Game 5: VIU Mariners 115, St. Mary’s Lightning 91

The VIU Mariners are one step closer to a shot at a bronze medal, defeating the St. Mary’s Lightning 115-91 in the first bronze quarterfinal between two wildcards at the 2023 CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship.

CCAA All-Canadian Tori Odom scored 21 of his 24 points in the first half, while also adding eight assists and five rebounds to pick up player of the game honours for the Mariners, while Akoi Yuot added 23 points and seven rebounds, and Richard Henderson posted a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

On the other side, CCAA All-Canadian Brock Dewsbery was the player of the game for the Lightning with 23 points and four rebounds, while Johnpaul Okodua had a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds; Averie Armbrister added 19 points of his own.

Dominance down low keyed VIU’s victory, as they outscored St. Mary’s 56-20 in the paint while also shooting 50 per cent from three-point range.

The first quarter saw Odom setting the tone early for the Mariners with his team’s first six points of the contest, only for the Lightning to claw their way back to a 23-23 tie, bolstered by back-to-back threes from Armbrister as part of a 12-point frame. However, Odom keyed a late push by the Mariners, finishing the quarter with 16 to put VIU up 35-28 through 10 minutes of play.

The second quarter saw a number of momentum swings, beginning with the Lightning pulling the game to within two early in the frame, only for the Mariners to push back and extend their lead into 12 with just over two minutes to play. However, St. Mary’s responded with an 11-2 run to close the half and cut VIU’s lead to 65-62.

St. Mary’s built on its momentum early in the third quarter to get even at 67-67, only for the Mariners to offer an emphatic response by building out an 18-point lead, eventually heading to the fourth up 93-79 after a late Lightning rally.

Any hope of a St. Mary’s comeback in the fourth was snuffed out midway through the quarter by the Mariners, as a pair of Peter Li three-pointers extended VIU’s lead to 105-83 with 5:20 remaining.

Match 6: Capilano Blues 119, Holland Hurricanes 100

The Capilano Blues completed a PACWEST sweep of the bronze quarterfinal matchups, defeating the Holland Hurricanes 119-100 at the CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship.

CCAA All-Canadian Tyrone Asenoguan was named player of the game for the Blues, with 18 of his team-high 28 points coming in the first half to go along with seven assists and four rebounds, while CJ Campbell posted a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Zach Klim added 17 points and six rebounds.

For the Hurricanes, Jalen Menzies led all scorers with 29 points and seven rebounds to earn player of the game honours for the ACAA champions, while Jack MacAulay and Kyree Thompson each scored 21 for Holland College.

The game opened at a furious pace on both sides, with baskets falling left and right to give the Hurricanes an 18-17 lead midway through the opening quarter. However, the PACWEST champions took control from there, with a 14-0 run over the course of 2:52 serving as the catalyst for Capilano to take a 34-24 lead through the opening 10 minutes.

Holland started chipping away at the Blues’ lead early in the second quarter, with a pair of Logan Rempel three-pointers helping cut the gap to 41-40 midway through the frame. Capilano then answered by restoring a double-digit lead late in the quarter, though a mini push from the Hurricanes in the final minute reduced the Capilano advantage to 59-53 at halftime.

The third quarter saw the Blues tighten their hold as the Hurricanes ran into early foul trouble, with Capilano pushing its lead out as far as 13 late in the frame. A late surge from the Hurricanes cut the lead to seven, but a three in the dying seconds from Ahmad Athman gave the Blues an 88-78 lead heading into the fourth.

Match 7: Dawson Blues 83, St. Clair Saints 81

For the second consecutive season, the Dawson Blues are guaranteed a national medal in CCAA Men’s Basketball.

Now, the only question is whether it will be gold or silver.

In a heavyweight matchup, Isaiah Graham-Roache played the hero as time expired as the reigning CCAA bronze medallists knocked off the St. Clair Saints, the reigning CCAA silver medallists, 83-81 to earn the right to play for gold.

Off an inbound with 1.1 seconds to play, Graham-Roache’s initial tip play went off the backboard, and he grabbed his own rebound to hoist the ball toward the net right before the clock hit all zeros, completing a 17-point performance that earned him player of the game honours for Dawson College.

Christian Payawal paced the Blues with 19 points to go with five rebounds, while Iman Kheirati had a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds to go with four assists.

For the Saints, Chad Vincent-Simon led all scorers with 29 points to go with seven rebounds, while player of the game Jalen Harmon added 21 points and five rebounds, and Shakael Pryce added 15 points and five rebounds.

The RSEQ champions came out firing from the opening tip, proving to be dialled in from long distance as four early three-pointers spotted them an 18-10 lead. However, the Saints strung together a late run to put them well within striking distance of Dawson’s 20-19 lead to end the quarter.

The second featured equally tight basketball from start to finish, with neither team giving the other an inch on the court. Dawson eventually found some footing and opened up a 36-28 advantage late in the frame, only for the Saints to come back once again, with a Harmon three at the buzzer cutting the Blues’ lead to 40-37 at the half.

Action opened up considerably in the third quarter, with the flow and urgency of the game increasing by the possession. The Blues’ biggest lead was nine late in the quarter, as they had answers any time St. Clair began clawing back, ultimately taking a 67-60 lead into the fourth.

St. Clair would take charge early in the final frame, stringing together a 12-0 run spanning 3:45 to vault into the lead at 72-69, with Vincent-Simon providing both the tying and go-ahead three-pointers. However, the Blues responded with a quick 6-0 run of their own to go up 75-72, only for Vincent-Simon to knock down another two threes to put the Saints up 79-78 with 1:12 remaining.

After a Payawal jumper put the Blues up 80-79 with 27.5 seconds to go, he made one of two free throws to give the Blues the two-point edge with 9.3 seconds left, prompting the Saints to call timeout. Off the inbound, Vincent-Simon dished off to Pryce, who drove to the basket to tie it at 81-81 and ultimately set the stage for Graham-Roache’s heroics.

Match 8: SAIT Trojans 96, George Brown Huskies 82

The host SAIT Trojans will play for CCAA gold.

The Trojans defeated Ontario’s George Brown 96-82 in their CCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship semi-final at the Jack Simpson Gymnasium to advance to their first title game since the last time they hosted back in 2010.

In Sunday’s gold medal game, the Trojans will meet Montreal's Dawson College, who punched their ticket by defeating St. Clair College in another exciting semi-final contest. The matchup will be a rematch of the 1982 championship final – a game SAIT won to capture their first CCAA title.

George Brown will now play in one of two bronze medal semi-final games on Saturday against the VIU Mariners, while the other will feature St. Clair and the Capilano Blues.

Fifth-year guard Charlie Conner scored 10 points in the first quarter to give his Trojans a 26-16 lead after the first 10 minutes of play. It was a lead his team never relinquished for the remainder of the game.

By half, four Trojans found themselves with double digit point totals as the hosts held a 52-36 lead.

George Brown started the second half with a run that eventually cut that 16-point lead to just 6 thanks to Caldre Campbell's 8-point third quarter.

In the final quarter, SAIT's All-Canadian Marcus Masters took over, scoring all 10 of his 25 points from the free throw line to help ice the win.

Conner chipped in with 23 points, while Marc-Denault Gabriel added 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Campbell paced George Brown with 24 points. Derrick Taylor added 20.

Campbell and Masters were named Players of the Game.

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