Windsor, Ontario was once again the site of the second Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union men's basketball championship, played March 15-16, 1964.
The University of Windsor (formerly Assumption University) Lancers were back to defend their 1963 title and were joined in the field by Acadia and UBC, both of whom had played in the tournament the previous year, and the Sir George Williams Georgians from Montreal.
Acadia appeared a little weaker than the previous year. Pete Simmonds, Charlie Thomas, Ronnie Ayes, Dan Parrinelli and Jim Kreutzer had all departed, but the Axemen still had 'Mr. Automatic', Richie Spears; an emerging star in Steve Konchalski; and veterans John Olinto and Ian MacMillan.
Coach Stu Aberdeen had added to the Axemen roster forwards Dave Rode and Scott Lumsden and guard Damon Pouyat, and had welcomed back Andy Kranack and Ian Hendry after a year's absence.
The tournament draw saw Acadia open against the host Lancers, who proved even more capable than the previous year of taking the Axemen off their game, romping to a 107-69 victory. Spears, with 14 points, MacMillan with 12, and Kranack and Konchalski with 10 points apiece led the Acadia scoring.
Defensively, the Axemen proved no match for the high-octane Lancers who played their successful 'blitz basketball' style almost to perfection.
Acadia was relegated to the third-place consolation game against Sir George Williams whose lineup included Warren Sutton, who had played at Acadia in 1960-1961 and part of 1961-1962.
Sutton was an explosive player, exciting to watch, who had scored at a 30.8 points-per-game clip during the season. He had hooped 28 points in a 78-70 semifinal loss to UBC the previous day.
Sutton struck for 28 more in a 63-57 victory over Acadia in the consolation final, which earned him the Most Valuable Player award for the tournament, even though his team had finished third.
For the Axemen, it was generally felt they had come to Windsor with only one goal in mind – playing for, and hopefully winning, the national title.
Acadia, to their credit, didn't play badly against Sir George Williams, but it was apparent to most spectators that the Axemen were simply going through the motions. Spears, in his final appearance in an Acadia uniform, led Acadia with 17 points. Kranack added 12 and Rode 10.
A note of optimism for the Axemen and their fans was that in 1965, the Nationals would come east, and would be hosted in Halifax, affording the Axemen (if they qualified) an even shot at a national title that was proving elusive to attain.
Contributed by John DeCoste '77. John's book, Living the Dream: The Acadia Axemen at the Nationals can be purchased by contacting John at jadecoste56@gmail.com