Acadia advance to AUS semifinal against UNB
Acadia saw five players reach double digit points as they beat the Memorial University Sea-Hawks 90-65 in their Friday night AUS Championship quarterfinal game at Scotiabank Centre.
The last time the Axemen qualified for the six-team championship was in 2017, but they last played in it in 2022. That year, all eight teams made it following the cancellation of the 2021 season due to COVID.
Acadia's next hurdle will come Saturday night when they will square off against the second-ranked UNB REDS, who finished the regular season with a 13-7 mark. Game time is set for 8:30pm at Scotiabank Centre.
In their season series, Acadia won both games.
The Axemen are in search of their first AUS title since 2012, while the REDS will look for their first banner since winning it all back in 2018.
In Friday night's contest, Acadia got out to an early start thanks to Kyle Munro (Timberlea, NS) scoring eight points to help his team to a 25-19 lead. On the other side, Norm Burry (Grafton, NB) paced Memorial with 13.
Memorial cut into a lead a bit in the second quarter, outscoring the Axemen 25-24 to trail Acadia 49-44 at the break. Sea-Hawks guard Jodick Moudiandambu (Hamilton, ON) caught fire for the red and white, scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds.
Munro added seven more in the second quarter as his team held on to their lead. He finished the night with 19 points to be named Player of the Game.
The second half saw Acadia pull away thanks to shooting 46 percent from the field in the third quarter, while Memorial struggled to the tune of 21 percent – including going just 1-for-7 from beyond the three-point arc.
In the final quarter, Acadia put their foot on the gas, outscoring the Sea-Hawks 23-10 in the final 10 minutes of play to close out the win.
Munro was named Player of the Game after finishing the game with 19 points. Teammates Robbie Grant (Halifax, NS) and Ryan Regault (Scarborough, ON) added 14 points apiece.
Burry led all scorers with 21 points.