Dal falls short of medal
Huskies win women's consolation final
Samuel Maillet has a U Sports basketball silver medal but the Dalhousie Tigers couldn’t add a bronze to the collection.
Dalhousie dropped a 91-83 decision to the Ottawa Geegees in the third-place game of the U Sports Final 8 men’s championship Sunday afternoon in Quebec City.
The Tigers were seeking their first national men’s basketball medal since earning silver at the 2020 championships in Maillet’s freshman season.
In the ’20 gold medal game, Dal was three minutes from claiming its first national banner in men’s hoops before the Carleton Ravens finished the game on a 13-0 run and a 74-65 victory.
On Sunday, third-seeded Dalhousie held a six-point lead early into the third quarter before Ottawa went on a 19-8 run to pull ahead. The Gee-gees led by as much as 16 late in the fourth.
Justin Ndjock-tadjore scored 13 of his team-high 26 points to lead sixth-ranked Ottawa. Dragan Stajic had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Malcolm Christie, the Atlantic university conference MVP, led all scorers with 31 points, including five threepointers.
Nginyu Ngala added 14 points and Maillet, the Tigers captain, had eight points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
The Tigers quest for another trip to the national final was halted by a fourthquarter letdown in Saturday night's semifinal.
The No. 8-ranked and host Laval Rouge et Or, trailing by five with just over six minutes remaining in the game, outscored Dalhousie 20-4 down the stretch en route to an 85-74 win before a packed Laval University PEPS gym.
The Rouge et Or advanced to their first U Sports championship final in men’s hoops. They faced the No. 2 Queen's Gaels in the gold medal game Sunday evening.
It was also the Gaels’ first national final in men’s basketball.
Energized by the 3,000 faithful fans, Laval led by one point with 65 seconds remaining before embarking on a 10-0 run to close out the game.
Haris Elezovic finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds and Ismael Diouf scored 19 points and grabbed 11 boards. Diouf also had three blocks and two steals in 37 minutes of action.
Christie netted a game-high 25 points for the Tigers.
Queen’s upended Ottawa 84-77 in the other semifinal Saturday night.
U Sports defensive player of the year Luka Syllas scored 20 points while his brother Cole led all players with 25 points and 18 rebounds.
SMU EDGES ALBERTA IN WOMEN’S CONSOLATION FINAL
Alaina Mcmillan and Courtney Donaldson combined for 40 points and nine threepointers as the third-ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies defeated the host Alberta Pandas 65-62 in a thrilling consolation final win Saturday afternoon at the U Sports Final 8 women's basketball tournament in Edmonton.
“It wasn’t the game we wanted to be in, but I’m proud the way we collected ourselves,” Mcmillan, the AUS Final 6 tournament MVP, said in a news release.
“We knew we had to play big, grab rebounds, and play fundamental defence. And when we don’t play our best defence, we don’t play our best offence.”
Mcmillan scored 21 points and recorded two steals and six rebounds.
Lucina Beaumont had 14 points and 11 boards for the Huskies, who went 2-1 at the national championship but their loss came in Friday’s quarter-final.
The No. 1 Saskatchewan Huskies played the secondranked Carleton Ravens in the championship game Sunday night.