St. John's, NL
In match with serious playoffs implications, the travelling Saint Mary's Huskies trudged into Memorial's fieldhouse to face the hometown Sea-Hawks. It was a slow start for the hosts, as SMU had a touchdown on the board before Memorial could break their goose egg. Nevertheless, the Sea-Hawks hung around and clawed their way back into the contest. The deficit was just 2 at the conclusion of the first; 19-17 for the snow dogs.
The second quarter was when the Haligonians started to pull away. Led by the stroke of Jayrell Diggs, who had 14 first half points including a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc, Saint Mary's outscored Memorial 22-9 in the period. The surplus was 41-26 at the half, unfortunately representing a season low in first half scoring for the Hawks.
Memorial showed signs of life in the 3rd quarter. Chipping away at the lead, Manny Ring effortlessly sank a 3 pointer that cut the deficit to 7. He finished 19 points, 16 of which came after the break. Regretfully, the 7-point gap would be closed no further. The Huskies took control of the match in the early portion of the 4th quarter, growing their advantage to as many as 15. Marc-Denault Gabriel posted 12 second half points and a game high 9 boards. He finished with 20, as did Diggs. Sea-Hawks guard Flynn Boardman-Raffet led all scorers with 26.
In the end, the Huskies never did relinquish that 7-0 advantage they opened with, and led bell to bell in an 81-74 triumph. Thanks to their fine-form since the Holiday break they had previously clinched their berth in next weekend's AUS playoffs, but now remain in contention for bye directly into the semi-final. Memorial, on the other hand, must win their final game of the season tomorrow evening, 8:00pm at the Fieldhouse in order to book their ticket to the big dance. Pending results elsewhere, it may be possible to clinch a playoff berth without their 10th victory of the campaign, but that would require opening up a can of tie-breaking worms that coach Coultas does not even want to think about. Expect Memorial to bounce back tomorrow evening, coupled with a celebration of their graduating student-athletes.