Two Vernon basketball products will be involved in the Canadian university men’s basketball championships starting Thursday in Vancouver.
Mike Rouault and the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack are the seventh seeds in the eight-team national finals, and will take on the second-ranked defending champion Carleton Ravens of Ottawa in one quarterfinal.
Will Ondrik and the host UBC Thunderbirds are seeded eighth and draw the top-ranked Ryerson Rams of Toronto in their quarterfinal.
Rouault, a Clarence Fulton grad, and the WolfPack are making their first-ever appearance in the CIS Elite Eight after finishing second at the Canada West finals in Calgary.
TRU lost 91-84 to the Calgary Dinos in the championship game. The Dinos are ranked fourth for the Elite Eight and will play fifth-seed McGill Redmen of Montreal Thursday.
Rouault had no points in the final and did not play in the WolfPack’s 72-69 win over Ondrik and the T-Birds in the Canada West semifinal.
Ondrik, who played at both Fulton and Vernon Secondary before transferring to White Rock Christian Academy, had seven points against TRU, and added six in UBC’s 101-72 romp over the Manitoba Bisons in the Canada West bronze-medal game.
