OSHAWA, Ont. – The third-seeded Humber Hawks were shocked by Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics 65-56 at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championship Thursday afternoon.

Remarkably, the Mystics trailed 13-1 to start the game and yet rebounded against the OCAA champions who, despite cranking up the intensity down the stretch, missed way too many close-in shots at crunch time.

MSVU, the 6th seed, moves on to Friday’s semifinals against No. 7-seeded Vanier, another upset winner over second-seeded Northern Alberta (NAIT) earlier in the day.

Mystics coach Rick Plato chalked the win up to his team’s “defensive intensity. We did a really good job on the boards.”

MSVU, in their sixth straight trip to the nationals, will have to be better at the foul line, though, to beat “a really good Vanier team,” said Plato.

Key to the win was Justin Hill`s big jumper with two minutes left in the game that made it 61-50 – too high a hill for Humber to climb.

Luke Reynolds, player of the game for the winners, scored 17 as Humber missed many inside at the other end. The 6-7 pivot also pulled down 10 rebounds.

Humber coaches were shaking their heads in the hallway after the game, lamenting their inability to “put a body on” the opposing big man.

It seemed to take the Halifax university a while to find their legs early on and adjust to the higher tempo of the Ontario school, who represent the highly competitive Ontario Colleges Athletic Association. But once they did, the MSVU Mystics’ results were amazing, especially a talented corps of guards.

“I’m really proud of the way we played. We know that any team that wins the Ontario championships is really good,” Plato said.

They rebounded to pull within 13-9. Then Hill hit a three and Karl Frederick completed a fast-break layup to give the champions of the Atlantic Colleges Athletic Association a 14-13 lead with a couple of minutes left in the first quarter.

Plato praised his players’ composure when down by so much at the start.

“We didn’t panic. We knew in the early going there would be some nerves,” he said, praising their veteran leaders’ composure.

And by the time the dust had lifted, Todd Williams, who scored 14, capped an amazing MSVU turnaround by taking a 32-20 lead on Williams foul shot. The quickness of the Halifax schools’ guards showed through in the opening half.

Things finished 33-24 in favour of MSVU at halftime, Humber’s Mark Perrin hitting a driving layup as time ran out.

The tempo and intensity quickened noticeably in the fourth quarter. A Mark Perrin steal and dunk to tie things at 49-49 was followed by an MSVU backcourt violation with 7:50 left in the game.

With 4:38 left, Hill of the Mystics hit a jumper to make it 56-50 and drew an offensive foul at the other end. Then Reynolds hit a shot inside for an eight-point lead. Humber missed a couple of gimmes inside, and remained well back as coach Shawn Collins called a timeout with 3:39 remaining. Mike Dvorak`s three-point attempt hit air coming out of the break.

Two hoops down low by Hawks’ Raymond Munier, who finished with 11, cut the difference to 35-28 in the third quarter.

Then Munier hit another hoop with 5:05 to play in the third quarter, leaving Humber just five points down. A Mystics’ air ball and turnover was followed by point guard Mike Dvorak’s up-and-under move for a basket, and the Hawks trailed by just one – 41-40. Dvorak added a dagger from 3-point-range to put Humber ahead 43-42 with 1:50 left in the third, but they trailed 44-43 heading into the fourth quarter.

Humber’s Alex LeBlanc scored five points in the first quarter. Perrin and Michael Acheampong netted 12 and 10 points respectively for Humber in the loss.

With 4:44 left in the first half, Humber went to a full-court press, but backed out of it when MSVU -- a smaller institution of 2,200 enrollment compared to 21,000 at Humber -- handled the pressure well. And with 2:20 left, Williams nailed a three-pointer for a 29-20 MSVU lead.

Ron Gabay completed a three–point play on a fast break, throwing up a circus shot off the glass while being fouled. That gave Humber an 18-16 lead in the first quarter.

Host Durham College Lords play no.1-seeded Vancouver Island Mariners tonight at 8 p.m.

Humber has won three straight OCAA titles and the Hawks won the CCAA bronze medal in 2010.

MSVU’s vocal coach Plato recently celebrated his 500th win with MSVU.

The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association bronze and gold medal basketball games are at 6 and 8 p.m. respectively on Saturday night at Durham.

SDR Players of the Game
MSVU - Luke Reynolds
Humber – Raymond Munier

CCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Game One: Vanier (7) defeated NAIT (2) 75-73
Game Two: MSVU (6) defeated Humber (3) 65-56
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 NAIT vs. Humber – 1 p.m.
Bronze Medal Quarterfinal – 3 p.m.
Semi-Final #1 – Vanier vs. MSVU - 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.

Official tournament website, and watch games live at: www.ccaamensbasketball2011.ca

Source: Durham College