The Dalhousie Tigers (8-6) used strong performances by Kashrell Lawrence and Jarred Reid to defeat the Acadia Axemen (4-11) 85-77 Tuesday night in a crucial four-point game. The win is just the Tigers second victory in their last five games, while the Axemen have now lost their last four games and six of their last seven.
Kashrell Lawrence had a game-high 26 points on 8-11 shooting, while he grabbed six boards and came up with three steals. Jarred Reid went 5-9 from beyond the arc and had 20 points on 7-12 shooting overall. Rookies Cedric Sanogo and Kevin Duong chipped in nine and eight points, respectively.
Sean Stoqua had a team-high 23 points and eight rebounds to lead Acadia in the loss. Shaquille Smith added 15 points, while Nick Ernest went a perfect 4-4 from the field and 3-3 from the line as he dropped 11 points.
The Axemen jumped out to 5-0 lead in the first but the Tigers answered right back to knot the game up. The Axemen responded with a 12-2 run as they opened up a 17-7 lead on the Tigers. Ross Chrichton made his first bucket of his AUS career with 20 seconds left as he trimmed the Axemen's lead to 21-14 after ten minutes of play.
The Axemen kept up the pressure in the second quarter as their lead grew to as much as 12. The Tigers tied the game up at 36 with 1:32 to go, but Sean Stoqua hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to give the Axemen a slim 38-36 lead going into halftime.
The teams battled back and forth in the third quarter, but Stoqua had another key bucket as he nailed a jumper as time expired to give the Axemen a 62-60 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Tigers took over in the fourth quarter, widening their lead to as many as nine points. The Axemen would get it to as close as four points, but the Tiger pulled away as they won 85-77.
The Tigers will look to win back-to-back games when they go on the road to take on the Cape Breton Capers in a two-game set this weekend in Sydney, while the Axemen will travel to Charlottetown on Friday night to take on the UPEI Panthers.