(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB REDS scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Memorial Sea-Hawks 85-73 in Atlantic University Sport men's basketball Saturday night, at UNB's Richard J. Currie Center.

Second-year RED Marcus Barnes (Kitchener, ON) scored a game-high 27 to lead the REDS. He was named the Tim Horton's Player of the Game.

"It feels good to take care of home court," said Barnes. "That's what we're supposed to do if we're supposed to be a top team in this league, we have to take care of home court all season."

The REDS struggled to find momentum after building an early 5-0 lead.

The teams engaged in a bit of a back-and-forth affair for most of the remainder of the first quarter with the exception of a 6-0 Sea-Hawks run that put them up 21-16.

Memorial led 24-19 after the opening ten minutes.

The back-and-forth play continued in the second quarter, with neither team able to fashion a serious advantage.

Norm Burry (Grafton, NB) sunk a three-pointer with just over two minutes remaining in the half to pull the REDS even, 37-37. About 30 seconds later, he added an easy lay-up to give the REDS a 39-37 lead.

On the strength of Burry's 15 first half points and 14 from Barnes, UNB led 41-38 at half-time.

In the third quarter, the Sea-Hawks appeared to seize control of the game, building a 51-44 lead, but the REDS slowly reeled them back in.

Three-point baskets by Vegan Evans (Brampton, ON) and Matthias Muscroft (Sussex, NB) helped put the REDS ahead 59-57.

When the third quarter expired, the score was tied 61-61.

An exciting fourth quarter saw the REDS go up 73-66 on route to their 85-73 victory.

"We got a lot of stops and one-and-dones," said Barnes. "We didn't allow them get second chance points, and as we got those stops and rebounds we took our time on the offensive end, scored, and pulled away."

On top of Barnes' big game, Evans dropped 17 points.

Emanuel Ring (St. John's, NL) led the Sea-Hawks, scoring 18 points, while Flynn Boardman-Raffet (London, UK) and Nicholas Tuff (St. John's, NL) had 16 each.

Jason Thompson (St. John's, NL) had a game-high 10 assists for the visitors.

"We couldn't execute in the fourth quarter," said Sea-Hawks' head coach Ian Coultas. "We had a couple of shots that we typically make that didn't go, went out the other side and they scored 24 points in the fourth quarter."

"It's tough to win when you're giving up more than 20 points in a quarter," he added. "That was our issue all weekend, some really bad offensive quarters."

With the win, the REDS improve to 2-and-2 and find themselves in a three-way tie for third in the AUS standings.

Memorial is 1-and-3, tied for fourth place.

The Sea-Hawks now return home to face the STFX X-Men, Friday.

The REDS play host to the UPEI Panthers the same night. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00pm.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics