FREDERICTON, NB – The UNB Varsity Reds defeated Laval Rouge et Or 101-75 in the final game of the Accreon Eric Garland men's basketball tournament.
Laval jumped out to an early lead in the opening quarter as the Rouge et Or goes five for seven in three point territory and Belanger drained three three-pointers. UNB ran into foul trouble early and only shot 22 percent from the field while Laval had an impressive 42 percent.
Score after the first was 28-12.
The second quarter couldn't have been more different as UNB scored 44 points and held Laval to 19. It was Matt Daley and Jesse Kendall who both drained a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to energize the Varsity Reds who all of a sudden were within three. UNB continued to build their score and headed into the dressing room up 56-47 following an additional three at the buzzer by Daley.
Score was 56-47 at the half in favor of UNB.
"We decided that we actually wanted to play basketball, decided to get on the glass, we hit some shots finally and began to work as a team," said Mark Matheson who was named player of the game for his 21 points and 22 rebounds.
Daley had 19 points to his credit and shot 5-5 three pointers. Laval's Karl Demers-Belanger had 16 points at the half and would finish with 25 to his credit. He was named player of the game for Laval.
The third got off to a quick start as UNB added two quick points and quickly increased their lead to 18. Daley and Matheson drove the crowd wild shooting threes and increased the V-Reds lead to 82-57. UNB had a total of 15 threes at this point in the game while Laval dropped nine.
In the fourth quarter the Varsity Reds continued to maintain their lead while the Rouge et Or suffered from a number of turnovers and struggled to hit from outside or get the easy layups. UNB had a total of 33 points from turnovers while Laval had 11.
"It was a great tournament. We were pretty disappointed how we played in the first two games. We loved seeing the fans out there; it's always a great time," continued Matheson.
UNB Javon Masters
Laval Alexandre Leclerc
SMU Theon Reefer
UPEI Tyler Scott
UPEI Lorenzo Parker
MVP SMU Marquis Clayton