REDS Take Tourney Title
(MONTREAL, QC) The UNB REDS men’s basketball, coming off another successful exhibition season weekend, are preparing for their final three non-conference games before the 2023-24 Atlantic University Sport season begins.
The REDS, who head to Calgary for this weekend’s Calgary Cup, are coming off a tourney title run at the Concordia Classic, in Montreal.
The REDS scored wins over Regina, UNBC and the host Concordia Stingers in Montreal.
“This was a great weekend all-around for our team,” said REDS’ head coach Joe Salerno. “We played some of our best basketball yet against some solid competition from other conferences. This tells me we’re trending in the right direction as we prepare for our AUS regular season.”
On Friday, against Regina, Marcus Barnes scored 15 points and Javordo Mitchell added 14 in UNB’s 74-49 win.
In Saturday’s 81-61 triumph over UNBC, Barnes dropped 18 more.
Norm Burry led the REDS on Saturday, scoring 20, while Eden Otshudi scored 17 and Mitchell grabbed 12 rebounds.
On Sunday, with the tournament title on the line, Barnes completed his tremendous weekend with a 20-point performance, while Vegas Evans led the REDS with 25.
Barnes was named Tournament MVP.
“Being named MVP of the tournament is an honour and I am grateful for the recognition,” said Barnes. “Winning is a team effort, and everyone played a huge role to lead to our success at the tournament. This was truly a team effort.”
“I was pleased with our effort, and compete level,” said Coach Salerno. “Our goal was to go 3-and-0, so it was great to see us accomplish something we set out to do.”
The REDS are now 6-and-1 in exhibition play.
At the Calgary Cup, UNB will face Windsor, McGill and the host Calgary Dinos.
“This should be a real test for our group. All three of the schools we will see have storied basketball programs,” said Salerno. “This was a big reason why I wanted us to go to this tournament, to really challenge our guys prior to the start of the AUS season. Hopefully we can build off some of the momentum from last week and continue to improve game by game.”
UNB’s Calgary weekend begins Friday, against the Windsor Lancers. Game time is 7:00pm Atlantid.
The REDS open the 2023-24 AUS season on the road, at STFX, on October 27th.
STORY BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTO BY: Concordia Athletics