(CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I.) - The Dalhousie Tigers had a case of déjà vu as they squandered a 19-point lead against the UPEI Panthers at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre in front of 600 fans Saturday night.
Friday night saw Dalhousie jump out to a first quarter lead and control the first 20 minutes of the game. The game seemed to be stuck on repeat as the second quarter played the same as the first with Dalhousie and UPEI matching their scores for a halftime score of 46-38 in favour of the visiting Tigers.
Sharpshooter Jarred Reid (Aurora, Ont.), led the way for Dalhousie with nine points while five of his teammates each chipped in with six points in first half. Milorad Sedlarevic (Vesenice, Slovenia), was UPEI's top scorer with 13 points.
The AUS-leading Tigers led by as many as 19 late in the third quarter behind Sven Stammberger's (Halifax, N.S.) 11-point quarter, including going three for three from long range in the frame.
However, the Panthers would not roll over without a fight as they finished the quarter on a 9-1 run to cut Dalhousie's lead to eleven, 74-63, going into the fourth quarter.
The Panthers, led by CIS scoring leader Tyler Scott (Halifax, N.S.), dominated the remainder of the game. UPEI finished the final 12 minutes of the game outscoring Dalhousie 40-16. This included stringing together 14 straight points over a three-minute span in the fourth quarter. Scott either scored or assisted on 12 points during the run and finished the game with 26 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
UPEI iced the game with free throws in the final minute winning 94-89, and in doing so took over first place in the AUS. Sven Stammberger's hot shooting night led him to 18 points for the Tigers while Jarred Reid posted 21 points, including a highlight reel dunk and last second three-pointer in the losing effort.
The Panthers had six players score in double digits, led by Subway player of the game recipient Tyler Scott. Scott scored 26 points but was all over the court adding six rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Milorad Sedlarevic (17), Lorenzo Parker (13), Ellis Ffrench, (12), Geoff Doane (11) and Brad States (11) rounded out the scoring for UPEI.
Dalhousie (5-3) is on the road again next weekend travelling to Fredericton to take on the UNB Varsity Reds (7-3) at 8 p.m. on Saturday night.
UPEI (7-2) faces the Memorial Sea-Hawks (1-5) next Saturday night, Jan. 17, also at 8 p.m. at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Source: Jonathan Lane for UPEI Sports Communications