Road to the Final 8: Late letdown fuelled '76 Bisons to national title
Brian Swane, Special to Canada West
“The darkest hour is just before the dawn.”- Ancient proverb.
They slumped in their seats, some looking ahead, some out the window.
No one on was saying a word. Maybe they were in shock, maybe in anguish. Maybe the Manitoba Bisons had used every last ounce of energy to drag their lifeless bodies onto the team bus.
They had led the host Waterloo Warriors by six with a minute and a half remaining in the 1975 Canadian university basketball championship. And then, in the most spectacular, inconceivable, dramatic and disastrous of fashions, blew it.
“For all of us who were very competitive and take great pride in what we accomplish, I can’t tell you how much that was devastating,” said Rick Watts, a Manitoba forward from 1971 to 1976.
“The devastation turned into anger and then the anger turned into resolve and at that point our team became the best it could ever be. We did everything we could to avenge the event and prove that we were the best team in the country.”
They proved it. The evidence lies in grainy video clips and yellowed newspaper clippings packed away in attics: Manitoba did, indeed, become No. 1 in the nation.
Going from agony to ecstasy in an annum, Manitoba defeated St. Mary’s to win the Canadian title in 1976. The 1975-76 Bisons performed at a level they might never have reached without enduring the prior year’s pain.
“It put us in a destructive mode where we weren’t going to take no prisoners in any game we played,” said Watts, a first-team All-Canadian in 1975-76. “That extra bit of motivation made us say, ‘We are going to mow over people and win that championship ... and nothing’s going to get in our way.’ Losing the way we did in ‘75 probably changed a lot of how we were approaching things.”
During the ’75-76 regular season Manitoba lost just three times by a combined 5 points. The Bisons were untouchable in the post-season, winning games by an average of more than 20 points, first sweeping Brandon in the best-of-three Great Plains conference final, then rolling through Windsor, Waterloo, and finally the hometown SMU Huskies at nationals in Halifax.
“It was just one of those things where a bunch of individuals came together and meshed and had one common goal; to win the national championship,” said Watts. “There were no egos on the team ... nobody had to be convinced, nobody had to be hit over the head and (told), ‘Hey, get in line’. It was just one goal and that was it.”
Theirs was a bond that came naturally: The 1975-76 Bisons were not just the University of Manitoba’s team – they were the province of Manitoba’s team.
At a time when Canada’s university basketball powers were beginning to cast a wider recruiting net, coach Don Hunter’s Bisons were composed entirely of Manitobans, the majority from Winnipeg.
“The mid-70s to the early 80s was a great time for Manitoba basketball,” said 1975-76 Bisons guard Randy Kusano, who grew up in the Winnipeg district of St. Vital. “The coaching at the junior and senior high school levels was superior which resulted in a lot of outstanding players ... It didn't hurt that there was an abundance of talent in and around Winnipeg, Brandon, Portage la Prairie.”
Led by the likes of Watts, fellow All-Canadian Darryl Rumsey, veteran leader Angus Bur and future CIS Most Outstanding Player winner Martin Riley, the Bisons made their first of three straight appearances at nationals in 1974, when they finished fifth.
The next year, Manitoba was poised for glory. The Bisons tipped off the championship final against Waterloo riding a streak of 16 straight wins, and were seconds away from No. 17 - the only one that really mattered.
Memories of how it slipped from their grasp remain vivid, even four decades later.
“We had that game,” Watts said. “We threw the ball away, I missed a free-throw, a jump ball went awry, they just hit every shot that you could imagine and then all of a sudden we’re one down with three seconds left.”
The partisan crowd exploded when the final buzzer sounded, making official an 80-79 triumph for their Warriors. Waterloo outscored Manitoba 8-1 over the final 90 seconds, a nightmarish stretch that included a disputed traveling violation called on Burr with 16 seconds remaining and the Bisons clinging to a one-point advantage.
“People sitting right on top of where the call was made swear it wasn't even close,” said Rumsey, who played forward for Manitoba from 1971 to ‘76.
“The most disappointing part about the loss was it was Angus Burr's last game as a Bison after an incredible career,” Rumsey continued. “That loss basically put us on a mission the following year and we were all locked in to that goal.
“It is very true the saying, ‘before you learn about winning you have to learn about losing’.”
Manitoba defeated St. Mary’s 82-69 on March 6, 1976. It’s still the only Canadian championship in program history.
Forever linked by that triumph, the 1975-76 Bisons - several of whom would go on to play together on the Nicolett Inn teams that captured a trio of Canadian senior men’s championships in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s - remain remarkably close. To a man, the players reassemble for a reunion every five years, a testament to their camaraderie. This year’s celebration marks the 40th anniversary of their championship.
“We’re all still alive, believe it or not, and we’re planning this (reunion) and everybody seems to be quite excited about getting together again,” said Watts, who lives in Winnipeg. “It never loses its importance to us.”
As much as 1975’s heartache is irrevocably seared in their memories, the Bisons are not about to let themselves forget the magic of 1976. They watch a tape of the television broadcast at every reunion.
After all, a little reminder every now and again doesn’t hurt.
“The championship itself has faded for me,” said Kusano, “but the friendships from that team is what I continue to value the most as we grow older. “
More on the CIS Final 8:
For the first time in more than four decades, the best men's basketball teams in Canada will converge at UBC for the CIS Final 8 national championship tournament.
Watch Canada’s brightest basketball stars compete for the national championship title at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Point Grey, March 17-20.
This is the first time the CIS Final 8 has been held in the Canada West since 1982, so this is an event you won’t want to miss.
Catch all the action - tournament packages for the 11 game event start at just $60, with single game tickets starting at $10.
For more information and to buy tickets, click here.