FREDERICTON, NB – SMU came into this game after taking a win off Laval earlier in the tournament while the host UNB team lost to UPEI.
It would be the Huskies with the 100-94 win over the Varsity Reds.
In the first quarter it was pretty even with SMU one point up over UNB 22-21.
Saint Mary's were capitalizing in the post and going inside to #22 Theon Reefer while UNB's Javon Masters was also scoring well.
In the second quarter UNB tended to be careless with the ball but were shooting lots of free-throws from fouls while Kaleefah Henry grabed a total of seven rebounds for the Varsity Reds.
SMU's Marquis Clayton had a great first half attacking and scoring both inside and out with a total of 13 points and 29 points overall. He would later be named player of the game for the Huskies.
Score after the first half was 36-45 for SMU.
In the third quarter UNB did not find as much offense as they would like while SMU maintained the lead throughout.
In the fourth
Mark Matheson energized the V-Reds with a big dunk to bring UNB to within 11 (61-72) followed with a block and steal from Henry. The V-Reds continued to rally bringing it closer and keeping it within four through several minutes to 1:05 left on the clock and both teams in bonus.
In the dying seconds
Jesse Kendall had a big three pointer but it was not to be for UNB on this night as the Huskies went to the free throw line and put it out of reach to deny UNB and bring the final score to 100-94.
Javon Masters had36 points for the Varsity Reds and was named player of the game along with Marquis.
"I thought we played alright – the end got a little closer than we would have liked – we had a lot of guys in foul trouble," said head coach Jonah Taussig. "Offensively we were pretty good. Defensively Javon is a handful and we need to do a better job at getting back in transition defense."
UNB's head coach Brent Baker was pleased with his team's effort.
"It was a vast improvement over our effort level last night, especially Matheson and Caskey, both had a much better effort. So no, I'm not disappointed in our effort we were just two or three calls away and that's the game," said Baker.
Both teams will play again tomorrow as SMU will be looking for their third win of the weekend as they take on UPEI AT 12 noon.
The Varsity Reds will go up against Laval's Rouge et Or at 4:00 pm.
