Can soaring Sea-hawks tame Dalhousie Tigers?

The surging Memorial Seahawks men’s basketball team is in Halifax this weekend, and how it stacks up for a potential playoff run in the Atlantic University Sport conference will be clearer following a twogame series with the Dalhousie Tigers.

The Sea-hawks opened against the Tigers at the Dalplex last night, with the rubber match set for this afternoon in downtown Halifax.

MUN entered Friday’s game winners of three straight, including a sweep of the Cape Breton Capers last Sunday and Monday at the Field House. The Cape Breton series was the start of the back half of the 2017-18 AUS season.

The Sea-hawks, as of Friday, were 4-6 and fourth in the eightteam AUS conference.

Memorial faces a formidable opponent in Dalhousie, the three-time defending AUS champions, and last year’s bronze medallist at the U Sports nationals.

The Tigers were 7-2 prior to tip-off Friday night, and tied with Acadia for second place in the conference.

Memorial lost big man Vasilije Curcic to graduation this year — he’s currently on the St. John’s Edge — but the scoring slack has certainly been picked up by secondyear Nathan Barker of Massey Drive, NL, whose 18.4 pointsper-game is sixth in the AUS. Fifth-year Daniel Gordon of North York, Ont., is right behind Barker, sitting in seventh spot with 18 points a game.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL The Sea-hawks’ women’s team is also in Halifax for a series with the Tigers, and opened last night at the Dalplex, with Game 2 this afternoon.

Entering Friday’s game, the Lady Birds were second in the conference at 6-4. Dal was 2-6. Memorial split with Cape Breton in their last series, winning 84-76 Monday following a 64-50 loss Sunday.

The Sea-hawks’ Sydney Stewart is third in conference scoring with 16.9 points per game.

VOLLEYBALL Memorial’s women’s volleyball squad is back in action after a long exam/christmas break (the Sea-hawks last played Nov. 19) with three games at Saint Mary’s University.

The series opened Friday night in Halifax, and resumes today before wrapping up Sunday.

Entering Friday’s slate of games, the 5-3 Sea-hawks were in a three-way tie for second place with Saint Mary’s (5-3) and Acadia (5-4).