After six games, the UNB men’s basketball team is in a four-way tie for third place in the conference with six points.
This is good enough for a playoff position, but the team cannot afford to throw away home games, especially ones that are worth four points in the standings like the two loses it suffered on the weekend.
After coming home from a split against UPEI, the team that UNB is in competition for one of the final playoff spots, any points that could be taken from Dalhousie and Acadia would be seen as a bonus.
The V-Reds led the Tigers after the first quarter by two, but never came close after that. The Tigers are a team that doesn’t possess a lot of athleticism or sheer skill, but make up for it in being smart defensively and resourceful offensively.
They challenged shots, didn’t recklessly try to block shots and box out on defence and set good screens, hit open shots and made the extra pass well with the ball.
It didn’t help the Varsity Reds cause that Will McFee, the team’s all-action Aussie, played only 21 minutes, after committing his fourth foul on the first possession of the third quarter.
When he came back into the game in the fourth he led a mini-resurgence as he scored 14 points, dropped two dimes and took a couple of charges before he fouled out with four minutes left. Alex DesRoches was the only other Red to score in double figures, scoring 10.
The Tigers were as balanced as ever with five players scoring in double-figures, with Juleous Grant and Sandy Veit leading the scoring with 12 a piece. Dalhousie won 70-54.
“It’s just one of those nights,” said head coach Brent Baker, “It’s just very frustrating. Danny Quirion just had a bad night, played very poorly for him, usually if Danny’s going, usually our bench steps up a little bit,” said Brent Baker. “We just we weren’t mentally ready to play tonight.”
Baker knew one of the keys to the game was going to be rebounding, knowing that Dal had a length advantage but expected the team to board as a unit, but the Tigers out-rebounded UNB 40-24, including 14 offensive boards
“We talked all week about the rebounding and stuff like that,” said Baker, “I knew it was going to be a problem, but I expected us to shoot the ball a hell of a lot better. That’s the biggest frustration for me right now.”
“We were complicating basketball, if we stick to fundamentals, not million dollar passes and just keep it simple, we’re pretty good.”
The next night UNB dropped the game to Acadia, which looked competitive until the second half. Andrew Wright drained a three at the halftime buzzer to give the Reds a 38-36 lead at the break.
The wheels came off in the third as the Axemen went on a 15-6 run to start the quarter and won it 23-9 taking a 59-47 lead to the fourth.
Acadia’s zone coverage in the second half gave UNB fits, as the Reds only shot 29.4 per cent for the second half.
Antwann Parks and Dustin Anthony brought energy off the bench and trimmed the lead down to six, but Acadia turned it around after UNB’s starters were reinserted into the game as they ran away with the game 79-64.
The Reds “lost focus, composure,” according to McFee. “Just got away from playing our game, we went back into their game.”
With four minutes left in the game, Baker was ejected from the game by the referees. What was said is unknown and no comment was available from Baker. The Varsity Reds are now off until Jan. 8-9 when they travel to Memorial for a doubleheader.