For the first time in nearly two decades, the Capilano Blues men’s basketball team is going to the national championships.
The Blues booked their ticket to the CCAA national championships tournament, running March 24-27 at Humber College in Toronto, by finishing second at the PacWest provincial championships held last weekend in Abbotsford. It’s the first trip to nationals for the team since 2003.
The ticket to nationals was an outstanding silver lining for the team, following their tight 81-78 loss to the Vancouver Island University Mariners in the PacWest championship game, played March 5 at Columbia Bible College.
“It feels awesome,” said first-year head coach Alex Van Samang about getting to play for a national title. “It was a lot of hard work and a lot of perseverance from this group, and they pulled through.”
The Blues came into the provincial tournament ranked No. 3 in B.C., and opened up with an impressive 109-77 win over sixth-ranked Okanagan College in their quarterfinal matchup. That win set up a massive semifinal against second-seeded Camosun College, with the winner earning a berth in the PacWest championship game as well as a ticket to nationals.
Camosun had beaten the Blues in their previous two meetings, but Capilano came through when it mattered most, scoring an 82-74 win Friday to earn their spot at nationals.
Fifth-year guard Martin Bogajev led the way with 21 points, while Tyrone Asenoguan scored 19 points with nine rebounds, and forward Sam Bailey, a North Vancouver native, earned player of the game honours, scoring 14 points with four rebounds and three blocks.
Van Samang said the Blues played one of their best defensive games of the year on their way to the big semifinal win.
“Camosun just had no answer for it,” he said. “It was stifling defence, and pushing the ball.”
The Blues allowed themselves a short celebration, but quickly turned their attention to the PacWest final against VIU, the top-ranked team in the country.
The Blues battled the mighty Mariners all game and had two attempts in the final seconds to tie it up and send it to overtime, but the shots didn’t fall. The final score wasn’t what he wanted to see, but Van Samang said his team was impressive in defeat and could have won the game if a few bounces or calls had gone their way.
“VIU is ranked No. 1 across the country, and they’re definitely playing like it, and we’re playing like it too right now,” he said, adding that Capilano was coming on strong in the game’s final minutes but just ran out of time. “They won, but give us an extra minute … holy moly.”
Capilano’s Bogajev and Brendan Bailey (no relation to Sam Bailey) were both named to the tournament all-star team following the final.
Bogajev and Brendan Bailey, both fifth-year guards, have both earned special places in PacWest lore, said Van Samang, finishing as the second- and fourth-highest scorers, respectively, in league history.
Van Samang called the long-range-bombing Bogajev “the Steph Curry of the Pacwest,” and said that Bailey brings incredible athleticism to the court as a six-foot guard.
“They’ve been bringing it for five years,” he said. “They’re small in stature, but they’ve worked on their games.”
The Blues, however, weren’t reliant on their two fifth-year stars, said Van Samang. The team played a fast and frantic style that often featured four guards and one forward on the floor, and sometimes five guards, without a traditional big man.
Asenoguan, who was a first-team PacWest all-star on the season, and CJ Campbell joined Bogajev and Brendan Bailey as the starting guards, while Sam Bailey was typically the team’s only forward in the starting lineup. Guards Marko Cosic and Michael Kelly, a St. Thomas Aquinas grad, were also big contributors, while Jacob Stanuel-Taitte played his best basketball of the year in the playoff run, said Van Samang.
The Blues also bring a ton of experience to the floor, with the two fifth-year guards joined by a number of third- and fourth-year players.
“You don’t ever have to tell guys like that to get ready for the game,” said Van Samang. "They’re ready to go. All I have to do is the scouting, and make sure they don’t get too tired on the floor.”
The Blues will now set their sights on nationals, and they’ll be going there with high expectations.
“We lost to the No. 1 seed by three,” said Van Samang. “We’re thinking we have a good shot to upset a few teams there. Our goal is to go for it. If you walk into our practice right now, there’s no fear or worry. We have the confidence to do it, and we’re going to scare some teams.”
