Coss Will Coach Blazers
Canadian Mennonite University is pleased to announce the hiring of Darcy Coss as the new head coach of the Blazers men’s basketball team.Coss, 26, was a standout athlete in Canadian Interuniversity Sports (the CIS) at the University of Manitoba from 2005 – 2008, being named MVP of the Bisons men’s basketball team in 2007.
This fall, Coss will get his first taste of coaching at the intercollegiate level in the MCAC (Manitoba Colleges Athletics Association). His previous coaching experience has taken place at Glenlawn Collegiate and most recently at Gordon Bell High School. While at U of M, Coss was also involved in developmental coaching with the Junior Bisons Basketball Program.
Posted June 23, 2009
Blazers add Harrison
Canadian Mennonite University Men’s Basketball Coach Jonathan Wolfe is pleased to announce the commitment of forward Spencer Harrison for 2009-2010. Spencer will be joining the Blazers after having played two seasons of varsity basketball at Glenlawn Collegiate under head coach Minich Nowrang.
“Spencer scores from all over the place. He is a great finisher around the basket and he can shoot the three” says Wolfe. “He works hard, has good instincts and has a great love for the game of basketball. That combined with the good coaching he has received the last couple of seasons in high school, sets him up well for having success with our Blazers program”
This past season the 6’3” forward averaged 17 points per game, 13 rebounds per game and 4 assists per game. Harrison was the Captain of the 17-6 Glenlawn Lions and was an all-star at the Wesmen Classic.
Posted May 15, 2009
Championship Final - CMU (#1) 72 Champion Baptist College, Arkansas (#7) 74
For the second straight season the Blazers battled their way to the ACCA Men’s Division II Championship game. Unlike last season, the Blazers went into the final as the higher ranked squad and looked to improve on their disappointing second place finish form last year. Standing in their way was the number 7 ranked Champion Baptist Tigers.Coach Wolfe was not fooled by the low rank as this Tigers team was filled with players that were a part of the Tigers 2007 ACCA Championship team and was pretty much the same squad that the Blazers faced last year in the Semi-Finals. The Blazers entered the game confident, prepared and feeling fresh. The Blazers got off to a good start by taking care of the ball and sahirn ghte scoring load. Steve Bernjak hit a couple of 3’s early and the Blazers held the early 24-19 lead. The Tigers battled back and looked to be gaining momentum leading into the half.
However the Blazers closed with a 7-0 run lead by freshmen DJ Levy and Matt Eisbrenner making some big plays and the half was capped off by Marc Badiou hitting a huge 3. The score at half was 37-35. The Blazers made some adjustments at half by going to a bigger line-up and took the early lead. However it wasn’t any changes on offence that were needed it was how to defend Tiger point guard and NAIA transfer James Manthe.
The Blazers did a good job in the first half of shutting him down but had no answer for 5 consecutive, incredibly difficult 3 pointers. Manthe’s antics prevented the Blazers from building any type of lead. The Blazers kept battling and the bigger line-up paid off with the Blazers controlling the boards but the shots just weren’t dropping. Although seemingly running out of gas, the Tigers maintained a slim lead heading into the final minutes.
The Blazers had their chances but missed countless open shots throughout the half. With two minutes to go, the Blazers seemed defeated and were trailing by 6…cue Captain Alex Leaver. Plaqued by foul trouble and playing a season low in minutes, Leaver fired up his teammates in a time-out, and the Blazers adopted the mantra “Refuse to Loose”. With the crowd of over 500 chanting U.S.A., U.S.A., out of the time-out, Leaver forced a steal and the Blazers were able to score a quick basket. On the next possession, Leaver drew a charge and the Blazers were able to score again.
After trading misses, the Blazers down by 2 with 12 seconds to go, put the Tigers best free-throw shooter on the line for a 1 and 1 bonus shot. He missed the first, Leaver secured the rebound dribbled the length of the floor, drew the defense and passed to point guard Jeff Okrainec. Okrainec pump faked and drove right into the open key for a seemingly open lay-up, however it wasn’t meant to be as the ball rattled out at the Buzzer. 74-72 for Champion Baptist.
Leading the Blazers:
Steve Bernjak – 11 points, 9 rebounds
Nick Miller – 12 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks
Lawrence Miclash - 12 points, 3 rebounds (All-Tournament Team)
DJ Levy – 9 points, 7 rebounds
Paul Muns – 11 points, 4 rebounds (All-Tournament Team)
A heart-breaking defeat indeed, but Coach Jonathan Wolfe greatly admired the effort of his team. In four ACCA tournament appearances the Blazers have finished 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, and 2nd. Although the elusive ACCA Championship is missing, it has been an incredible run for the CMU basketball program. Coach Wolfe is filled with optimism for next season with as many as 10 players returning. CMU finishes 2008-2009 with a 13-10 record and a second straight ACCA Finalist Finish.
Date: March 7, 2009
Championship Semi-Final - CMU (#1) 95 Crossroads College, Minnesota (#5) 81
The Blazers faced off against the Crossroads College Knights from Minnesota Friday evening at Bethany High School. The Knights had a decided size advantage and came out with a daunting 3-2 zone. The Blazers were up the challenge and executed their zone offense throughout the first half and hit some big shots during key possessions and worked their way to a 41-33 half-time lead. During the second half, the Blazers buckled down and played great defence on the key players of the Knights. The Blazers traded buckets until about 5 minutes left when Crossroads started to foul. Alex Leaver stepped up and hit 16/20 free-throws and the Knights were never able to close the gap as the Blazers battled back into the ACCA Championship final with the 95-81 win. Although the Knights were bigger at every position on the floor, the Blazers held their own and only lost the rebound battle by 4. Key to the win was the Blazers shooting 25/34 from the charity stripe.Leading the Blazers:
Alex Leaver – 23 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
Nick Miller – 17 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals
Paul Muns – 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals
Lawrence Miclash – 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
Steve Bernjak – 9 points, 10 rebounds
Date: March 6, 2009
Championship Quarter Final - CMU (#1) 104 Providence College (#8) 64
The day began with a trip to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. The experience was amazing and really served to put into perspective that there is so much more to the tournament experience than just basketball. The CMU Blazers opened the tournament with a quarter-final match-up vs. Provincial rival Providence College Freeman at Southwestern Christian University. CMU continued their season long dominance of the Freeman with a crushing 104-65 victory. The Blazers were set on proving that their #1 rank was no fluke and shot their way to a semi-final appearance. The Blazers shot a scorching 48% from the 3pt line and 49% from the floor overall.Leading the Blazers:
Lawrence Miclash – 20 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals,
Paul Muns – 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4/6 3pt
Steve Bernjak – 15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
Date: March 5, 2009
Oklahoma Tournament Summary - Championship Banquet
The 2009 ACCA Championships kicked off in Bethany with the annual Championship Banquet. TheACCA Men’s Division II #1 ranked CMU Blazers were honored with the number of the awards that they received. Award winners:Nick Miller – 1st Team All-American, Academic All-American (GPA of 3.4 or higher)
Paul Muns – 2nd Team All-American, Academic All-American
Lawrence Miclash – All-American Honorable Mention
Marc Badiou – Academic All-American
Alex Leaver – Academic All-American
Coach Jonathan Wolfe – Coach of the Year
March 5 – Championship Quarter Final
CMU (#1) 104 Providence College (#8) 64
The day began with a trip to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. The experience was amazing and really served to put into perspective that there is so much more to the tournament experience than just basketball. The CMU Blazers opened the tournament with a quarter-final match-up vs. Provincial rival Providence College Freeman at Southwestern Christian University. CMU continued their season long dominance of the Freeman with a crushing 104-65 victory. The Blazers were set on proving that their #1 rank was no fluke and shot their way to a semi-final appearance. The Blazers shot a scorching 48% from the 3pt line and 49% from the floor overall.
Leading the Blazers:
Lawrence Miclash – 20 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals,
Paul Muns – 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4/6 3pt
Steve Bernjak – 15 points, 8 reb
Date: March 4, 2009
CMU 67 Red River College 93
The third and most highly anticipated match-up of these two division foes lived up to its hype…for a half. Faced with three starters on the bench and over a combined 30 points per game (DJ Levy, Paul Muns, Jeff Okrainec) wearing their Sunday best was not going to help tonight. CMU started strong and found ways to score early and often and battled to a 43-43 half-time score. The Blazers have built up incredible depth this season but were unable to match the intensity, strength, and effort of the Rebels during the second half. Lead by the hot shooting of Freshman Kurtis Sansregret to the tune of 36 points including 8 3 pointers the Blazers faded late and never really had a chance. Next up for the 8-8 Blazers are match ups with Providence and Booth before MCAC finals at the end of the month.Nick Miller – 21 points,7 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks, 2 assists
Dave Isbister – 10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Steve Bernjak – 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block
Date: February 6th, 2009
Alumni Weekend
What a fun weekend for everyone involved. Over 20 Blazer Alumni came out and participated in a weekend of reminiscing, catching-up, and even some basketball playing. Thank you to all alumni who were able to make it out this year and we hope to have your continued support as we grow the tournament for next season. A big thank you to all volunteers and staff that made the event so great.
Friday, January 30
6:00pm Old Guys 97 vs. Run and Gunners 117 (MVP - Evan Keller – 34pts)
7:30pm Big FUNdamentals 89 vs CMU Blazers 102 (MVP - Kevin Gooch – 30 pts)
Saturday, January 31
11:30am Old Guys 98 vs. FUNDamentals 100 (OT) (MVP – Jeremy Zehr -38pts)
1:00pm Run and Gunners 83 vs. CMU Blazers 95 (MVP – Cole Borland – 18 pts)
Champs – CMU Blazers 2nd – Run and Gunners 3rd – FUNdamentals
MVP of the Tournament – Danny Atwell – 43 points
All-Star Team – Carl Enns – 42 points, Evan Keller – 57 points, Jeremy Zehr – 49 points, Kevin Gooch – 43 points
Date: January 30th & 31st, 2009
CMU 78 Red River College 89
CMU faced the daunting task of playing Red River College the night after a tough battle vs. MSUB, however the Blazers were up for the challenge. As always it was the high powered run and gun vs. the tenacious half-court defense and size of Red River. CMU battled strong throughout the game but was plagued by some untimely turnovers and missed transition opportunities. The Blazers found some success from a new look high post offence but it was too little too late against the Rebels on this night.
DJ Levy – 18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals
Nick Miller – 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Alex Leaver – 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Date: January 16th, 2009
CMU 71 Minot State University at Bottineau 85
The Blazers and Lumberjacks met for the second time this season with the Blazers looking to avenge a season opening loss down in Bottineau. Much to the dismay of Coach Jon Wolfe, the Blazers came out and fired up bricks to the tune of 18 points to find themselves down 43-18. Eerily similar to the game in Bottineau the Blazers started the second half looking like a different team and narrowed the gap to 9 points in 4th quarter. But that was as close as they would get tonight. As frustrating as it was to lose both games this season to Bottineau, the Blazers really showed that if they can put together 40 minutes of consistent ball they will be able to play with anyone. CMU now sports an 8-6 record and debuted in the first ACCA National rankings with a #7 rank.
Steve Bernjak – 10 points, 16 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block
Alex Leaver – 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Nick Miller- 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
Date: January 15th, 2009
CMU 88 Providence College 54
Hot shooting and stellar defense led to another blow-out victory over rival Providence College in front of a loud and supportive home crowd to kick-off the second semester. CMU extended its six season winning streak vs. Providence College . The last Providence College win vs. CMU was on Feb.12, 2003!Alex Leaver – 27 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals
Lawrence Miclash- 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks
Steve “Soup” Cameron – 5 points, 5 assists
Date: January 6th, 2009
BLAZERS WIN ON BERJAK’S 20 POINT OUTPUT
Canadian Mennonite University 104 Oak Hills Christian College 58The Oak Hills Wolfpack from Bemidji rolled into the Loewen Athletic Centre on Friday night to take on the Blazers – the first of three MCAC men’s basketball matches that the visitors from Minnesota would play in over the weekend.
Before a festive crowd of CMU supporters, the Blazers immediately erupted from the tip-off. Blame it on travel or cold weather the visitors struggled to find their legs in the first quarter, while the Blazers showed themselves to be extremely active both on both ends of the court.
At the half, the Blazers led 60 – 24 riding third-year forward Paul Muns’ hot long-range shooting and second-year post, Steve Bernjak’s interior play offensively and defensively. Muns scored a game-high 19 first half points, while Bernjak (left) tallied 12 points.
The Wolfpack began to find their legs in the second half and did their best to give the Blazers a contest. Point-guard, Seth Bjornrud scored 12 second-half points including 3 baskets from behind the arch for Oak Hills, as he contributed to the Wolfpack’s 33 second-half points. Forward, Anthony Dahl also contributed 12 second half points.
The Blazers will enter the Christmas break on a winning note and prepare to host Providence College on Tuesday, January 6th in exhibition play.
Date: December 12, 2008
Levy's Leathers, Performance Healthware Sign Up As Sponsors
Two new sponsors have signed up to support CMU Athletics.Levy's Leathers, 190 Disraeli Freeway, has signed on to support the men's basketball team, while Performance Healthware, 14-160 Meadowood Drive, has signed up to support the women's volleyball and women's soccer teams.
“We are grateful to both businesses for supporting athletics at CMU,” says CMU Athletics Director Russell Willms. “The funds will help us pay for road trips and purchase uniforms and equipment.”
In return for their sponsorship, the two businesses will be recognized in game programs and in signage in the Loewen Athletic Centre. For information about sponsoring a CMU team, contact Russell Willms.
Please download the Athletic Sponsorship Opportunities PDF.
CMU 82 Red River College 91
Championship Final Prairie Cup Challenge - Meeting for the first time since last season’s MCAC conference championship, the Blazers and Rebels renewed their growing rivalry. Red River came out with tenacious half court defense and really focused on limited the Blazers from shooting three pointers. This forced the Blazers inside to score, where without freshman DJ Levy the Blazers front-court was under a lot of pressure. The Blazers and Rebels battled back and forth all game and were within 4 with as little as two minutes to go, but the Blazers just couldn’t close the gap all the way. On a positive note this was the first time in three Prairie Cup Challenges that Blazers finished higher than third.
Lawrence Miclash – 20 points, 6 rebounds
Jeff Okrainec – 11 point, 9 assists
Alex Leaver – 9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
Date: November 29th, 2008
CMU 104 Providence 76
Game #2 Prairie Cup Challenge - Playing for the first time since an epic one point CMU win at Providence last season, the Blazers weren’t interested in keeping things close this time around. The Blazers came out shooting well and really got up and down the floor. The depth of the Blazers was evident as Providence showed signs of tiring as the game wore on. In the end the Blazers cruised to a comfortable 28 point victory.Curtis Foster – 13 pts, 12 Rebounds
Nick Miller – 18 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals
Lawrence Miclash – 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals
Date: November 28th, 2008
CMU 94 Booth College 67
Game #1 Prairie Cup Challenge - After crushing Booth College just two weeks earlier, this Booth College team showed up and was vastly improved. Booth played tough through the first half and forced the CMU Blazers to make some adjustments on defense. Once the Blazers went into the zone defense, Booth College was unable to hit their open shots and CMU pounced on every opportunity and blew the game open in the fourth quarter.Nick Miller – 19 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
Paul Muns – 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks
Matt Eisbrenner – 5 points, 6 assists
Date: November 27th, 2008
Canadian Mennonite University 92 Booth College 30 Home
Date: November 21st, 2008CMU 64 United Tribes Technical College 86
A tired and road weary Blazers came out and battled another tough and aggressive NJCAA opponent. The Blazers continued the trend of playing a great half followed by a poor half. The Blazers battled to a 38-37 deficit in the first half. However in the second half, the Blazers had no answer for the inside dominance of United Tribes and finished with a disappointing 86-64 loss.
Paul Muns – 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Jeff Okrainec - 9 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
Date November 15, 2008
CMU 90 AFLBS 65
Looking to put together a solid 40 minute effort the Blazers took to the court versus ACCA rival, Association Free Lutheran Bible School. Despite a heroic performance from AFLBS center Travis Pfluhaupt (26 points, 24 rebounds, 8 blocks, 4 steals), the Blazers were able to control both ends for both halves and crushed a much-improved AFLBS team. 2nd year forward Nick Miller scored an incredible 23 points in the first half including the first 12 points and he hit 5 consecutive three pointers.
Nick Miller (right) – 25 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists
Steve Bernjak – 16 points, 4 rebounds
DJ Levy - 9 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Date November 14, 2008
CMU 81 Trinity Bible College 93
In front of a hostile home crowd of over 300, the Blazers silenced the fans and were able to shoot their way to a 47-39 half-time lead. In a troubling pattern that followed the last two games, CMU was unable to put together a solid 40-minute effort and were beat 93-81.Alex Leaver (right) – 20 points, 8 rebounds
Paul Muns – 17 points, 3 rebounds
Date November 13, 2008
Canadian Mennonite University 115 U of W Jr. Wesmen 80 Home
November 8th, 2008CMU 65 Minot State University at Bottineau 82
The Blazers, looking to continue their strong play, came out against a tough MSUB defence and struggled early with shooting. CMU played great defence and limited MSUB to only 39 first half points but were only able to score 19, their lowest output in over three seasons. The Blazers attack was not going to be contained all game and the Blazers struck for a 46-43 second half but that still left them to an 82-65 defeat at the hands of the home team.
Jeff Okrainec (right) – 17 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
Nick Miller – 12 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals
Date November 1, 2008
CMU 91 Bismarck State College 94
The Blazers played a great game against a very tough junior college BSC team and fell just short. The Blazers fell behind early but battled back to take a 55-46 half-time lead, led by the hot shooting of third year forward Paul Muns. The Blazers attack was limited in the second half and the BSC Mystics behind the heroics of sophomore NJCAA 1st team All-American T.J. McCauley closed the gap to a 3 point Blazer lead with 1:30 to go in the second half. After two quick baskets, the Mystics held a 1 point lead with 30 seconds to go. The Blazers held for the last shot to go for the win but were unable to score. It was a tough loss for the Blazers but a solid performance against a strong American opponent.Paul Muns (right) – 25 points, 5/11 3pt FG, 6 rebounds
Nick Miller – 7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals
Jeff Okrainec – 13 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds
Date October 31, 2008
CMU vs. Wesmen
On Thursday night at the Duckworth Centre, the Blazers continued their pre-season with an exhibition game against the University of Winnipeg Wesmen. Just like two weeks earlier, when CMU faced the University of Manitoba Bisons, the format was ten minute quarters. However, this time, no official score was kept. The emphasis for both teams was to work on their systems and to play against different faces. The Wesmen used their height and athleticism to control the majority of play in the first three quarters. In particular, second-year guard Nick Lother, provided some problems for the Blazers with his shooting and driving ability. Yet, CMU was able to ride some hot shooting from Nick Miller and Marc Badiou, who led the Blazers to a dominant fourth quarter. Overall, the evening was a success for the Blazers, and for the second time in two weeks, they showed that they can compete with local C.I.S. schools. Date Oct. 17, 2008CMU 84 Briercrest 66
The Blazers continued their pre-season by hosting an exhibition game against the Briercrest College Clippers who are members of the Alberta College Athletic Conference (ACAC). Both teams played at an incredible level of intensity for this early in their seasons. CMU applied great pressure on the Clipper guards and forced 22 steals in the game. Briercrest returned the favor by packing in the defense and forcing their share of turnovers as well.CMU struggled early with shooting and Briercrest came out on fire and stormed out to an 11-3 lead half-way through the first quarter. Briercrest rode the efforts of CMU alum, Brady Pullman as he worked his way into the paint for most of the half. CMU chipped away throughout the rest of the first half and went into half-time down 37-36. CMU came out of the locker-room and started to dominate the glass and created lots of second chances to score as they continued to struggle with their shooting.
’t see action again until October 31 at MSU-Bottineau.
Alex Leaver – 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals
Paul Muns – 17 points, 5 rebounds
Lawrence Miclash (right) – 10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals (Player of the Game)Date October 3, 2008
CMU 79 University of Manitoba 86
The Blazers started off their pre-season with a scrimmage at the Investors Group Athletic Center versus cross-town rivals, the University of Manitoba Bison and their new assistant coach Curt Warkentin (CMU Head coach 2002-2007). The scrimmage was set-up like a game with the only modification being a score reset at the end of each quarter.CMU played well on offense and shot the ball in mid-season form. U of M used their front-court athleticism to control the glass on both ends. U of M won each of the first three quarters by close scores. With each passing quarter CMU looked more comfortable and were able to run away with the fourth quarter.
The cumulative score was 86-79 for the Bison. CMU played well and gained some valuable confidence against CIS level competition. 2nd year guard Marc Badiou led CMU with 18 points and Paul Muns contributed 14 points. Both players hit four 3-point field goals. Date October 2, 2008