‘Everyone did their job’
Big win for basketball Axewomen, Axemen over Saint Mary’s
Port Williams native Haley Mcdonald’s 32 points gave the U SPORTS No. 4 ranked Acadia Axewomen an 89-49 win over the AUS’S second-place Saint Mary’s Huskies in a rescheduled game from early January.
Mcdonald netted six three-point shots and added 10 and made three throws to help catapult the Axewomen to a big win against the rival Huskies.
“We just wanted to move the ball to give everyone touches. I think it was really important that we locked down defensively. I think everyone did their job. We each had specific things we had to do and I think everyone executed it really well,” said Mcdonald following the win.
Mcdonald had a season-high 10 of 12 free throws made to add to her game-high scoring.
“People are going to rush me at the three-point line, so it is really important to give them an up-fake and get to the hoop or dish it to my teammates, because they are always in the right position,” said Mcdonald.
Trailing the Huskies 16-12 after one-quarter of play, the Axewomen strung together two 8-0 runs that led to a 45-30 halftime Acadia advantage.
Mcdonald’s 11 points in the second quarter were followed by 14 more points in the third quarter.
The Huskies were just 25.4 per cent from the floor and 12.5 per cent from the three-point line and produced 21 turnovers compared to the Axewomen’s 12.
Paloma Anderson added nine boards to her 18 points. Allie Berry and Katie Ross had seven rebounds each and seven and nine points respectively.
Chanel Smith, who sits second in career three-point shots made, added two more to her 115 along with 10 points. Smith has 117 threes, 39 behind record holder Emma Duinker with 156.
Men win close match
In the men’s game that followed, Kemar Alleyne led the Huskies in an 82-79 edging of the hometown Acadia Axemen with 22 points and eight rebounds. Alleyne posted 17 secondhalf points and grabbed the honours as the Subway Player of the Game in the 4-point win.
A game that saw 11 lead changes, the largest lead of 11 points by the Axemen with just under eight minutes remaining in the game, closed in dramatic fashion as the Huskies worked back from an 11-point deficit in the final frame to a three-point win.
The Huskies not only bettered the Axemen in field goal percentage of 41.8 per cent compared to Acadia’s 35.3 per cent, but they also posted a 24-18 points in the paint advantage and took advantage of a low number of free throw opportunities.
But an 11-2 run with over seven minutes remaining in the final frame gave the Axemen what most saw as an insurmountable lead considering how close the game had been up to this point.
Three-point baskets by Alleyne and Brent Martindale closed the gap to three points and Nico Brauner’s layup brought Saint Mary’s to within one. Nikita Kasongo’s slam dunk with just over four minutes remaining in the game gave the Huskies a lead that would faulter only once in the closing two minutes when Trevon Grant’s made layup gave Acadia a brief 78-76 lead.
Alleyne put the final nail in the coffin with a three-point jump shot with 1:10 remaining to give the Huskies a 79-78 lead. The lead would hold for the win.
Acadia’s senior center Erik Nissen led all scorers with 31 points and nine rebounds. Ben Miller led the Axemen in rebounding with 10 and netted 13 points.
Huskies’ Nikita Kasongo and Brent Martindale had 16 and 15 points respectively, while off the bench, Asher Lewis added 10.
Both schools will tango again Feb. 9 in Halifax. The Axewomen improve to 14-1 and first place in the AUS standings, while the Axemen drop to 12-3 and remains in second place – two points ahead of UNB.