Re-berth for the Sea-Hawks
Memorial men ready for first playoff game in nine years tonight
A team that has shown courage and character in the face of adversity and tough times, on and off the court, will now be measured on its ability to play well under the pressure of a playoff game.
You might say just making the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade should be enough for Memorial Sea-Hawks men’s basketball team, but that’s not the way the players and coach Peter Benoite are looking at tonight’s Atlantic University Sport(AUS) quarter-final at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.
A team that played with heart and emotion and a fair share of skill is up against Saint Mary’s Huskies, a team that beat the SeaHawks twice during the regular season.
The Sea-Hawks are the only team going into the playoffs with a sub .500 record and they’ve lost five of their past six games.
Still, Benoite said the playoff berth is a tangible measure of a program that’s moving forward.
The MUN coach called making the post-season for the first time since he got the Sea-Hawks top job in 2008 “a bit of a relief.”
“I want to build this team so that when we do get there (the playoffs), we’re not just happy to be there. We want to do something.”
Although the team lost twice to SMU in early February, Benoite feels his team played pretty well except for a five-minute stretch in the first game which they eventually lost by a dozen points. MUN lost the second game by a single point.
“I think it’s going to be an even game (tonight), to be honest,” suggested Benoite, who doesn’t think this playoff berth is one and done deal.
“We want to keep getting better. We think we have the players and the talent to keep improving.”
Benoite believes getting into the post-season is especially gratifying for those players who’ve been around a little longer, players like Noel Moffatt, Caleb Gould and D’avontai Moore, the only fourth-year players on the team.
But the rest feel the excitement, too.
Second-year guard Davion Parnsalu, one of the players who’ve helped turn around the Sea-Hawks fortunes, said it feels good going into the playoffs for the first time, especially considering a sluggish start to the campaign.
“This has been our goal since the start of the season. I mean it was our goal last year, but we didn’t reach it. We started off slower than expected this season and we had some things to deal with over the (Christmas) break, but we came back strong.”
“We believe we can open some eyes in Newfoundland and in the AUS in general that we’re a team that can become a successful team.
“We’re all brothers on this team. It’s a family and we’ve always been there for each other which helps a lot.”
The Sea-Hawks go into the playoffs as heavy underdogs, but that doesn’t bother Parnsalu.
“We don’t mind what anybody’s else thinks. We know we can win and we can take a run at this championship,” he said with optimism.
“Our next goal is the AUS championship.”
All games will be broadcast live on www.AUStv.ca.