K-Men, from page 20

out a 78-65 win. The Bears were led by centre Nick Maglisceau, with 26 points and 10 re- bounds while Ted Dongelmans led the way for Laurentian with 21 points. The second consolation semi final saw McMaster knock off Concordia 93-77. Steve Maga dropped in 30 points for McMaster while Real Kitieu and Eric Zulu led Concordia with 24 and 23 points respec- tively.

The first semi fi- nal game saw the Brandon Bobcats pull yet another upset as they squeaked by the fourth ranked Western Mustangs 61-58. The game was tied 58-58 with 1.6 seconds re-

maining when Josh Masters intercepted a pass and threw up a prayer from half court that was answered as Brandon knocked off Western and were on their way to the finals. Earnest Bell had an- other strong game for Brandon, scoring 19 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. Greg Walker led the Bobcats in scoring with 21 points. West- ern was led by Micah Bordeau with 19 points and Chris Brown who had 15 points. The second semi final had the home town favorite ST. FX X-Men edge past the Lethbridge Pronghorns 80-75. The X-Men had strong games from Randy

Nohr, with 28 points, and Dennie Oliver with 15 points and 20 re- bounds. Lethbridge was led by John Tschritter with 19 points and 16 boards. The Golden Bears won the conso- lation final on Sunday, beating McMaster 68-57. Alberta was once again led by Nick Maglisceau with 29 points and 13 re- bounds while Steve Maga led the way for McMaster with 32 points. Brandon couldn’t quite pull off their third straight up- set as they were edged by St. FX 61-60 in the championship game. The X-Men went ona 10-0 run in the last 5:28 to pull off the vic- tory. St. FX guard Randy Nohr found himself in early foul trouble which caused him to have to sit out most of the game. Late in the game, Nohr came back in to score the last four points including the game winning shot with less than 30 sec- onds on the clock. The X-Men were led by Fred Perry with 21 points while Josh Masters led Brandon with 16 points. Randy Nohr was named tourna- ment MVP for St. FX. The other all stars for the tournament were Fred Perry of St. FX, Greg Walker and Ear- nest Bell of Brandon, Nick Maglisceau of Alberta and Steve Maga of McMaster.

Underdogs suffer heartbreak defeat in CIAU baskethall

By Mariianne Mays The Manitoban

HALIFAX (CUP) - The Cinderella story is over for Brandon University men's basketball team.

The Brandon Bobcats, who last saw national basketball gold in 1996, surprised everyone by earning a spot at the CIAU na- tional championship fi- nal this weekend in Halifax.

But their best wasn't quite good enough as they fell to St. Francis Xavier Uni- versity, who captured their first title since

1993.

The Bobcats, however, won respect by surprising people throughout the tourna- ment.

Pitted against first-ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears in their opening game, the eighth- ranked Bobcats con- quered the favoured team 73-57 with con- vincing confidence.

In an even more spectacular upset, Brandon beat the Uni- versity of Western Mustangs 61-58, with the winning shot being shot from mid-court at the final buzzer.

In the second half, with only 1:22 re-

~

The Bobcats celebrate their birth in the

CIAU final. The underdog team from

Brandon University lost to St. Francis | Xavier in the title game of the tournament.

maining, the score was tied at 58. With two seconds left in regula- tion play, a basket by Brandon's Jermaine Harden was ruled out because the shot clock had expired.

Two time outs later, Western's inbound of the ball un- der their own net was intercepted by Brandon's Josh Mas- ters, who sent home a desperation shot just under the wire.

The mesh swished, the buzzer sounded and the Bob- cats were headed to the final.

And what a thriller it was.

Continuing their impressive play, Brandon faced off against third-seeds Atlantic Conference Champs St. Francis Xavier.

Again, the two teams traded leads in aclose match. At half- time the X-Men were up slightly 35-33.

By midway

through the second half, however, Brandon had gained the edge and stretched the lead by as much as seven-points with just over five minutes left to play.

But then, a good shot by St. X's All- Canadian Fred Perry chisled the Bobcat's lead to 5 with 2:11 left on the clock. This was followed by an offen- sive foul by Brandon that gave the X-Men another attempt to play catch-up.

St. Francis made good on their momen- tum and thrilled the capacity-crowd with last minute dramatics by taking a 61-60 lead with 18.6 seconds left to play.

Brandon called their final time out. With 15.1 seconds to go, Ernest Bell the Bobcats’ All-Canadian star, set up for the final shot and missed.

The fairy-tale fin- ish was not to be.