Game recap by: Kirk Jessome
(Halifax, NS) – In game two of the Varsity Showdown, the Dalhousie Tigers wrapped up the first half of their season against the Saint Mary's Huskies at the Scotiabank Centre. It took an extra five minutes of overtime, but the Huskies came away with the 73-68 win.
Nikita Kasongo (Chateauguay, PQ) opened the scoring with a big dunk down the middle of the lane, but the Tigers were able to exploit a size advantage on the other end with Sascha Kappos (Miami, FL) and Mike Shoveller (Arnprior, ON) playing high-low.
It was a cold offensive start to the quarter with both teams shooting under 30% from the field through the first eight minutes, but the offensive rebounding of the Huskies helped to bail them out despite the shooting troubles.
After a quiet first quarter, the Tigers held the advantage at just 11-9.
The lid seemed to remain on the basket in the first half of the second, but the Tigers were able to make an adjustment to pound the ball inside and earn trips to the line as their main source of offense.
Offensive rebounds continued to be collected by the Huskies in the second quarter, and Brent Martindale (Kingston, ON) finally got their shooters going, knocking down their first three with two minutes to go in the half.
Martindale gave the Huskies their first lead since the opening possession, nailing another three off of a nice pick-and-pop play to make it 26-23.
The Tigers were able to gain the advantage back before the end of the half on a three from Jordan Braithwaite (Milton, ON) as the teams went into the locker rooms with the Tigers leading 27-26.
The Huskies were able to keep feeding the ball to Martindale down low to open up the second half with six quick points, and they once again on a deep three from Kemar Alleyne (Scarborough, ON) made it 37-33.
The Huskies increased their lead late in the quarter with the Tigers shooting going cold, and Qyemah Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) pushed it to 44-35.
The Tigers were held to just 12 points in the third quarter, and as a result the Huskies held a 44-39 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Alex Carson (Lower Sackville, NS) was in the process of singlehandedly keeping the Tigers in the game in the fourth quarter, picking up six straight points to open the fourth.
The Tigers slowly climbed their way back into the game, and were able to regain the lead on a corner three from Cedric Sanogo (Montreal, QC).
The lead continued to change hands late in the game, with Nico Brauner earning a three-point play the hard way, and Keevan Veinot (Port Williams, NS) hitting a shot from deep on the other end.
Following a Tigers turnover in a tied game with just five seconds to go, it came down to the last shot for the Huskies. The first shot was swatted away by Kappos, but the rebound came out to Johneil Johnson (Lake Echo, NS) who sent up a prayer that rattled around the rim and bounced out to send the game to overtime.
The Huskies struck first in the extra frame with Alleyne picking up five quick points before Carson could stop the run with a deep ball on the other end.
Carson was able to knock down another three with under ten seconds left, and those were the only points the Tigers could manage in the overtime period, and the Huskies were able to finish off the 73-68 win.
Carson led the Tigers with 18 points in the loss, while Kemar Alleyne led the Huskies with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists to earn the Subway Player of the Game award.
The Tigers will begin the second half January 5th when they travel to Acadia. The Huskies will take on StFX in their first game back on January 4th.