CCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM PREVIEWS

OSHAWA, Ont. - The 2011 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) men’s basketball national championship, hosted for the first time by Durham College, will take place from March 17-19 at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre in Oshawa, Ont.

Championship website: www.ccaamensbasketball2011.ca

University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) enters the championship as the defending champions and No. 4 seed. The Northern Timberwolves will be looking to be the first team to win back-to-back titles since Langara College did in ’98 & ’99, but the squad from Prince George, B.C. will be up against seven of the top teams in the country who will be looking to knock out the defending champs.

Joining the Northern Timberwolves in the championship field includes the No. 1 ranked Vancouver Island Mariners (BCCAA champs), No. 2 NAIT Ooks (ACAC champs), No. 3 Humber Hawks (OCAA champs), No. 5 Lethbridge Kodiaks (wildcard), No. 6 MSVU Mystics (ACAA champs), No. 7 Vanier Cheetahs (RSEQ Champions) and the No. 8 Durham Lords (host).

Vancouver Island University Mariners (Nanaimo, B.C.) - #1 Seed
# of Titles: 1 (‘94)
Last Appearance: 2005
Enrolment: 8,500
Head Coach: Tony Bryce
Regular season record: 17-1 (1st BCCAA)
Playoff finish: BCCAA champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Mar. 1): No. 1
Scoring Leader: Andre Kaban (21.7 ppg)
Spotlight Player: Andre Kaban - BCCAA Scoring Champion (21.7 ppg)/BCCAA Championship MVP/Fifth Year Senior/2010 CCAA All-Canadian
Team Highlight: The Mariners only loss in BCCAA action this year was a two-point decision against UNBC on Nov. 19, 2010

Northern Alberta IT Ooks (Edmonton, Alta.) - #2 Seed
# of Titles: 2 (‘89, ‘03)
Last Appearance: 2010
Enrolment: 10,000
Head Coach: Don Phillips
Regular season record: 18-2 (1st ACAC North)
Playoff finish: ACAC champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Mar. 1): No. 5
Scoring Leader: Bol Kong (17.5 ppg)
Spotlight Player: Bol Kong – Returned to Canada after spending the 2009-10 season with the Gonzaga Bulldogs/averaged 17.5 ppg in 2010-11/6’8 guard/won CCAA gold with Douglas College in 2008 (championship all-star)
Team Highlight: NAIT has won back-to-back ACAC titles. The Ooks defeated Lethbridge 93-66 in the 2011 ACAC championship finals.

Humber College Hawks (Toronto, Ont.) - #3 Seed
# of Titles: 5 (‘91, ‘92, ‘93, ‘95, ‘01)
Last Appearance: 2010
Enrolment: 21,000
Head Coach: Shawn Collins
Regular season record: 17-1 (1st OCAA West)
Playoff finish: OCAA champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Mar. 1): No. 4
Scoring Leader: Michael Acheampong (14.5 ppg)
Spotlight Player: Michael Acheampong – Team leader in scoring (14.5 ppg) and rebounds (103)/OCAA Championship MVP
Team Highlight: Humber has won three straight OCAA titles. The Hawks defeated Sheridan 66-59 in the 2011 conference championship. The Hawks won the CCAA bronze medal in 2010.

University of Northern British Columbia Northern Timberwolves (Prince George, B.C.) - #4 Seed
# of Titles: 1 (‘10)
Last Appearance: 2010
Enrolment: 4,300
Head Coach: Todd Jordan
Regular season record: 16-2 (2nd BCCAA)
Playoff finish: BCCAA Silver Medalists
Final Top 10 ranking (Mar. 1): No. 6
Scoring Leader: Inderbir Gill (21.2 ppg)
Spotlight Player: Inderbir Gill – Two-time CCAA All-Canadian (‘09/‘10)/2010 CCAA Championship MVP/averaged 21.2 ppg in 2010-11/BCCAA championship all-star
Team Highlight: UNBC defeated SAIT 96-63 in last year’s national title game. The Northern Timberwolves average 92.5 ppg during the regular season.

Lethbridge College Kodiaks (Lethbridge, Alta.) - #5 Seed
# of Titles: 0
Last Appearance: 1995
Enrolment: 4,000
Head Coach: Mike Hansen
Regular season record: 17-1 (1st ACAC South)
Playoff finish: ACAC Silver Medalists
Final Top 10 ranking (Mar. 1): No. 2
Scoring Leader: Morgan Duce (20.7 ppg)
Spotlight Player: Dominique Coward – led team in rebounds (257) and blocks (28) – averaged 18 ppg
Team Highlight: Four Kodiaks averaged double-digits in scoring during the regular season (Morgan Duce, Dom Coward, Logan Reiter and Jordan Reiter). The Kodiaks had a 17 game winning streak during the regular season.

Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics (Halifax, N.S.) - #6 Seed
# of Titles: 0
Last Appearance: 2010
Enrolment: 2,200
Head Coach: Rick Plato
Regular season record: 20-1 (1st ACAA)
Playoff finish: ACAA champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Mar. 1): No. 7
Scoring Leader: Justin Hill (14.1 ppg)
Spotlight Player: John Caulfield – Player of the game in the ACAA championship finals/fifth year senior
Team Highlight: Coach Plato recently celebrated his 500th win with MSVU. The Mystics have won six straight ACAA titles.

Vanier College Cheetahs (Ville de St. Laurent, Que.) - #7 Seed
# of Titles: 1 (‘87)
Last Appearance: 2005
Enrolment: 5,950
Head Coach: Andrew Hertzog
Regular season record: 13-3 (1st RSEQ)
Playoff finish: RSEQ champions
Final Top 10 ranking (Mar. 1): No. 14
Scoring Leader: Jerome Blake (17.4 ppg)
Spotlight Player: Jerome Blake – RSEQ championship MVP/41 points in the championship game/led team in scoring with 17.4 ppg
Team Highlight: This year marked the Cheetahs first provincial title since 2005. They defeated Sainte-Foy 8682 in the conference championship.

8 – Durham College Lords (Oshawa, Ont.) - #8 Seed
# of Titles: 1 (‘97)
Last Appearance: 1997
Enrolment: 7,500
Head Coach: Desmond Rowley
Regular season record: 15-5 (2nd OCAA East)
Playoff finish: OCAA Elite Eight
Final Top 10 ranking (Mar. 1): No. 13
Scoring Leader: Eric Smith (21.6 ppg)
Spotlight Player: Eric Smith – OCAA player of the year/led OCAA in scoring (21.6 ppg) and rebounding (10.3 rpg)
Team Highlight: The Lords defeated the No. 1 ranked team in Canada (Algonquin College) during the OCAA regular season.

CCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Belair Direct CCAA All-Canadian Banquet
Quality Hotel and Conference Centre – 7 p.m.

Thursday, March 17, 2011
Game One: NAIT (2) vs. Vanier (7) - 1 p.m.
Game Two: Humber (3) vs. MSVU (6) – 3 p.m.
Game Three: UNBC (4) vs. Lethbridge (5) – 6 p.m.
Game Four: VIU (1) vs. Durham (8) – 8 p.m.

Friday, March 18, 2011
Bronze Medal Quarterfinal #1 – 1 p.m.
Bronze Medal Quarterfinal #2 – 3 p.m.
Semi-Final #1 – 6 p.m.
Semi-Final #2 – 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 19, 2011
Bronze Medal Semi-Final #1 – 10 a.m.
Bronze Medal Semi-Final #2 – 12 p.m.
7th Place Game – 2 p.m.
Bronze Medal Game – 6 p.m.
Gold Medal Game – 8 p.m.

CCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SOCIAL MEDIA
Championship Website - www.ccaamensbasketball2011.ca
Facebook - www.facebook.com/ccaamensbasketball2011
Twitter - twitter.com/2011CCAAbball
Youtube - www.youtube.com/user/2011CCAAbball
Tickets – www.ticketmaster.ca

Source: Durham College