Carleton, UBC in CIS basketball final

Carleton's Stu Turnbull took an inbound pass the length of the court and calmly dropped a 15-footer as time expired Saturday night for a 66-65 win to propel the top-seeded Ravens to their sixth final in seven years at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball championships.

The No. 4 Western Mustangs took the lead in Ottawa with 4.9 seconds left on the clock when Matthew Curtis made two free throws.

Turnbull, who finished with 19 points, went to the line with 12 seconds remaining and could not convert, leaving the door open for Western.

Turnbull was clutch, knocking down a triple, a pull-up, and converting two free throws to give the Ravens a five-point lead with 2:30 remaining.

The Mustangs pulled to within two points on a three-pointer by Alex Brzozowicz, and then drew a fifth foul on Aaron Doornekamp with under a minute to play.

But in typical Ravens fashion someone else stepped up as fourth-year forward Kevin McCleery dropped a jump-hook in the lane to give Carleton a three-point advantage.

Doornekamp, an all-Canadian, posted 16 points as the Ravens led by five entering the fourth quarter.

Western played an inspired opening quarter, beating the Ravens to loose balls and feeding their top players in the paint for easy baskets.

Carleton struggled from the field shooting a dismal 27 per cent on 3-of-11 shooting and trailed by six after 10 minutes.

The Ravens fought back and outscored Western 15-9 to pull even at halftime, 28-28.

They went toe-to-toe in the third quarter, executing on the offensive end and playing tough man-to-man defence.

These two teams had met twice previously with Carleton winning each time.

Elsewhere, seventh-seeded Concordia downed No. 6 Dalhousie 72-61, No. 5 Ottawa handled No. 8 St. Francis Xavier 85-63 and No. 3 UBC edged No. 2 Calgary 79-74.

Concordia 72, Dalhousie 61

The Dalhousie Tigers had no answer for the Concordia Stingers.

After falling to the second-seeded Calgary Dinosaurs in Friday's quarter-final, the  Stingers bounced back to earn a spot in Sunday's consolation final.

Concordia played tight defence holding the Tigers to 10 points in the first quarter and building an eight-point lead.

Dalhousie battled back, led by third-year point guard Simon Farine, who pushed the tempo and found ways to drive the basket. The Tigers trimmed the Concordia lead to 13 at halftime.

Farine topped all scorers with 30 points, while Decee Krah led Concordia with 16 points.

Ottawa 85, St. Francis Xavier 63

Fifth-year all-star Dax Dessureault was a force in the middle leading the Gee-Gees to a convincing win.

With the win, the Gee-Gees advanced to Sunday's consolation final against the Concordia Stingers.

Twenty-four hours after a dismal performance against the Western Mustangs, Ottawa used a stifling defence and a balanced offensive attack to take control of the game early, and led by six after the opening 10 minutes.

Shooting 55 per cent from the floor in the second quarter helped Ottawa extend its lead to 15 at the half.

In third quarter, CIS all-star Christian Upshaw was a one-man wrecking crew as he closed the gap to nine points and finished with 22.

Rookie Warren Ward was instrumental in the Gee-Gees attack with 22, while Josh Gibson-Bascombe chipped in with 15.

Dessureault was unstoppable with a game-high 24 points on 11-15 shooting, and collected 11 rebounds.

UBC 79, Calgary 74

The popular belief was if the Thunderbirds could get out of the first round, they would be a force this weekend.

After losing in Round 1 in their previous five appearances since 2003, the Thunderbirds' luck finally changed as they will play for the title on Sunday against top-seed Carleton.

In a rematch of this year's Canada West final, both teams certainly lived up to the hype. There was no shortage of intensity from Calgary and UBC as they battled back and forth like two prized heavyweight fighters.

The Thunderbirds used superior ball movement to create open looks for their sharpshooters.

Fifth-year all-star Chris Dyck was lights-out, dropping eight points in the opening 10 minutes and had 17 in the first half on 7-10 shooting.

Six-foot-nine guard Tyler Fidler had 12 first-half points and 23 overall before fouling out with 1:32 remaining.

All-star Henry Bekkering added 18 points, including an above the rim alley-oop throw-down that got the fans out of their seats, as the Dinos closed to within three points at the half.

The Thunderbirds turned up the defensive intensity in the third quarter and dominated the glass at both ends of the court.

The Dinos were held to just eight points in the quarter as UBC extended its lead to 11 heading into the fourth.

Trailing by six, Calgary got a thunderous two-handed dunk from Ross Bekkering followed by a pull up in the lane from brother Ross to pull the Dinos to within one point with under a minute to play in regulation time.

Thunderbirds spread the floor and Dyck went to work drawing fouls. He drained six consecutive shots from the foul line in the final minute and led all scorers with 34 points.