Veterans key 'team effort' win for Axemen

After last year's 2-17 record, there probably weren't too many predicting good things for the Acadia basketball Axemen this season. I'll admit it, I wasn't one of them - at least not at first.

I knew the Axemen would be better this year than last, probably a good deal better. Everyone on the roster was a year older and more experienced, as was head coach Les Berry. Paulo Santana was a potential game-breaker, and I have seen first-hand the impact a healthy Achuil Lual can have on a game - and on a team's fortunes.

Claiming a playoff berth wasn't out of the question, I felt, but I would never have dreamed what lay in store.

Saturday, Acadia won its first AUBC conference championship since 1998 in dramatic fashion: 74-72 in overtime over SMU.

You could say the Axemen beat the odds in winning, but the truth was, Acadia not only deserved to be there, it deserved to win. They were the better team, even though the Huskies gave them a battle and deserve full credit for their runner-up finish.

The Axemen win - in fact, the entire Acadia season - was a real team effort.

Santana, the most exciting player in the AUBC, excelled in all the ways he is capable of, and was rewarded with the conference MVP award. Shawn Berry gave the team an immediate lift when he became eligible to play after Christmas, and Peter Leighton cemented his reputation as the conference's best perimeter shooter.

To single out any one player for special mention is somehow inappropriate given the effort put forth by the entire team, but one has to reserve a word or two for a pair of Axemen veterans, co-captains Lual and Jordan Sheriko.

Many felt Lual might never play again - at least, not at full speed or to full potential - after serious knee surgery, but the 6'8” forward set himself a goal: return to action and lead the conference in rebounding, which he narrowly missed doing.

At the conference championships, after fouling out of Acadia's first two games against Dal and St. F.X., Lual had 11 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in the final against SMU, playing all 45 minutes.

As for Sheriko, Acadia's only graduating senior, he missed the entire first semester with a variety of injuries. On his return, he adjusted to life as a “role player,” coming off the bench to provide his customary solid defensive play and an occasional burst of offense, particularly from beyond the three-point arc. In a position where one loss would spell the end of his Axemen career, Sheriko simply refused to lose. He led the Axemen with 18 points, including four three-pointers, against Dal and 13 points, including a pair of threes, in a 56-52 win over St. F.X., and was a factor in Acadia winning both games. While he only had seven points in the final, two of them tied the score after the Axemen had come back from a 16-point deficit with 12 minutes to play, and four came in overtime. Sheriko's tournament MVP award wasn't just a gift to a graduating senior player; it was recognition he deserved and earned through determination and leadership.

Similarly, Acadia's championship win was no fluke. The Axemen were right there all season - all that much more remarkable after last season's record. Berry and his players deserve a world of credit for turning their program around in such a short time.

I hope the Axemen do well at this weekend's CIS Final Eight, but even if they don't win, they have already accomplished great things this season, and their return to AUBC (and CIS) respectability is well ahead of schedule.