Quarterfinal #1 – Men
No. 5 Memorial vs No. 4 UNB
(HALIFAX, NS) – Friday afternoon at the 2024 AUS Men's Basketball Championships, presented by Bell, saw the fifth-ranked Memorial University Sea-Hawks take on the fourth-seeded UNB Reds in quarterfinal action hosted at the Scotiabank Centre.
A 13-0 run by the Sea-Hawks to start the final quarter propelled them to an 87-79 victory over the Reds in their quarterfinal matchup. Memorial now advances to the AUS Men's Basketball Championship semifinal Saturday afternoon at 3pm against the defending champs from STFX.
Memorial will look to upset the X-Men and play for their first AUS Men's Basketball Championship.
UNB, who led the game 49-41 at half, see their season come to an end in the quarterfinal round for the third straight season.
Memorial looked sluggish to start the contest. Early turnovers by the Sea-Hawks led to easy buckets for the Reds, putting them ahead 23-19 after the first 10 minutes of play. UNB extended their lead in the second quarter thanks to Norm Burry's (Grafton, N.B.) trio of three-pointers, and took an eight-point lead into the break.
Burry finished the game with 15 points, while teammate Marcus Barnes (Kitchener, Ont.) led all UNB scorers with 19.
Whatever Memorial head coach Ian Coultas said to his team at halftime seemed to work, as the Sea-Hawks showed more signs of life to start the third quarter. Emanuel Ring (St. John's, NFLD) went a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line to score 11 points and help his team shave four points off the UNB lead heading into the final quarter.
When that final 10 minutes of play began, it was all Sea-Hawks. Ring, along with Jojo Moudiandambu (Hamilton, Ont.) kept applying pressure on the Reds, going on a 13-0 run to take their first lead since the middle of the first quarter.
The Reds did not score until the 6:50 mark, and by then, the momentum had shifted. When all was said and done, the Sea-Hawks outscored the Reds 25-13 in the fourth to earn the 'W'.
Ring finished the game with 26 points and seven rebounds to be named Player of the Game. Teammate Flynn Boardman-Raffet (London, UK) added 24 points and eight rebounds.