Huskies win first of two home-and-home games in season opening weekend

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Saint Mary's Huskies posted a convincing 77-57 win over the host Acadia Axemen in the first of two home-and-home games in AUS season-opening weekend.

Acadia's Eli Kraushar led all point-getters with 21, while Subway Player of the Game Shae Brown netted 12 for the Huskies' win.

Down 7-2 in the early minutes of the opening quarter, the Axemen settled for a 15-13 Saint Mary's lead after one quarter. The only lead for the Axemen came at the three-minute mark of the first frame. They would not hold another lead throughout the game.

With just over four minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Huskies pushed the lead to 28-22 after a Qyemah Gibson layup, but Kruashar responded with a three-point jump shot to narrow the lead to 28-25 Huskies.

Kraushar drained another three-pointer to stop a 5-0 Huskie run late in the opening half, but when the dust settled, Saint Mary's showed a 43-30 lead after one half.

Saint Mary's maintained a good size lead throughout the second half, pushing as far away as 22 points by the eight-minute mark of the final frame.

The Huskies out-rebounded Acadia 44-36. Saint Mary's posted a 42.9 field goal percentage, while the Axemen recorded 29.2%.

Jayrell Diggs had a team-high 20 points for the Huskies off the bench. Nikita Kasongo posted 16 points along with 10 rebounds. Kasongo shared the most Huskies boards with Jace Colley.

Alex Muise pulled down 13 rebounds including 12 defensive boards. The last shot of the game came from rookie forward Kaj MacVicar who drained his first three of his AUS career.

The Axemen and Huskies face off again tomorrow night in Halifax at 8:00 pm.