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Career-game from Unsworth helps Huskies defeat No. 6. Victoria

Brandon, Man. - Clint Unsworth set career-highs in points and rebounds, helping lead the University of Saskatchewan Huskies to an 82-77 victory over the No.6-ranked Victoria Vikes Saturday night. The victory means the Huskies finish in third place at the Canada West Final Four for the second consecutive season.

Saskatchewan (23-20) and Victoria's (26-12) seasons both came to a close Saturday night. No. 4 UBC (32-10) and No. 1 Brandon (33-5) both advance to the CIS National Championships. UBC defeated Brandon 76-73 in the conference final Saturday night.

Unsworth, a sophomore forward, scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, including 15 points and eight boards in the first half, to help spark the Huskies against the Vikes. Andrew Spagrud put up 30 points for the second straight game, and also had 10 boards, as the Huskies dominated the play in the paint.

The Huskies outscored the Vikes 50-28 inside, and had an 18-5 advantage on second chance points.

Victoria was up by as much as eight points early in the game, before the Huskies came back. A three-point play by Unsworth cut the lead to 19-17 with 10:26 to go. Saskatchewan took their first lead of the game with 6:10 remaining, as Spagrud scored off an offensive rebound to go up 27-26.

Spagrud was then on the receiving up of an alley-oop toss from Rejean Chabot, and slammed it home over two Vikes' players on the fast break to give the Huskies a five-point lead with just under five minutes to play in the period. The Huskies would take a 42-32 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Vikes made a couple of charges in the second half. A 9-0 Vikes run had cut the lead to two before Chabot's offensive rebound score put the Dogs up 60-56 with 10:14 to play. A layup by Steve Moore put the Vikes down 71-68 with just over four minutes to play. But the Huskies responded, and Kyle Grant's three-pointer from the corner gave them a 78-70 lead with 1:35 to go. Grant would hit two free throws with 1:21 on the clock, putting the Dogs up eight, as the Vikes were called for a technical foul for calling a timeout when they had none remaining.

Chabot added 18 points and seven assists for the Huskies. Grant had seven points and six assists, breaking the Huskies single-season record for assists. He finished the season with 176 assists, breaking the previous mark of 172 set by Seth Lang during the 2002-03 season.

Jacob Doerksen led the Vikes with 18 points and six rebounds. Brandon Ellis scored 13 points, but was only 2-9 from beyond the arc.

The Huskies shot 58.9% from the floor for the game, while the Vikes were 45.3%. The Huskies outrebounded the Vikes 32-27.

Friday (Semi-Final): Saskatchewan 68 vs. No. 4 UBC 76

With files from Marc Weber, UBC Sports Info

Brandon, Man. - The UBC men’s basketball team is heading back to the CIS championship tournament for the fourth time in five seasons.

Fourth-ranked UBC defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies 76-68 at the Canada West Final Four on Friday to advance to the conference championship game and book their ticket to the CIS Final Eight in Halifax, March 16-18. it is the second straight year that UBC had defeated Saskatachewan in the conference semi-final.

Casey Archibald’s three-pointer with less than four minutes remaining lifted UBC to a 64-59 lead and broke open what was a tight ballgame for most of the way. The T-Birds led 27-20 at one point in the opening half but the Huskies clawed back and even took the lead briefly in the final frame.

All-conference forward Andrew Spagrud led the way for Saskatchewan with 30 points in 40 minutes, while Kyle Grant chipped in 12. Archibald, the two-time Canada West MVP, dropped 29 for UBC and dished out seven assists. Bryson Kool added 13 points and three steals for the T-Birds.

The Thunderbirds outrebounded the Huskies 47-22 for the game. The Huskies also struggled form the free thrwo line, shooting only 8-19 while the T-Birds were 17-26.

"Casey really showed his toughness down the stretch," said head coach Kevin Hanson. "He hit some big shots for us and his leadership was just tremendous. Spagrud had a good game for them, but Casey had a heck of a game, too."

While Spagrud was able to pile up the points, he failed to record a rebound in the second half. UBC won the battle on the boards, 47-22, and played solid defence down the stretch, something that is slowly but surely becoming a hallmark of this squad.

"Spagrud got all our post guys in foul trouble so we were basically in zone defence for the last six or seven minutes," said Hanson. "We really wanted to focus on keeping him off the glass and we did a good job of that. I think we played a little tentatively on the offensive end but the guys stuck to the gameplan and our defence paid off again for us today. It held us in there."

A conference title would assure UBC of a top four seed at the CIS Final Eight. The T-Birds faced Brandon once this season, losing 87-77 on the road Jan. 12, while UBC went 2-1 against Victoria in conference play and counted a 2-0 series sweep of UVic in the Pacific Division finals.