Axemen lose to Victoria in Final at Waterloo
Acadia and St. Francis Xavier represented the Atlantic conference at the nineteenth men's basketball nationals played at the University of Waterloo.
Acadia and St. Francis Xavier represented the Atlantic conference at the nineteenth men's basketball nationals played at the University of Waterloo.
Acadia had been the top team in the conference during the regular season with a 17-1 record - and the top-ranked team in Canada - but when the Axemen and X-men met in the conference final, the end result was a 96-95 upset win for St. F.X.
That the contest took overtime to decide was scant consolation to Acadia, but the Axemen got some consolation when they were awarded a wildcard berth to the national tournament.
The Axemen took on the fifth-seed Waterloo Warriors in the quarterfinal round, and head coach Ian MacMillan, the AUAA and CIAU Coach of the Year, was optimistic about his team's chances.
Acadia got its tournament off to a positive start with a 95-89 win. Ted Upshaw, who had set a new conference record with 524 points scored during the regular season, led the way with 29 points. Phil Coldwell added 18, Bo Hampton 16, Larry Hampton 14 and Donnie Ehler 10.
The Axemen moved on to the semifinals and a chance for redemption against St. F.X., which had won its quarterfinal 85-73 over York. Acadia, looking to avenge their loss in the conference final, got off to a tremendous start, building a 22-point first half lead. The X-men whittled away at the advantage, but at the final buzzer, were on the short end of a 102-96 score.
The Axemen moved on to the final, where their opponents were the defending champion Victoria Vikings. Victoria employed a ball-hawking defense that forced 21 Acadia turnovers, many of them at crucial times, and the Axemen had their worst offensive performance of the season in an 81-70 defeat.
Unable to establish any fluidity in their offense, Acadia found themselves down by 19 four minutes into the second half.
Five Axemen reached double figures in scoring, led by Bo Hampton with 17 points. Alfie MacLeod added 12, Ehler 11 and Coldwell and Ted Upshaw 10 apiece, but most if not all were disappointing totals based on their performances all season. Gerald Kazanowski had 21 points and 14 rebounds for Victoria, and tournament MVP Eli Pasquale chipped in 18.
Acadia settled for a runner-up finish for the fourth time in their thirteen appearances at nationals. It was a disappointing result for a team that had a 17-1 regular season record and scored a conference-record 1,962 points.