In their home Saturday night action UNB had a tight matchup with the Sea-Hawks early on, with back-and-forth play ending with the first quarter tied at 18-18.
Going into the second quarter the Varsity Reds were still being pushed hard, but were able to take a four point 37-33 lead into halftime.
After half UNB steadily improved on the previous quarters opening up a further lead to a 63-53, outscoring MUN 26-20 in the quarter.
The Varsity Reds never sat back going into the final quarter as they kept pushing the Sea-Hawks, pounding them in the fourth quarter, scoring 27 points and holding Memorial to only 12.
The Varsity Reds got the win, 90-65, their first season opening win since November 11, 1995.
UNB head coach Brent Baker knows winning the first game of the season was huge for his team’s confidence.
“It’s always nice to start with a win there is no doubt about it,” he said. “I was pretty excited about that. It is hard not to be human and our guys had to fight complacency. I keep telling the guys lets not be complacent, lets not be human and fall into the old habits.”
The players of the game were Andrew Wright for UNB and Mike Helsbey for MUN.
Daniel Quirion led the team in scoring with 22 points and three rebounds, while rookie William McFee scored 10 points, with five boards.
Baker was pleased with his McFee’s play in his first regular season game with UNB.
“The thing is he is that one player we haven’t had here in awhile, where other teams are going to have a hard time guarding him,” said Baker. “He’s had to battle some foul trouble, it is just taking awhile to get him adjusted here, but once he gets in a groove he’s going to be a real good find for us.”
After the opening game UNB was back in action against MUN on Sunday, where they were able to pull out a narrow 82-80 win. This gave the Varsity Reds a 2-0 start, something this team has not been able to do in years.
After opening up the first half with 48-36 lead going into halftime UNB continued to open up their lead, in the third quarter, with Memorial closing it again to make the score 62-57 after three quarters in the pit.
Baker saw that his team just stopped putting the pressure on Memorial, causing them to falter.
“I got after them at halftime,” he said. “They came out with a good response with us getting up 20, then the arse kinda fell out of us and they seemed to do like most teams. We forget what gives us a lead, we start doing the easy way out instead of sticking with the program.”
The fourth quarter was tense as the Sea-Hawks closed in on UNB taking the lead midway through the final quarter 66-65. The teams traded baskets, keeping things locked up until Antwann Parks hit a late three for the Varsity Reds to put them up 78-75.
When MUN brought the ball back down the court Parks was able to get his hands on the defensive rebound, and on the next drive down the court the Varsity Reds were able to find a five point lead late in the game.
Coach Baker knows that shot made the difference at that point in the game.
“That was big,” said Baker. “Antwann and I had a little talk at halftime we’ll say. I got in his grill pretty good, but he responded which he always seems to. When we’ve had some wins here, he has hit some big shots down the stretch, that’s not new for him.”
The Sea-Hawks answered back, making the score 80-78. Andrew Wright was fouled as soon as UNB inbounded the ball, giving him two shots, both of which were converted on to make it 82-78 for the Varsity Reds, before MUN managed one more basket before time ran out with the game ending 82-80.
The players of the game were Alex DesRoches for UNB and Robbie Habib for Memorial.