The streak continues
Axemen basketball squad continue their winning ways
Extending their winning streak to four, the Axemen basketball squad picked up a big four-point win against the U SPORTS No. 10 ranked UNB Varsity Reds on home court last Friday night.
The first place Varsity Reds hoped to continue their winning ways in 2018, but fell short in an 80-68 loss to the host Acadia Axemen.
With a 45-41 lead at the half, the Axemen pushed out to a commanding 66-50 lead after three quarters on the play of senior shooting guard Nick De Palma who posted 12 thirdquarter points that included three timely three-pointers.
Ben Miller added 11 points in the third frame flurry as the Axemen out-scored the V-reds 21-9.
“The shooters were making their shots tonight, especially in the second half, Nick De Palma got going and the ‘bigs’ were really great to me, making it easy out there for me,” said Miller following the game.
Miller scored a game-high 22 points, while teammates Nick De Palma and Erik Nissen listed 15 and 12 points respectively. Off the bench, Trevon Grant added 12 points and three assists while Jerome Mugambi posted 10 points at opportune times.
UNB’S Javon Masters had a team-high 19 points and newcomer Ibrahima Doumbouya posted an impressive game of 14 points and team-high of eight rebounds.
In the second game of the weekend, the winless UPEI Panthers gave the 10-2 Acadia Axemen a scare with the Axemen not taking a comfortable lead until the closing four minutes of the final quarter.
Down 36-29 at the half, Acadia’s Trevon Grant off the bench and Ben Miller combined for 14 points (seven each) to help the Axemen gain control of the game and a 56-52 lead heading into the final frame.
A low scoring 16-9 Axemen advantage in fourth quarter scoring, allowed the Axemen to manage their fate and capture an important four-point win.
“You can’t expect to win in this league, especially when a team gets blowout by Dalhousie (the night before), so they are going to want it bad. We expected a game but they gave us a little bit more than what we expected, but I thought we did a good job bouncing out of that slump,” Nissen said following the win.
The Axemen dictated the inside game, for the most part, tallying 20 points in the paint and out-performing the Panthers in second-chance points.
“I think we had an advantage in size, so we wanted to push it in there. I tell you what, we will be in practice tomorrow shooting free throws since we didn’t hit very many,” said Nissen.
Acadia was 59 per cent from the charity stripe, below their average of 68 per cent, but Acadia led in three important statistical categories against the Panthers – rebounding, field goal percentage and fewer turnovers.
Nissen led the Axemen with a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds. Off the bench, Trevon Grant had his best outing of 2018 after missing five games due to injury with 15 points, five rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two timely threes.
The four-point win moves the Axemen into second place with 26 points – two points behind first-place Dalhousie and two points ahead of third place UNB. The Axemen head to Memorial this coming weekend for two games in Newfoundland.