Brent Mutis, CapU Sport Information & Compliance Officer

With a new head coach and some last-minute roster additions, the Blues men’s basketball team was something of a question mark heading into the 2021-22 PACWEST season.

Alex Van Samang took the reins of the program in May of 2021 and set about establishing a roster and system to complement proven returning talents like CJ Campbell, Sam Bailey and Martin Bogajev. 

Though not a new recruit, combo guard Brenden Bailey was also something of a new addition to the Blues roster as he did not play in 2019-20 and missed the 2020-21 season owing to the pandemic. Bailey had played three CapU seasons prior to 2019 and entered the season among the program’s top all-time scorers.

Early returns were encouraging for Van Samang and the Blues as they won their first six games including a pair of road wins Nov. 13 and 14 over PACWEST rival Douglas College. An irregular December schedule followed with a cancelled road trip to Okanagan College (flooding in the Fraser Valley made the highway impassable) so the Blues played Vancouver Island University (VIU) instead to make up for a postponed November road trip. In what would be a recurring theme, VIU won the games on Dec. 3 and 4 so the Blues went into the exam and holiday break on a three-game skid.

Capilano would not play again until Jan. 22 owing to a bye week coming out of the holiday break and again it was VIU besting the Blues, this time at CapU’s Centre for Sport & Wellness, in a convincing 100-73 decision.

Now looking at the home stretch to the PACWEST playoffs but on a four-game losing streak that extended back to Nov. 27, CapU got a much-needed 86-73 win on Jan. 28 over Columbia Bible College and followed that with a gutsy 86-82 home win over Douglas College. Tyrone Asenoguan, later named a PACWEST conference all-star, led the Blues in scoring in both games including a 20-point, 11-rebound effort in the latter game.

Back on a winning track, further disruption came in the form of a roster shuffle as forward Harry Liu opted to leave the team despite averaging 14 points and eight rebounds per contest. It was an adjustment for Van Samang and his players minus a 6-foot-4 body but one they ultimately made successfully as they employed a four-guard starting lineup while getting 15 points and 15 boards from Sam Bailey in a Feb. 13 win over Okanagan College.

CapU split a pair of home games against Langara College to conclude the regular season with a 10-6 record, good enough for third in the PACWEST. Because the PACWEST had two berths to the CCAA nationals in 2022, the gold- and silver-medal winning teams would qualify.

With that extra incentive to reach the PACWEST title game, the Blues declared their intentions in the quarterfinals against Okanagan College building an early lead on the strength of three threes from Bogajev and dunks by Campbell and Asenoguan. CapU would go on to outscore OC 64-33 in the second half to take it 109-77 and set up a semifinal meeting with Camosun.

In the semi, it was a second quarter decisively in favour of the Blues that made the difference. Jacob Stanuel-Taitte scored seven points in three minutes coming off the bench while Bogajev and Bailey combined for 15 points from the backcourt, building a 10-point Blues advantage going to the second half. Camosun chipped away a bit in the third quarter but CapU was never really threatened. An 82-74 victory was the result; earning a spot in the finals guaranteed the Blues a trip to nationals. The only question left was gold or silver.

Familiar foe VIU was the opposition for the PACWEST title game and the undefeated Mariners were ready from tip-off, building a 20-12 lead after 10 minutes and holding a six-point cushion going to the second half. VIU increased their lead, going up 63-51 after three quarters but Capilano saved the best for last, outscoring VIU 27-18 in the fourth but it was not enough in the end; VIU claimed their fourth title in the last seven years with an 81-78 triumph.

VIU’s Cameron Gay was named tourney MVP after scoring 40 points to go along with 12 rebounds and five steals in the Mariners’ pair of games at provincials. Bogajev and Brenden Bailey were named to the tournament all-star team after averaging 26 and 14 points respectively over three games.

The Blues and Mariners departed for CCAA nationals at Humber College in Toronto with CapU drawing the tournament host in their opening game. It proved to be an overwhelming assignment as the host Hawks and an enthusiastic home crowd helped the home side to a 16-0 lead to start the game before Sam Bailey knocked down a fall-away jumper to get the Blues on the board. The slow start was too much to overcome as Humber advanced with an 88-78 win.

With a double-knockout format, CapU had work left to do at nationals. Facing Les Filons de Thetford, a Quebec CÉGEP program, the Blues earned their first win at the CCAAs since 2003 in a 91-89 result. A medal was still within reach but two wins on the tournament’s final day would be required. Once again, VIU was in CapU’s path and in an early tip-off, the Mariners got the better of Capilano with a 107-102 win. VIU went on to lose the bronze game to Dawson College of Montreal while Humber took gold with a 101-94 win over St. Clair College of Windsor, Ont.

Tyrone Asenoguan earned tournament all-star nod while CJ Campbell received the Exemplary Leadership Award.