Dal sweeps Acadia in basketball second half openers

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

The Acadia basketball Axemen showed some staying power and the Axewomen plenty of grit, but neither was able to end up a winner in the opening games of the second half of their AUBC schedules Thursday evening in Wolfville.

The Axemen were on the short end of a 78-74 decision, though they came back twice from deficits, including an 11-point Dal advantage early in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers led 24-22 after one quarter and 41-39 at halftime. Acadia then won the third quarter 19-17 to pull into a 58-58 tie after 30 minutes.

Dal player of the game Josh Beattie hit a pair of three-pointers and Andrew Sullivan also hit a three as Dal opened the fourth quarter with 11 straight points.

Acadia hung in, reducing the lead to one at 73-72 with two minutes remaining, and trailed by two with 21 seconds to play, but could get no closer.

Leo Saintil played his first home game for the Axemen this season, scoring 17 points and grabbing a game-high 18 rebounds in 24 minutes of play to earn player of the game honours for Acadia.

Luckern Dieu and Alex Traikov added 12 points apiece and Casey Fox and point guard Nathan Duncan also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points. Traikov had eight rebounds and Saintil (7-8) and Traikov (8-10) each had strong games at the foul line.

The game marked the Axemen basketball debut of Joe Nwabuzor, an athletic 6’5, 250-pounder from California who is also a defensive lineman on the Acadia football squad. Nwabuzor had six points, a rebound and three fouls in five minutes of play, and didn’t look out of place.

Simon Farine finished with 18 points for Dal. Beattie had 17, Andrew Sullivan 16 and Yannick Walcott 11. Germain Bendegue had a team-high 13 rebounds for the Tigers, though Acadia won the overall rebounding battle by a fairly wide 38-26 margin.

Dal won all four quarters

In the women’s game, Dal won all four quarters by narrow margins, when combined was enough to score a 77-64 win.

The Tigers led 19-17 after one quarter, 39-33 at halftime and 60-48 after three quarters, and while Acadia managed to pull to within two, three and four points at different times during the third quarter, like their male counterparts, they could get no closer.

Brooke Sullivan led all scorers with 23 points for the Tigers, a total that included five three-pointers. Laurie Girdwood had a strong game inside, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds.

For Acadia, which played without regular starters Sondra Medley and Anna Crosby, Emma Duinker had 17 points and seven rebounds.

Keisha Brown finished also with 17 points and Brianne Ozimok had 10 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes. Jackie Krucik had a strong game also with eight points and seven rebounds, with five of the latter coming at the offensive end of the floor.

Both Acadia teams are back in action this Saturday at St. F.X., and return home to face the Saint Mary’s Huskies Tuesday at 6 and 8 p.m. in a pair of games rescheduled from before Christmas.