(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB Reds battled hard from start to finish but came up short to the Dalhousie Tigers, losing 82-73 on Saturday night in their Atlantic University Sport regular season finale.
Jordan Brathwaite (Milton, ON) had 20 points and four rebounds to earn Subway Player of the Game award.
"We're very conifident, we just want to make sure we are focused on the next step ahead which is playoffs next weekend, because we have been in playoff mode for a while now," said Brathwaite.
The Tigers finish first in the AUS and earn a first round playoff bye in next week's AUS Championships, in Halifax. With the loss, the Reds finish third, and will play the Cape Breton Capers in their quarter final game to open the AUS playoffs.
Both teams would trade leads back and forth in the first quarter, and would stand tied 17-17 after 10 minutes.
The same trend would continue in the second with the Reds heading into half-time with a slim 39-37 edge.
In the third, the Reds seemed to be starting to build a lead going up 45-41, only to have the Tigers battle back to tie it 49-49, and head into the fourth with the largest lead of the game 65-56.
The Reds were resilient in the fourth, trimmiing the lead with a 15-6 run to start the final quarter to tie the Tigers 71-71.
However, they couldn't hold off the Tigers down the stretch, coming up short in the 82-73 loss.
"I like where we are trending, our effort level, and how we played," said Reds head coach Brent Baker. "The biggest thing was that in a tie-game we gave up two offensive boards for put-backs and scores, that was the tough one to swallow."
Chris Spurrell (Quispamsis, NB) led the Reds with 26 points and four rebounds, while Ibrahima Doumbouya (Calgary, AB) had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Xavier Ochu (Milton, ON) had 17 points and seven rebounds for Dalhousie.
The Reds face the Capers in their AUS quarter-final game on Friday night, at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. Tip-off is at 8:30pm.
The Tigers await the winner of the other quarter final, between the Saint Mary's Huskies and the Memorial Sea-Hawks.
RECAP BY: Jonathon James/for UNB Athletics