Axemen are National champions again

The Halifax Forum was again the venue for the Canadian university men's basketball nationals in 1977, and for the first time since 1974, Acadia entered the tournament as conference champions.

The Axemen finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, then dispatched St. F.X. 86-69 and the UPEI Panthers 84-82 (in overtime) to capture the conference title. Senior Ed Shannon had 48 points and 23 rebounds in the win over St. F.X.

With Saint Mary's hosting the Final Eight tournament and UPEI chosen as a wildcard team, the Halifax faithful had no less than three AIBC teams to root for.

Ironically, the Axemen found themselves facing the same Panthers in the quarterfinals. The teams knew each other well, but this time, the final verdict was never in question. Led by 21 points from Ted Upshaw, 14 from Alvin Jessamy and 12 from Doug Roberts, Acadia romped to an 88-70 victory.

The Axemen moved on to face Waterloo in the semifinals, and the game was close throughout. Ted Upshaw, improving by the game in his rookie season, blocked a shot with 25 seconds on the clock and the score tied at 63.

Calling timeout, Coach Hunt drew up a play to get the ball to Shannon for the final shot. Gordie West ran the clock down to five seconds, then found Shannon who made no mistake with one of his classic soft jumpers.

Jessamy led the Axemen with 26 points, Shannon added 21 (and 18 rebounds) and Roberts chipped in 14, including a number of clutch baskets. Acadia's 65-63 win advanced the Axemen to the final against Lakehead and their 7'1” centre Jim Zoet.

Coach Hunt chose to defend Zoet one-on-one, with Shannon, Ted Upshaw and Tony Aker ending up sharing the duties, and overall, to play Lakehead straight-up with a tenacious and punishing defense that proved to be the key to a 72-63 victory that gave Acadia its third national championship.

Offensively, Jessamy stepped up with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Shannon finished with 17 points, Ted Upshaw added 13 points and 13 boards, and West contributed nine points, nine rebounds and his usual fine job running the offense.

The Axemen finished the season with a 25-5 record, including 23 wins in their final 24 games. At one point in the season, they won 16 games in a row. Notably, the Acadia roster, over and above the three permitted Americans, was comprised almost entirely of Nova Scotia-born players.

 Contributed by John DeCoste '77. John's book, Living the Dream: The Acadia Axemen at the Nationals can be purchased by contacting John at jadecoste56@gmail.com