Basketball - Men's

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McNutt Notches Another One.

Billy named BCCAA Athlete of the Year

April 15, 2008

New Westminster, BC - Douglas College athletics is proud to announce that Billy McNutt has been named the BCCAA Athlete of the Year across all sports. The Oxford, Nova Scotia  native capped a stellar year of achievements as a member of the National Championship basketball squad. The 6'8 forward was also named CCAA All-Canadian, CCAA Player of the Year and the BCCAA Player of the Month.   


Men's Basketball

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!
Douglas College men's basketball win title.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

St. Lamberts, QC - History was made tonight in St. Lambert Quebec as the Douglas College Royals mens basketball captured their first ever National Championship with a 70-62 victory over the Mount St. Vincent University Mystics.The Royals jumped out to an early 14-11 lead after the first quarter.   And an Anateen Braich layup to end the half gave Douglas a 34-27 halftime lead.  However the Atlantic Canada Champion (who themselves also had an undefeated regular season) would not go away.  

They came out firing in the second half and hit some key three point shots to close the lead to 38-37.   Douglas answered with a 7-0 run late in the third quarter, keyed by a steal and dunk from Bol Kong to open up a 10-point lead, 49-39.   The Royals started the fourth quarter up 52-43 but the veteran Mystics team continued to claw back.  They tightened up their defense and stopped the Royals on the first 8 possessions of the fourth quarter.  The Royals did not score for nearly five minutes and Mount St. Vincent tied the game at 52-52.  It went back and forth over the next three minutes until Graeme McCallum took charge, scoring 10 straight points for the Royals.  His second three pointer down the stretch with 1:35 remaining gave the Royals a 63-57 lead.   Douglas never looked back for a 70-62 victory and their first Mens Basketball National Championship in school history.For his efforts, Graeme McCallum was selected as the Tournament MVP.   


« Watch the championship video.
Courtesy of Royals Sports Media

Andrew Sturgeon and Bol Kong were selected as first team all-stars and CCAA Player of the Year Billy McNutt was selected to the second all-star team.This was the first National Championship as a coach for Head Coach Jamie Oei.   In just his third year as Head Coach at Douglas College he already has a National Championship (2008) and a Silver Medal (2007) to add to his impressive coaching credentials.














The Basketball Diaries - The Book of James (co-written by James Anderson)

Watch it live: http://www.webtele.tv/champlaincollege/ 

DAY 2: Just Two More "Dubs".
Royals advance to Nationals' semi-final.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

St. Lamberts, QC - We had a shoot around Wednesday morning which got us used to the gym, it has changed since we last visited in October. The stands were now on both sides and behind the bench and there was a huge area where a band will be playing.  Wednesday night was the All-Canadian award ceremony and it concluded with Billy McNutt, winning National Player of the Year in front of his family who came to watach the tournament from Oxford, Nova Scotia. 

 « J n' J - Jobair and Johnny say "Two more".
Photo: James Anderson

After an amazing presentation and steak dinner, we headed back to the hotel for a "player only" team meeting led by team captain, Donald 'chip, Xavier, D' Lindo.  He reminded us on what happened last year and how it felt coming back home without the banner and trophy; and I'll be the first to tell you... it was one of the most wretched feelings I have ever had to work through.



« Watch the video highlights
 Courtesy of Royals Sport Media.
 
It was our first game in over 11 days and I could feel the team's excitement at the breakfast table.  Today was "game day" and I have been waiting for this day, this game, this tournament for 365 long days.   We are playing the first game of the day which means we get to go in early and shoot some more shots and get used to the rims and darker gym.  Again this year the "no dunking" rule was in effect during warm up and for a team that has many players who can "throw down",  it was a bit frustrating.

Despite the frustration, we were able to get through our first game pretty well defeating Lakeland, 105-60. Several of the guys played well including POY, Billy McNutt. After the early victory, we had plenty of time to watch the competition. 


We stayed around to scout the game between College Montmorency and MacEwan College.  We would be playing the winner and it looked like it was going to be a good one because of the up and down tempo being played.  We all decided to leave at halftime to get some food at the hotel. Usually after a big game this important, I have would been much more excited, however because of our teams potential,  a first round win was only stepping stone on what could be an unbeaten season. (Knock on wood)

Donald and Johnny look to order the "McNutt" Combo. »
Photo: James Anderson

My time back of the hotel was filled with "James check if this is legal".  Several of our teammates are battling either the flu or a sore throat.  For Jobair, the only remedy that worked was playing time and he said he was feeling much better after the game.   We headed out to our hometown favorite restuarant  Boston Pizza for a team meal.  One problem that we are having trouble with was  getting around the city. The street names are in French! Thankfully we have our French native, Dahman Boudraa. He was responsible for getting all the directions and leading the convoy.  Unfortunately his driving crosses up the followers like Bol's 'Silky Johnson' cross over and hesitation. After getting a full tour of the city of Champlain,  we magically ended up at the school just in time for the opening ceremonies. 

We stuck around after the ceremonies to watch the amped hometown crowd Champlain play the Sheridan Bruins.  The crowd was loud from the tip off and the game was a battle with the uptempo style of Champlain and the battleground style of Sheridan. 

« Champlain's crowd bring their baskets
Photo: James Anderson  

The game went down to the wire with Champlain making a late run to bring it within 3 with a minute to go.  Unfortunately for the home crowd the Bruins pulled through and advanced to play the Mount St. Vincent Mystics.

James 'Jimmy Manning' Anderson singing off.

Facts and Stats by David Munro (Royals Sports Media Correspondent)
Douglas Sinks Lakeland
CCAA Player of the Year Billy McNutt Dominates
Game Results: Douglas 105 Lakeland 60

The #1 seeded Royals took on the 8th seeded Lakeland College Rustlers, who arrived at the CCAA Nationals by receiving one of the two National wildcard berths. The Royals jumped out early and took a 25-13 lead after one quarter, highlighted by an alley-oop dunk to CCAA Player of the Year Billy McNutt to end the first quarter. The Royals extended the lead to nearly 20 points midway through the second quarter but the relentless Rustlers from Lakeland cut the lead to 44-34 at the halftime break.

Douglas opened the second half with a thunderous dunk from Andrew Sturgeon and within a couple of minutes seemed to take the life out of the Alberta wildcard entry. Douglas was able to make use of their strong bench play (each player played at least 10 minutes) and this full court pressure wore down Lakeland. The Royals outscored them 30-14 in the third quarter to lead 74-48. Douglas cruised to a 105-62 victory.

It was a total team effort for the Royals, whose defensive pressure created many fast break layups and transition baskets. Player of the Game was Billy McNutt who dominated on both ends of the floor with 24 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals and 4 blocks in just 22 minutes. Bol Kong was high scorer with 28 points including two highlight reel jams. Andrew Sturgeon scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, despite being double teamed most of the night. And the Royals received strong play off the bench from their entire roster. Johnny Forzani went 5-for-5 from the floor and finished with 10 points, 3 steals and 2 assists. Aneetan Braich was 5-for-6 from the floor, including 2 three-pointers and finished with 12 points and 3 assists. On the game the Royals shot 59.7% (43-for-72) from the floor and outrebounded the Rustlers 40-24 on the evening.

Next up for the Royals is the Quebec Champion, Montmorency College at 6:30pm on Friday.

Day 1: Royals ready to 'hawk' gold.
Royals arrive in Hochelaga (Montreal). 

March 12, 2008

New Westminster, BC - After the success of last year's "Basketball Diaries" by Geoff Lenahan, it seems only fitting that we follow up on the men's basketball team quest for Douglas College's first National Championship. The sequel; "The Book of James" will provide the Royals fans at home an inside perspective on the second attempt to capture the elusive title. Enjoy!

« Welcome to Montreal
Stock Photo.

At 9:10am Tuesday morning (March 11th), the Douglas College Men's basketball team boarded West Jet flight 506 bound for the CCAA National Championships in Montreal, Quebec. When we boarded the plane, we heard from Florian 'little westjeter' Joseph that his brother's team (UBC-O) would be on the same flight as us, following their flight from Kelowna.  Luckily for UBC-O, the incredible good looks and humor of Douglas's team came through and enough of our differences were put aside to avoid a scene on the plane.

The flight to Montreal lasted approximately 5 hours. When we arrived, we were greeted by our excited Hostess from Champlain College. After gathering our bags and equipment we experienced a traditional "Montreal" style rush hour gridlock, as we inched through traffic, the hour long ride to our hotel gave us time to reflect and get submerged in the "Quebecois" culture. 

After getting our room assignments and dropping off our luggage, the whole team met in one of the coaches' room to get the plan for the rest of the night. The plan was simple, get some food, be in your room by midnight, and get prepared to win us some National's. 

For the eight returning Royal players, Nationals has been on our mind since this time last year and while last years team was good, this years team is better! With the addition of nine more skilled players, two of which were at last year's National Championships both playing for other teams, the Royals have more depth and experience to call on. Everything being said, we are confident that this year we will "getter-done!" 
The night was topped off by Aneetan "buck nasty" Braich shaving a mohawk on Jobair "so called beautiful" Satari.  This brought the team mohawk count up to three (Myself, Florian, Jobair) and I have a feeling a few more will be added to the list by the end of the trip.

Round one: Douglas (1) vs. Lakehead (8) @ 13:00est (10:00am our time!)
Watch all of the action live: http://www.webtele.tv/champlaincollege/