(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) - The CIS No. 3-ranked Acadia Axemen got back on the winning track Friday night with a convincing 79-59 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers at War Memorial Gymnasium in Wolfville.
The win comes a week after Acadia suffered their first loss this season at the hands of the UPEI Panthers without all-stars Owen Klassen and Anthony Sears.
Despite not having leading rebounder Klassen in the line-up, the Axemen responded with more unified play with five players scoring in double digits.
Anthony Ashe led Acadia with 18 points, going 6-for-14 from the floor as the Axemen pushed out to a quick 23-14 lead after one quarter. Acadia then put a 12-0 run together to extend the lead to 35-14 at the halfway mark of the second quarter.
Dalhousie's Simon Marr ended the streak with a three-point shot, but Acadia closed out the first half with a commanding 43-19 lead, allowing Dalhousie just five points in the second frame.
Acadia maintained the lead throughout the second half, allowing four of five starters to reach double digit scoring including Lachlan Gale's 13 points to earn him Subway Player of the Game honours. Tyler Scott, Jonathan Tull and Bradley States netted 12, 11 and 10 respectively.
Hassan Abdullahi lead the charge for Dalhousie with 16 points, while Simon Marr added 11 points to the losing cause.
"This was a big win for us to establish who we are with some guys down due to injuries. We talked about the opportunity that we all have right now, and the way to cease this opportunity is to be together" commented head coach Stephen Baur following the game.
"Our guys had great communication on defense early on, and were sharp in our rotations. We also needed guys to rebound as a unit, and had a good effort there", added Baur.
The Axemen will head to Sydney next weekend for two road games against the first place Cape Breton Capers.
Baur knows what lies ahead and hopes to improve on tonight's results. "Moving forward we need to capture the best 15-20 minutes we had and stretch it into 25-30 minutes en route to 40 minutes."
The Tigers, now 3-6, head to Memorial next weekend to take on the winless Memorial Sea-Hawks.
Source: Acadia Sports Information