Axemen selected as wild-card berth for 1996 Nationals

Acadia next competed for a national championship at the 34^th edition of the national tournament in March of 1996 in Halifax. It had been five seasons since their last nationals appearance.

In 1995-1996, Acadia's 13-7 regular season record, including a 7-1 mark in four-point games, was good for second in the standings and a first-round playoff bye.

In the semifinals against UPEI, Acadia led 37-34 at halftime, but found themselves trailing 60-46 in the second half. The Axemen stormed back to within one, but UPEI finally prevailed by a 73-71 score.

Acadia got solid performances from Adam Griffin (18 points and 10 assists), Sheldon Shaw (15 points, three threes), Mark Headley (15 points, two threes) and Geoff Kott (12 points and 12 rebounds).

Acadia was disappointed, but received some consolation when the Axemen were selected (over UPEI) as one of the two wildcard teams for nationals. Obviously their 22-9 season record, and in particular a 6-0 inter-conference record, had struck a chord with the committee.

In addition to Acadia and Dalhousie (winners of the conference final 98-95 in double-overtime over UPEI), the national field included two-time defending champion Alberta, top-seed UBC, Brandon, McMaster, Toronto and Concordia.

Acadia opened against Brandon and ended up on the short end of a 71-62 score. Kott, who would be named a tournament all-star, had 13 points and nine rebounds despite not playing the final 10 minutes.

Marcus Jamieson was good on four three-pointers for 12 points. Jan Trojanowski and Derek Cotton both had 12 points, and Griffin 11 assists along with eight points.

Relegated to the consolation bracket, the Axemen took on a familiar foe in the Dalhousie Tigers, 78-71 quarterfinal losers to Toronto but winners of all four of their regular season meetings with Acadia.

This time, it was the Axemen that prevailed, by a 77-71 score. Trojanowski, improving by the game in his second season, led the way with 15 points. Headley added 13, Jamieson 11 and Kott 10 points and seven rebounds. Brian Parker, an 'Axemen-killer' all season, led the Tigers with 17.

Acadia took on Concordia in the consolation final, and scored an 84-75 victory. Jamieson had arguably the finest game of what would be an all-too-brief Acadia career with 21 points, including five threes. Kott, playing his final game for the Axemen, had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Griffin contributed nine points and Cotton, Headley and Adam Gladwin eight apiece in a real team effort.