. Mary’s CCAA All-Canadian Brock Dewsbery scored eight in the fourth quarter to keep his team in it, but it wouldn't be enough.

While Vincent-Simon led the way for the Saints, Jalen Harmon added 24 and CCAA All-Canadian Shak Pryce chipped in 20 of his own.

Dewsbery led the Lightning with 24 points, while teammate Caleb Jipp added 22.

Game 2: Dawson Blues 91, VIU Mariners 85 (OT)

Dawson College needed overtime, but they are moving on.

The Blues defeated the Mariners 91-85 in their Day 1 CCAA quarter-final matchup played at the Jack Simpson Gym. The champs from RSEQ advance to the four-day event’s semi-final Friday night.

VIU, who came in as the PACWEST wildcard, now falls to the consolation side of the draw and will play in a bronze quarter-final on Friday.

Dawson controlled most of the game, leading the game 40-31 at halftime. It wasn’t until the fourth when the Mariners, who were ranked No. 1 in the CCAA rankings all season long, fought back to tie the game late thanks to a 26-20 run in the final 10 minutes of play - 12 of those points coming from Landon Radiff.

In overtime, Dawson took back control and went on a 14-8 run in the five-minute period – six of those from Schumel Shepherd, who went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the extra frame to help seal the win.

Iman Kheirati paced the Blues with 30 points and 13 rebounds, while teammate Christian Payawal contributed 19 points of his own. Richard Henderson and CCAA All-Canadian Tori Odom led the Mariners with 25 and 24 points, respectively.

Kheirati and Henderson were named the 4Imprint Players of the Game.

Game 3: George Brown Huskies 120, Capilano Blues 113 (OT)

The George Brown Huskies survived late game dramatics from the Capilano Blues, taking a hard-fought 120-113 decision in overtime to advance to the semi-finals of the CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship, the second matchup to require extra time in the tournament’s opening day.

Huskies player of the game Jeremiah Brown led all scorers with 31 points off the bench to go with seven rebounds, while Derrick Taylor added 22 points and eight rebounds, and Caldre Campbell chipped in with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists off the bench.

For the Blues, Josh Dhillon led the way with 24 points, including a buzzer-beating three to force overtime, which he paired with six assists and four rebounds. Blues player of the game Zach Klim added 23 points and four rebounds, while CCAA All-Canadian Tyrone Asenoguan contributed 16 points and six rebounds.

Capilano ended the opening quarter up 24-23.

Capilano again got off to a quick start in the second quarter, extending its lead to eight early on. However, it wasn’t long before the Huskies seized momentum, tightening up defensively and capitalizing on Blues turnovers to take a 53-49 lead into halftime.

The third quarter was evenly matched, with the Blues getting even at 62-62 early in the frame. The Huskies responded by pushing out their lead to seven with 4:25 to go, only for Capilano to again come back to head to the fourth quarter deadlocked at 81-81, setting the stage for a dramatic fourth.

Neither team could get a true edge over the other for the opening half of the quarter, though George Brown eventually found some footing to go up 102-96 with 2:28 remaining. However, the Huskies went cold from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds, missing five of six in that time period, including a pair from Ocampo with 4.9 seconds to go.

Off a Featherston rebound, the Blues pushed the pace, with the ball eventually finding Dhillon for a corner three as time expired.

The Huskies got the upper hand early in the extra session, though, as they used an early 6-0 run to set the tempo for the rest of overtime as they would not relinquish the lead afterward.

Game 4: SAIT Trojans 90,  Holland Hurricanes 69

The SAIT Trojans showed there’s no place like home to wrap up the opening day of competition at the 2023 CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship, defeating the Holland Hurricanes 90-69 to advance to the semi-finals.

Marc-Denault Gabriel scored 24 of his game-high 32 points in the first half to go with 17 rebounds to earn player of the game honours for the tournament hosts and ACAC champions, while Kuol Kuol also posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds and Charlie Conner added 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.

On the other side of the ball, Kyree Thompson was named player of the game for the Hurricanes with 22 points and three rebounds, while Jack MacAulay contributed 15 points and six rebounds.

Gabriel got the Trojans off and running with his team’s first eight points of the night, though the ACAA champions looked unfazed as they held an early 9-8 lead. However, SAIT would eventually assert itself as they took a 24-13 lead into the second quarter, with Gabriel accounting for half the Trojans’ scoring with 12 points.

The second quarter was mostly a back and forth affair, though the Trojans consistently maintained a double-digit lead throughout. The Hurricanes closed to within a dozen late in the quarter, only for SAIT to respond and take a 54-37 lead into halftime.

The second half was largely even in terms of score, though the Trojans never relinquished control at any point as they built their lead as large as 23 while keeping the Hurricanes from gaining any sustained momentum or making any kind of comeback; CCAA All-Canadian Marcus Masters did his part as he scored all nine of his points after halftime.

Moving on to Day 2 of the CCAA Championship, the Trojans will face the George Brown Huskies tomorrow with a spot in Sunday’s gold medal match on the line. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes drop into the bronze medal bracket with the loss, and they will play the Capilano Blues.

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