Posted: Mar 01, 2017

Men's Basketball Championship Preview

by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips

Introduced to the sport of basketball in Grade 2, Cameron Vilcsak said his hoops hero was, "Like every other short Canadian point guard at that time, I liked Steve Nash (two-time National Basketball Association MVP) growing up. But to be honest, it was more about playing basketball with my friends on the playground."

A graduate of St. Albert Catholic High School, where he played basketball and volleyball, making the Edmonton Journal High School Boys Basketball All Star team in Grade 12, Vilcsak said his earliest memories of basketball are, "playing on the Fisher-Price Little Tikes basketball hoop we had at our house."

He continues, "I probably couldn't jump to dunk back then but I was shooting on it for sure. It's gone now, sacrificed to a garage sale."

Now enrolled at University of Alberta Augustana in Environmental Science, focused on a Math/Physics degree, Vilcsak, a point guard with the Vikings men's basketball team, said his focus on the game has changed.

Cameron Vilcsak
Photo by Amielle Christopherson of Camrose Canadian

In high school I had a goal of playing post-secondary basketball, so I pushed for that," said Vilcsak, 21. "Moving away from home to attend (U. of A. - Augustana in Camrose, Alberta), I discovered new hobbies and made new friendships.

"It remained a healthy outlet to use some of my competitiveness. "

In his fourth and final ACAC campaign, this will be the first time that Vilcsak has seen his team qualify for post-season competition.

"It has been a pretty solid way to go out in my final year," said Vilcsak, who at 5-foot-9, averaged a team high 13.5 points per game during the regular season. "I think the difference this year, is that everybody had a chance to grow together last year (2015-2016) and we were able to come together more by working a lot during the summer."

Facing the home team Medicine Hat Rattlers in their opening match Thursday at the 2016-2017 ACAC Men's Basketball Championships, Vilcsak concluded: "Our game plan doesn't change much to who we are playing. We go to our strength and we are a pretty strong shooting team."'

Below are thumbnail sketches of the opening games today.

Thursday March 1, 2017

Game 1 1:00 p.m.

Lakeland College Rustlers vs SAIT Trojans

Lakeland College Rustlers 15 wins 9 losses PPG 73.4 PPG Opponents 68.0
ACAC Championships: 0
PPG: Jonathan Sappleton 17.1
RPG: Kyrin Cybenko 9.3
APG: Terrell Murdaugh 3.6

Coach Sheray Thomas: "Our strength is our transition offense. We will have to stop the ball and get back to prevent easy baskets. We have a few players banged up and our key players are Tae Holiday, Terrell Murdaugh and John Sappleton. They all can do it at both ends and are a big part of the team."

SAIT Trojans 15 wins 6 losses PPG 86.6 PPG Opponents 82.6
ACAC Championships: 12
PPG: John Smith 20.8
RPG: Murphy Beya 8.0
APG: John Smith 4.2

Coach Marty Birky: "We are very deep and dynamic team with ability to win in different ways. Lakeland is a very dangerous team, they are all quick and athletic. We plan to match their energy. We are missing Tyrell Lindgren, he is a versatile player who gave us a spark off the bench. Our team consists of more than one or two players and we rely on everyone to make an impact."

Game 2 3:00 p.m.

Red Deer College Kings vs. Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder

Red Deer College Kings 15 wins 6 losses PPG 90.3 Opponents PPG 80.6
ACAC Championships: 1
PPG: Ian Tevis 23.6
RPG: Matt Matear 10.1
APG: Kai Greene 4.6

Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder 20 wins 4 losses PPG 79.1 Opponents PPG 70.8
ACAC Championships: 0
PPG: Ryan McLaren 18.8
RPG: Ronald Bacon Jr 7.3
APG: Brett Jakubec 3.5

Coach Reagan Wood: "The strength of our team this year has been just that - "Team". Our willingness to play together and sacrifice as needed, has allowed us to be successful and endure in challenging situations. Red Deer is just plain good. They score, they rebound, they push the pace and they can attack you from anywhere. How we slow them down is with a complete 40-minute effort, any lull will be costly. We have to be sharp and play great team basketball with everyone doing their job on every possession.

We head into playoffs with the same rosters we've had all second semester. After some changes at the break, we adjusted and have settled into roles that work well for us. At this time of the year everyone on every team is sore, tired and a little banged up but the excitement of playoff basketball makes those things a non-factor.

"(Key players) Ryan McLaren - efficient scoring with good shooting range. He finds ways to be in good position and makes most of it. Mike Malin - stretches the floor from the 4/5 position as well as providing some inside scoring. Brett Jakubec - jack of all trades at both ends of the floor. Brett defends well, can score as well as leading us in assists."

Game 3 6 p.m.

Lethbridge College Kodiaks vs NAIT Ooks

Lethbridge College Kodiaks 15 wins 6 losses 84.1 PPG Opponents PPG 75.3
ACAC Championships: 10
PPG: Chris Maughan 15.4
RPG: Chris Maughan 7.9
APG: Cory Richardson 6.3

NAIT Ooks 17 wins 7 looses 79.0 PPG 74.7 Opponents PPG 74.7
ACAC Championships: 7
PPG: Jackson Jacob 29.0
RPG: Jordan Brown 9.7
APG: Wyatt Beaver 3.6

Coach Mike Connolly" "Our strength is that we are a team. Lethbridge can pass, dribble and shoot well. We must defend them. We don't have key players. We have 14 players in our program and all are important."

Game 4 8 p.m.

University of Alberta Augustana Vikings vs Medicine Hat College Rattlers

University of Alberta Augustana Vikings 13 wins 11 losses 77. PPG Opponents PPG 79.5
ACAC Championships: 0
PPG: Cameron Vilcsak 13.5
RPG: Michael Stasuik 6.4
APG: Darian Smigorowsky 2.1

Medicine Hat College Rattlers 18 wins 3 losses 89.7 PPG Opponents PPG 69.7
ACAC Championships: 0
PPG: Guilherme Fuck 16.7
RPG: Jordan Wynter 7.9
APG: Jordan Wynter 4.9