Vancouver, BC - The scenery will be familiar, but the stage is much larger this weekend for the UBC Thunderbirds, as they remain on home court seeking a conference title and a berth in the CIS Final Eight against two divisional foes in Victoria and Fraser Valley, as well as Winnipeg from the Prairie Division, at the Canada West Final Four.
For more information on the Final Four,
click here.
UBC will first square off against Fraser Valley in the conference semifinals, while Victoria takes on Winnipeg, with the winners moving on to the Canada West title game and the CIS tournament.
No. 4 UBC Thunderbirds (18-4 regular season, 2-1 playoffs)
Last Week: W 79-67, L 81-68, W 96-67 vs Alberta
Although they finished the regular season with the best record in the conference and home court advantage on their path to nationals, the 'Birds were in a tricky spot heading into their crossover playoff series, fresh off back-to-back losses for the only time this season and up against an Alberta team that always plays them tough.
UBC split the first two games with Alberta before they showed their true form in game three, winning the rebounding battle by a nearly two-to-one ratio and owning the paint with their versatile big men,
Brylle Kamen and
David Wagner. That duo combined for 30 points and 22 rebounds in game three while shooting 11-13 from the field. When they are playing well, they are probably the best front court combo in the conference, combining for about 23 points and 16 rebounds per game this season even though they both started the year slow, with Wagner backing up
Jared Casey before his injury, and Kamen struggling through some health issues of his own.
The real secret to UBC's success, however, is the fact that they don't ever rely on any one player to put up numbers. Just about everyone on the roster has shown the capability to be highly productive, with four players averaging at least 11 points. Senior wingman
Doug Plumb continues to quietly but consistently lead the group in several categories, averaging 15 points, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals while getting to the free throw line seemingly at will. His 5.7 free throw attempts per game led all Canada West players who played a full season.
No. 8 Victoria Vikes (16-6 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)
Last Week: W 76-70, W 86-70 vs Manitoba
The Vikes spent most of the season flying under the national radar, briefly appearing at No. 10 in the rankings early on before going unranked through the rest of the campaign thanks to a shaky 3-5 stretch bookending the holiday break. But after sweeping UBC to end the regular season, and Manitoba to start the playoffs, the Vikes are finally getting some recognition for a very solid year, up to No. 8 in the CIS rankings and getting the second seed for the conference Final Four.
Victoria dominated Manitoba on the glass, getting double-doubles from Terrell Evans and Chris McLaughlin on their way to the sweep. They also held Manitoba under 40 per cent shooting in both games, improving on their regular season .416 opponent field goal percentage.
They like to play slow, averaging only about 74 points and holding opponents to a conference-low 68.8 points per game this season. They will be looking to work the ball down low to Evans and McLaughlin offensively, letting them go to work in the post and pound the boards for second-chance points. Evans is the team's leading scorer, averaging 16.8 points per game, while McLaughlin contributes 10.9. They combine for more than six offensive boards per game.
The Vikes are not completely without a perimeter threat though. Michael Acheampong is second on the team with 12.8 points per game, shooting 36 per cent from three-point range this year. Brandon Dunlop is not a primary scorer, but he can light it up from long range, leading the conference with a .519 three-point percentage. He went off for 24 points in their regular season finale win over UBC.
Fraser Valley Cascades (10-12 regular season, 2-1 playoffs)
Last Week: W 83-64, L 78-58, W 92-76 at Saskatchewan.
The Cascades are the only Final Four team to win their crossover series on the road last week, taking down the Prairie Division first-place finishers from Saskatchewan in impressive fashion. A 6-7 three-point shooting night and 26 points from Sam Freeman led them to a win in game one, and after the offense sputtered to a 58-point output in game two, they bounced back amazingly well to shoot 55 per cent as a team in game three to take the series. Six Cascades scored in double digits in game three.
That is a very encouraging sign for Cascades supporters, since the team sometimes relies a little too heavily on its star senior Freeman for offence. He finished second in Canada West with 21.2 points per game and is perhaps the most dangerous three-point shooter in the conference given the accuracy he maintains with the high volume of shooting he does, but the Cascades bench has found itself overmatched at times against tougher opponents. At this stage of the season, depth is no longer a luxury, but a requirement for any team looking to advance, so the Cascades will need more big games from the likes of Manjodh Dulay, who averaged less than four points per game this season but is coming off back-to-back double digit scoring games off the bench.
And if all else fails, they can always try to conjure up torrential downpour of threes to get them back into games. The Cascades have always been a streaky shooting group in recent years, and a 16-35 night from behind the arc back in November made them one of only three teams to beat UBC in War Memorial Gym this season. With five players shooting over 40 per cent from three this year, they are never really out of a game.
Winnipeg Wesmen (14-8 regular season, 2-1 playoffs)
Last Week: L 86-78, W 77-68, W 101-76 vs Trinity Western
After dropping game one of their playoff series at home, the Wesmen regrouped and put together two of their best offensive games of the season, shooting 53 per cent in game two and a whopping 65 per cent in game three, which saw all five starters and the sixth man score in double digits, and 13 assists from Andrew Cunningham.
Cunningham led the conference easily with 7.8 assists per game in the regular season, and he can score the ball as well, chipping in just over 11 points per game. But like the Vikes, the Wesmen tend to work from the inside out, looking for offence from their big men under the basket. Steven Wesley leads the team with 16 points per game, shooting an impressive 58 per cent from the floor. Benny Iko is next with 12.8 points per game, but he does have some range in his game too, hitting on almost 39 per cent of his threes this season, where he takes more than a third of his shots.
Iko and Wesley combine for about 15 rebounds per game, but after that pair, the Wesmen struggle to compete on the boards. They rank third-last in the conference in rebounding margin at -5.0, which will put them at a big disadvantage this weekend as they go up against the two best rebounding teams in Canada West in UBC and Victoria. To counter that, they will need to keep up their good work in the turnover battle, where they ranked third in the conference this year at +2.27.
All games will be webcast live and can be seen at
canadawest.tv.
