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Dogs repeat as Central Division Champions Huskies fend off Golden Bears in Game 3 of Central Division Final
Edmonton, Alberta - The University of Saskatchewan Huskies took the University of Alberta Golden Bears best shot in Game 3 of the Central Division Final - and survived. In a game that was as even as the season series, Saskatchewan came out on top of their rivals with an 88-85 victory Sunday afternoon at the Main Gym.
Saskatchewan (22-19) wins the best-of three series two games to one over Alberta (24-13). Saskatchewan will now travel to Brandon for the Canada West Final Four, where they will face the No. 5-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (30-10) Friday night. UBC and Saskatchewan met in last year's conference semi-final as well in Vancouver, with UBC winning a classic 73-72.
The Huskies won their second straight Central Division title, and could not have done it without forward Mark Lynch. Lynch, one of three Huskies to score 20-plus points on the afternoon, scored a career-high 21 points on 8-10 shooting from the field, including 4-5 from beyond the arc.
"Mark played great today," said Huskie head coach Greg Jockims. "He shot the ball with great confidence, and hit some really big shots at crucial times. If teams are going to pack the paint on us, we have to be able to make them pay and Mark did that this afternoon."
Saskatchewan won it's first playoff series in Edmonton in three tries all-time, and is now 9-3 at the Main Gym over the past three seasons.
The Huskies won four of seven meeting with the Bears this season. Interestingly all four victories came when the Huskies were wearing their black uniforms.
Sunday (Game 3): Saskatchewan 88 at Alberta 85
With files from Bob Stauffer, Alberta Sports Info
The University of Alberta Golden Bears basketball team (15-7 Canada West, 1-2 playoffs, 24-13 overall) took the risk and got burnt as the Saskatchewan Huskies’ Mark Lynch (Calgary, AB, 4th) put up 21 points in a 88-85 victory in the third and deciding game of the Central Division final Sunday afternoon in Edmonton.
With the victory the Huskies (13-9 Canada West, 4-1 playoffs, 22-19 overall) advance to the Canada West Final Four next weekend in Brandon, while the Golden Bears season comes to end for the second consecutive year at the hands of the Huskies.
Lynch, who was held to a single point in Alberta’s game two victory Saturday, received little defensive pressure as Golden Bears Head Coach Don Horwood opted to double down defensively on two-time All-Canadian Andrew Spagrud (Saskatoon, SK) who finished with 22 points on the day.
"We took a risk and Lynch to his credit answered the bell, he shot 80% from the field including 4-of-5 on three’s one night after he went 0-for-5," said Horwood who will lose post Scott Gordon (Langley, B.C.,5th) and guard Tyson Jones (Winnipeg, MB, 5th) to graduation.
Alberta led by as many as 10 in the first half but ran into foul trouble in the final eight minutes so Horwood sat Golden Bears starters Alex Steele (Edmonton, 4th) and Jones. The Huskies ended the half with a 23-6 run and had a 50-43 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Huskies led by eight when Rejean Chabot hustled back to intercept an Alberta pass on the break, before taking the ball upcourt and finding Mark Lynch for a layup, putting the Dogs up 61-51 with 15:19 to go.
A minute and a half later Kyle Grant picked up his fourth foul of the game and was forced to sit for a few minutes. Jordan Harbidge, who played six minutes in the first half in his first game action since suffering an ankle injury in practice ten days ago, came in and promptly threw an alley-oop pass to Spagrud to restore the ten point lead.
Back-to-back deep three's over the Huskies zone by Alex Steele cut the lead to 72-67 with 8:32 remaining. But the Dogs came back, with Lynch drilling another three to make the score 82-73 with 5:38 left to play.
With the Huskies leading 85-81, two critical plays hurt the Bears' chances of completing a comeback. With 2:25 to play Steele fouled out after charging into Grant. After the Huskies failed to score, Neb Aleksic turned the ball over on an over-and-back violation with 1:42 on the clock.
Lynch scored on a short jumper with 1:16 remaining to put the Huskies up six, but Jones respnded for the Bears quickly driving to the hoop for a layup. C.G. Morrison was able to hit a layup with 6.9 seconds left, making the score 87-85. The Bears then fouled Grant, who missed his first free throw before hitting the second with 5.9 seconds showing on the clock.
Alberta had a chance to tie it but Morrison (Victoria, B.C. 2nd) missed a 27-foot Hail Mary attempt at the buzzer.
Morrison led the Bears with 24 points, while Gordon added 16 and Steele 14.
Rejean Chabot (Saskatoon, SK, 2nd) led Saskatchewan with 23. Spagrud was 10-14 from the floor and drew three charges on the afternoon.
Both teams shot the lights out as Saskatchewan was 61.2% from the field, while Alberta was 66.7% from the field and on three-point attempts.
Game Notes:
The two teams have now split four meetings in the playoffs over the last four years.
Saskatchewan swept the Golden Bears in the Central Division Final last season. Alberta won the Division Final in three games over the Huskies, en route to winning their last Canada West Championship in 2004-05. The Bears swept the Huskies in the Central Division semifinal in 2003-04.
Saturday (Game 2): Saskatchewan 54 at Alberta 76
With files from Matt Gutsch, Alberta Sports Info
The University of Alberta Golden Bears basketball team (15-7 Canada West, 1-1 playoffs, 24-12 overall) responded from one of their worst performances of the season and posted a 76-54 victory over the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies (13-9 Canada West, 3-1 playoffs, 21-19 overall) in Game 2 of the Central Division Final Saturday afternoon in Edmonton.
A tight Golden Bears squad put up a dismal 16 points in the first half in an underwhelming 64-51 loss last night to the Huskies. With the victory today Alberta forces a third and deciding game to be played Sunday at 3:00 PM MST.
"Obviously our energy level was a lot higher today, we played with greater urgency, but I don’t know why we don’t do that more often," said Bears Head Coach Don Horwood of his team that led 36-21 at the half.
"Last night a lot of guys were uptight, and some of the guys hadn’t been in this situation at this level before. Obviously today we handled that pressure much better," added Horwood who is in his 24th year as Head Coach at Alberta.
Alex Steele (Edmonton, 4th) was 4-of-7 on three-point attempts and led the Bears with 22 points.
"Alex brought his 'A' game today. Last night we didn’t get him the ball enough, and he is a key to our team," said Horwood.
Justin VanLoo (Surrey, B.C., 3rd) had a double-double for the Bears with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while C.G. Morrison (Victoria, B.C., 2nd) added 11 and Scott Gordon (Langley, B.C., 5th) chipped in 12 points.
Two-time CIS All-Canadian Andrew Spagrud (Saskatoon, SK, 4th) led the way for the Huskies with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Rejean Chabot (Saskatoon, SK, 2nd) added 10 points for a Huskies’ squad that shot just 33% from the field compared to Alberta’s 50%.
Horwood doesn’t expect a runaway in the third and deciding game tomorrow after each has posted a double-digit victory in the series.
"I think it is going to be a battle. I know our room has a lot of respect for the Spagrud’s, Chabot’s (Kyle) and the Grant’s (Kyle, Moose Jaw, SK, 4th) so we expect it to be a heck of a game tomorrow. We know those guys have played a lot of minutes but so have our starters," added Horwood.
The Bears and Huskies are meeting for the fourth consecutive year in the playoffs.
Alberta beat Saskatchewan in the Central Division semifinal in 2003-04, stunned the Huskies in Saskatoon in an improbable Conference title run in 2004-05, before losing the Divisional final in two straight last season.
Friday (Game 1): Saskatchewan 64 at Alberta 51
With files from Matt Gutsch, Alberta Sports Info
The University of Alberta Golden Bears basketball team had a stone cold offence and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies did what they needed to do, posting a 64-51 win over the Bears Friday night in the U of A's Main Gym.
With the win Saskatchewan takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Central Division Final with game two slated to get underway Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in the Main Gym. Game three, if Alberta pulls out a win, will go Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
In a first half that could only be termed as ugly, the Huskies proved to be the lesser of the two uglies taking a 10 point lead, 26-16, into the second half. A pair of Andrew's provided the first half's only moments of excitement as the high-flying Andrew Parker of Alberta put down two dunks, while the nation's leading scorer Andrew Spagrud of Saskatchewan put away one of his own.
The Huskies locked up the Bears in the first half, holding them to just 16 points. The Huskies weren't much better, as they scored only four points in the final 8:45 of the half, taking a 26-16 lead at the break.
The Bears' offence woke up in the second half, but it was too little too late as Saskatchewan continued to flirt with upwards of an 18 point lead before eventually closing it out at 64-51.
Alberta's top scorer on the night was Alex Steele with a paltry 10 points, while Gordon chipped in with nine and Justin VanLoo and Parker added eight apiece. Gordon was also the team's top rebounder with eight, something the Bears managed to do better than the Huskies as they out-boarded Saskatchewan 33-28. Not one Alberta player was able to hit a three-ball and collectively the team shot 33% from the floor and just 73% from the free-throw line.
Chabot was the top scorer on the floor, netting a career-high 29 points while dishing out two assists and grabbing four boards and three steals. Spagrud had an off-night on offence, banking just 10 points, but did some damage on defence stealing seven balls away from Alberta and getting the double-double by securing 11 rebounds.
Notes: Brandon (Great Plains), UBC (Pacific) and Saskatchewan (Central) all qualified for the Final Four by winning their respective division championships. Victoria was chosen as the wildcard entry.
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