(ST. JOHN'S, NL) The UNB REDS suffered a tough 82-72 loss to the Memorial Sea-Hawks in Atlantic University Sport men's basketball action on Saturday night, in St. John's.
Norm Burry (Grafton, NB) led the REDS with 22 points while Javordo Mitchell (Woodbridge, ON) had 12 rebounds.
The Sea-Hawks' Flynn Boardman-Raffet (London, England) made an impressive three-pointer to open the scoring.
Although the teams displayed a strong push early on, both sides faced challenges with risky plays and unsuccessful throws.
Six minutes into the game, the REDS led 16-7, forcing the Sea-Hawks into a timeout as they had been unable to gain a point in the two minutes prior.
Heading into the last five minutes of the first quarter, the REDS took a four-point lead.
Despite the Sea-Hawks cutting the lead to five, at 18-13, Burry landed a dunk, pushing UNB's lead to 22-17 after one quarter.
In the second, the REDS held the scoring edge for the majority of the quarter, but with five minutes left, the Sea-Hawks cut the REDS' lead to two once again.
Memorial's Jodick Moudiandambu (Hamilton, ON) tied the game with a jump shot with four minutes left in the quarter.
The teams traded the lead in the final moments and the Sea-Hawks led 42-41 at the half.
The teams remained neck-and-neck in the third quarter, fighting fiercely for the lead.
Neither team could find the basket over a two-minute stretch until UNB's Vegas Evans (Brampton, ON) sunk a three-pointer, breaking a 50-50 tie.
The Sea-Hawks closed the quarter with a 61-58 lead.
Memorial kept a small lead throughout the first half of the last quarter.
Mitchell brought the REDS within two, at 68-66, but UNB then fell behind by nine and weren't able to come back.
Memorial closed out their 82-72 victory.
The Sea-Hawks are now 8-and-6, good for share of the lead atop the AUS standings.
UNB is 5-and-9, but just six points out of first.
The REDS return home to take on the Cape Breton Capers next Sunday, January 28th. Tip-off is at 3:00pm.
The Sea-Hawks visit Dalhousie on Friday.
RECAP BY: Madison Tucker/for UNB Athletics with files from MUN Athletics
PHOTOS BY: UCE Photos/for MUN Athletics