Acadia through to final

BY JOHN DECOSTE

NovaNewsNow.com

For the second year in a row, the Acadia Axemen and Saint Mary's Huskies will meet for the AUBC championship.

The Axemen came back from a nine-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to defeat the Dalhousie Tigers 83-75 in the first of two quarter-finals Saturday.

Acadia led 26-23 after one quarter, but trailed the Tigers 42-38 at halftime. Dal extended its lead to 67-58 by the end of the third quarter.

The Axemen appeared vulnerable with Andrew Kraus fouled out and Paulo Santana on the bench with a knee injury.

However, Santana returned to start the fourth quarter, and while he wasn't on the floor long, it was enough to give the Axemen the spark they needed.

Led by player of the game Pat McIver and veteran Achuil Lual, Acadia went on a 16-6 run to take a 74-73 lead with 2:45 to play, then won the game at the foul line.

Shawn Berry led Acadia with 23 points and conference MVP Leo Saintil added 20 points and 11 rebounds.

McIver ended up with 17 points, including five three-pointers, as well as a great job running the offense. Lual finished with 12 points and 11 boards.

Simon Farine led all scorers with 24 points for Dal, but also missed a pair of key foul shots in the final minute.

Andrew Sullivan added 18 points and Drew Stratton chipped in 13 for the Tigers, who turned in a solid effort in defeat.

Acadia shot 57 per cent in the first half and 54.7 per cent overall to Dal's 42.2 per cent. The Axemen hit seven three-pointers and outrebounded the Tigers 30-23.

"It was gut-check time in the fourth quarter, and the guys dug their heels in and battled," Axemen head coach Les Berry said after the game.

"All season we've been the best defensive team in the conference. We dug deep and held them to eight points in the fourth quarter - one of the best quarters we've played all season."

Berry had huge praise for McIver, who picked up the slack for Kraus and Santana and was "a huge presence out there tonight," and spoke highly as well of Lual.

"Ash has been the backbone, the heart and soul of our team," he said. "We've called on him all season, and he came up big for us again tonight."

The Huskies, meanwhile, got a 30-point performance from Mark McLaughlin in a 76-64 win over St. F.X. in the other semi-final.

Derrick Coleman added 17 and Ikeobi Uchegbu 16 for SMU, which trailed 18-11 after one quarter but won the second quarter 18-8 for a 29-26 halftime lead.

Tyler Richards had 22 points and Dwayne Johnson 17 for the X-men.

Acadia and SMU will meet for the conference title Sunday at 2 p.m. For those not able to be at the Metro Centre in person, the game will be televised on Eastlink.