V-Reds win thriller
AUS basketball | UNB holds on to beat UPEI
The University of New Brunswick men's basketball squad thwarted a late comeback to edge the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers 80-77 in a big four-point victory at the Richard J. Currie Center on Friday night.
After three quarters of sticking to their game plan of icing out the Panthers' star shooters Jonathan Cooper and Manock Lual, the Varsity Reds began to slip, nearly blowing a 12-point advantage. Thanks to some timely free throw shooting and two missed game-tying shots from Cooper, however, the home squad held on to improve to 3-6 in the Atlantic University Sport standings. The Panthers fell to 6-3. The four points puts the Reds in the middle of a logjam in the league table, with five teams, seated second through sixth, tied at 12 points.
'I was really happy from everybody coming off the bench and how we did,' said head coach Brent Baker, proud of his team's all-around effort.
The Reds saw five players reach double digits in scoring, with fifthyear veteran Alex DesRoches leading the way with a double-double, posting 20 points and 14 rebounds. Michael Fosu pitched in 16 points and five boards, while Matthew Daley, Robert Linton and Jordan Irvine picked up 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
UNB took a 41-30 lead into the half, but the Panthers started clawing their way back in the second half. Aaron Robbins picked up the bucket and the foul for the three-point play to overtake UNB 75-74 in the final minutes of play.
UPEI coach Tim Kendrick resorted to fouling to conserve time, but the Reds' shooters came through in the clutch. Fosu and Linton each drained two free throws, while Daley and DesRoches added singles to preserve their small cushion.
'The guys have improved in that area,' said Baker after some concerns at the foul line earlier this season. 'Our assistant coach, Don MacNeil, has been a stickler for that. He makes them take their free throws and records them. He's the czar of the free throws so it's really helped out for sure.' Twice Cooper had an opportunity to equalize, soaring over Irvine for an easy lay-up and being denied by the back rim and not connecting on the final chance from beyond the arc. Cooper picked up 16 points in the failed comeback, while Lual scored the game-high 22 points.
'That team is a good team,' Baker said. 'You know they weren't going to lie down, so I was really happy for us. Getting that 'W' is crucial for us, but the other part of it is it's a good team win. Daniel Quirion hasn't been able to play for the last couple of games so the guys needed the win, believe me.' UNB will look for more success tonight at 8 p.m. when they host the Acadia Axemen (3-4) at the Currie centre.