MUSTANGS SHUT DOWN GEE-GEES, OFF TO SEMIS AT FINAL 8
Western, which claimed its sole W.P. McGee trophy in 1991, returns to the national semi-finals for the second straight year, 12 months after an 85-75 loss to Brock in the CIS Final Four.
The OUA finalist Mustangs will be back on the court Saturday at 8 p.m. to face the winners of Friday's last first-round match-up between No. 1 Carleton and No. 8 StFX. Ottawa will face the losers on the consolation side at 2:30 p.m.
Championship website: www.universitysport.ca/e/final8/2009
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The 6 p.m. semi-final on Saturday will see No. 2 Calgary take on No. 3 UBC. The Score Television Network will broadcast both semis live.
The third opening-day duel opened up for Western after holding the Gee-Gees to just one field goal in the second quarter, and a single point in the first seven minutes of the frame.
Brad Smith (Innisfil, Ont.) scored 10 points and added six boards in the third stanza to open up a 17-point lead heading into the final quarter. Smith was named Western's player of the game finishing with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Alex Brzozowicz (Chicago, Ill.) played a dominant defensive game, limiting Josh Wright (Utica, N.Y.) to 12 points, which was good enough to lead Ottawa on the night.
Dax Dessureault (Ottawa, Ont.), Ottawa's game MVP, also had 12 points and eight boards for the Gee-Gees.
Ottawa was held to under 60 points just one other time this year, in a 73-53 loss against Western at Alumni Hall on Nov. 7 in the season opener. This was their lowest offensive output of the year.
Keenan Jeppesen (Stoney Creek, Ont.) led the Mustangs with 17 points and seven rebounds.
The Gee-Gees hit just one of 13 three-point attempts, while Western hit just a pair on 13 attempts.
Ottawa head coach Dave De Aveiro said he was disappointed with his squad's performance.
"We just picked the worst possible night to have our worst game of the season," De Aveiro said.
Ottawa shot just 27 percent from the field.
Western head coach Brad Campbell, in his third season at the helm, said he was "very pleased with our effort."
"We're ecstatic," Campbell said. "Ottawa is an outstanding team. We feel we beat a team that was a legitimate contender for the national championship."
De Aveiro credits Western for the win.
"They had a great game plan on defence and they executed it perfectly," De Aveiro said. "They focused on our two guards, and the rest of our guys couldn't make any shots."
"When you shoot like we did against that good a team, you're not going to win. The best team won tonight."
Campbell said defensive rebounding in the first half was a concern.
"We adjusted at the half and I was pleased with the improvement," Campbell said, noting he was pleased with Western's athleticism overall.
Campbell said he was also happy his squad exploited its size advantage. He also commended the versatile play of the Mustangs' defenders - especially in limiting Josh Gibson-Bascombe (Toronto, Ont.) and Wright on offence.
Western won the opening tip-off and opened the scoring. The Mustangs led 15-14 after the first quarter.
But fifth-year Gee-Gees' post Dessureault picked up two early fouls but he stayed in and scored three consecutive points to give Ottawa the 13-11 lead.
"Getting Dessureault in foul trouble early helped us," Campbell said. "It forced (Ottawa) to go to their bench earlier. And I think we're a little deeper. It was a factor."
The Ottawa risk paid off as Dessureault's play allowed the Gee-Gees to stay in the game early.
Western shot just 3-of-8 from the charity stripe in the opening quarter and shot just 50 percent from the free-throw line, going 13-of-26 for the game.
The Mustangs led 33-20 at the half, and Dessureault had two fouls, while Wright had three at the break.
Western's inside game was dominant and caused Ottawa headaches. The only flaw through the opening 20 minutes for the Mustangs was on the defensive glass, as Western was not pulling down the open boards.
The Mustangs played dominant defence and held Ottawa to scoring just one field goal in the second quarter for six points. The other four came from the line.
To highlight the effort, Dessureault, who had seven points and six rebounds, missed a dunk at the halftime buzzer.
The Gee-Gees missed all eight three-point attempts in the half, while Western had a lot of balance with Matt Curtis (Hamilton, Ont.) and Colin LaForme (Hamilton, Ont.) leading the way with eight points each.
Curtis had 13 points and a recorded three assists, although he probably should have been credited with a few more on nice fast-break executions.
Garrett Olexiuk (Burlington, Ont.) had seven points and six rebounds. He finished with eight points and eight boards, but ran into foul trouble in the fourth quarter.
STAT LEADERS
Western Ontario
Points: Keenan Jeppesen (17), Matthew Curtis (13), Bradley Smith (12)
Rebounds: Garrett Olexiuk (8), Keenan Jeppesen (7), Bradley Smith (7), Andrew Wedemire (7)
Assists: Matthew Curtis (3)
Player of the game: Bradley Smith
Ottawa
Points: Dax Dessureault (12), Josh Wright (10), Josh Gibson-Bascombe (10)
Rebounds: Dax Dessureault (8), David Labentowicz (6), Josh Gibson-Bascombe (5)
Assists: David Labentowicz (2), Josh Wright (2)
Player of the game: Dax Dessureault
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL)
Friday, March 13
Quarterfinal #1: No. 2 Calgary 76, No. 7 Concordia 67
Quarterfinal #2: No. 3 UBC 78, No. 6 Dalhousie 54
Quarterfinal #3: No. 4 Western Ontario 75, No. 5 Ottawa 48
20:00 Quarterfinal #4: No. 1 Carleton vs. No. 8 St. Francis Xavier (The Score / tape delay: 22:00)
Saturday, March 14
12:30 Consolation #1: No. 7 Concordia vs. No. 6 Dalhousie
14:30 Consolation #2: No. 5 Ottawa vs. TBD
18:00 Semifinal #1: No. 2 Calgary vs. No. 3 UBC (The Score)
20:00 Semifinal #2: No. 4 Western Ontario vs. TBD (The Score)
Sunday, March 15
13:30 5th-place consolation final
16:00 Final (The Score)
Source: CIS Communications
Photo Credit: Craig Glover