REDS Drop Pair At X
(ANTIGONISH, NS) The UNB REDS dropped a close 81-80 decision to the STFX X-Men in Atlantic University Sport men's basketball action, Saturday afternoon in Antigonish.
Saturday's loss followed a hard-fought 90-80 loss to the X-Men on Friday.
"It's a tough pill to swallow coming home with two losses, when we were in position to win both games," said REDS' head coach Joe Salerno. "Even more so, when you consider how Saturday afternoon's game ended. It's always difficult when you feel the end result of the game was taken out of the player's hands to decide, especially when it was such a battle all game."
On Saturday, Marcus Barnes (Kitchener, ON) and Matthias Muscroft (Sussex, NB) led the REDS with 17 and 15 points respectively.
Conner Landell (St. Catherines, ON) scored a dozen points and pulled down nine rebounds in a game that saw the teams tied 40-40 at half-time.
"At the end of the day, we didn't execute at a high level to close that one out," said Salerno. "There is a reason X is undefeated at home this year. That's a very tough place to play against a very good team."
In Friday's loss, Barnes scored 23 points while Landell registered a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
Brandon Laryea (Crawley, UK) added 13 points and nine rebounds.
With the losses, UNB is now 9-and-10 headed toward their regular season finale.
The REDS will host Acadia on Friday. Game time is scheduled for 8:00pm.
"I was extremely proud of our guys for their effort and fight all weekend," said Coach Salerno. "We were in a position to win both games, and we just didn't close it out. Something we certainly need to learn from, as we move into the playoffs, and I believe we will."
The REDS have clinched a spot in the AUS Championship Tournament, February 28th-March 2nd, in Halifax, where they'll face a yet-to-be determined quarter-final opponent.
STORY BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Bryan Kennedy/for STFX Athletics