By Duncan Forbes
UQAM 91 StFX 83
In the first matchup of the second day of competition at the Rod and Joan Shoveller Memorial Tournament, UQAM came out on top in an afternoon affair against the StFX X-Men. On the strength of a game-high 25 points from Greishe Clerjuste and a monster 20 point, 15 rebound effort from Kewyn Blain, UQAM grabbed a 26-17 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.
Despite shooting 47.8% from the field in the game, the X-Men just couldn't compete on the glass with UQAM, who pulled down 59 boards in the contest.
Kevin Bercey kept the game close for the X-Men throughout the game, pouring in 20 points on 8-12 shooting to go along with 16 rebounds. Julius Antoine had 16 points and six rebounds in the loss for the X-Men.
The win for UQAM means that they will go on to face Acadia at 11:00am on Sunday to finish up their tournament, while the X-Men will face the MSVU Mystics in the early game at 9:00am.
Acadia 78 MSVU 72
The Axemen survived a late scare by the surging Mystics as they came away with the 78-72 victory on the second day of competition at the Shoveller. The trio of Nick DePalma, Erik Nissen and Kyle Arseneault combined for 51 points on the day as a balanced attack led the Axemen to victory.
After scoring just nine points in the opening quarter, the Mystics stuck around all game and had a monster 28 point fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to fully overcome the lead that the Axemen had built by that point.
Emad Khalek led the Mystics with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists while Brayden White added 16 points of his own to go along with six boards.
Acadia will play their final game of the tournament tomorrow at 11:00am against UQAM, while the Mystics will take on the StFX X-Men in the early game at 9:00am.
Saint Mary's 87 UPEI 81
It looks like it will be the battle of Halifax for the Shoveller crown as the Saint Mary's Huskies took down the UPEI Panthers 87-81 in semifinal action on Saturday night at the Dalplex.
After the Panthers took a one point lead after the first quarter, Osman Barrie exploded for 17 points in the second quarter and the Huskies found themselves up by seven going into halftime.
The Panthers got the deficit down to just three points going into the final frame, but they couldn't manage to fend off Barrie and the rest of the Huskies as they pulled away late to come away with the win.
Osman Barrie finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds, while Theon Reefer had a game-high 26 points to go along with six rebounds. Marquis Clayton had 21 of his own after going 11-12 from the charity stripe in the contest.
CIS leading scorer Tyler Scott fell just short of a double-double with a 25 point, nine rebound performance in the loss to lead the Panthers in the loss, while Brad States finished with 20 points and 13 boards.
Saint Mary's will face their cross-town rivals the Dalhousie Tigers in the final tomorrow at 3:00pm, while the Panthers will take on the Concordia Stingers tomorrow at 1:00pm.
Dalhousie 65 vs Concordia 60
The Dalhousie TIgers have booked their ticket to a second consecutive trip to the finals of the Rod & Joan Shoveller Memorial Tournament with a tough, gritty win over the Concordia Stingers.
After jumping out to a 19-15 lead after the first quarter, the Tigers went absolutely ice cold and didn't register a field goal in the first seven minutes of play in the second quarter. Despite this, Concordia could not capitalize on the Tigers miscues and they trailed by 11 points at halftime.
Michael Fosu started to go to work for the Stingers in the second half, and he finished with a team-high 22 points on 9-13 shooting, as he was the only one of two Concordia players to finish in double-digit scoring. Jean-Daniel Mathieu added 11 in the loss for the Stingers.
Despite Fosu's work down low, the Tigers kept up their strong defensive play and came away with a five-point victory. Ritchie Kanza Mata, best known for his passing and his defense, took the offense into his own hands as he registered 17 points on just six shots. Sven Stammberger had 12 of his own, including a vicious and-one dunk in the final minutes which brought the crowd to their feet.
The win means that the Tigers will go on to face the Saint Mary's Huskies in the finals at 3:00pm, while Concordia will tip off against the UPEI Panthers in the bronze medal game at 1:00pm.