MATCHUP
The Sea-Hawks will travel to Wolfville, Nova Scotia this weekend where they will face Acadia Axemen, officially entering the second half of their schedule. They will look to recover from an injury plagued weekend against Dalhousie and bounce back with a pair of wins on the road. The two teams already met two times this season with the Sea-Hawks winning both games by double digits and securing the home court. However, the task won't be easy as Acadia is usually a tough matchup when playing at their own gym. Memorial will have to play disciplined and with a return from injuries for some players, grind out two wins against the Axemen this weekend.
Acadia is coming into this matchup at the 6th place in the AUS with a record of 3 wins and 5 losses. However, they are coming off of an overtime win against the UPEI Panthers and a solid outing at the Shoveller Memorial tournament that took place over the Christmas break, so Sea-Hawks will have to stay focused in order to take care of business. The Axemen don't have a stand-out player that is posting big numbers every time out, but they do have a couple of good, hard working players who know how to play with each other. Their leading scorer is Rowan Power, a third year forward that is averaging 14 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He is shooting an efficient 50.6 percentage on his field goals while playing extremely hard, so the Sea-Hawks will have to keep him off the boards in order to contain him. Another player that Memorial will need to box out hard is Forest Mahoney. Mahoney is having a great year so far, averaging 10.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, all while leading the conference in blocks(2.6 per game) and shooting an efficient 58.5 percent from the field. By eliminating his presence on the offensive boards, the Sea-Hawks will force him into taking tougher shots which will limit his impact on the game. In addition to the duo of forwards, Acadia also has solid duo of guards in Marcus Upshaw and Jacques Lukusa who have both performed very well in the season so far. Upshaw is averaging 12.8 points per game while also providing solid playmaking for the Axemen (3 assists per game). Lukusa provides a reliable scoring threat of the bench, averaging 13 points per game while ranking third in the conference in free-throw percentage with 90.6 percent free-throws made. Because the Axemen are playing home, Memorial will have to work extra hard to break them down and will have to play disciplined team basketball to take down such a deep team.
HAWKS EYE
The Sea-Hawks are coming into this weekend ranking 2nd in the AUS with a record of 5 wins and 5 losses. The team suffered a lot of injuries lately, as most of their starting lineup was out towards the end of the last weekend. Memorial is hoping that bringing some of the guys back for the clash against Acadia will prove fruitful and that they will come out on top this weekend.
Cole Long was one of the players that missed the games against Dalhousie but will look to return to the lineup against the Axemen: "I am very excited to be returning to the lineup this weekend", Long said. "These are some big games coming up and it is important for us to bounce back after a couple of losses"
In addition to Nathan Barker being out with an ankle injury, the Sea-Hawks won't be able to count on their starting point guard Jason Thompson, who suffered a hamstring injury during the Shoveller Memorial tournament. However, he believes that the back up point guards Devon Tobin and Ohad Segev have what it takes to run the offense from the one spot. "Running the point takes a lot of focus so for every team it is important to have a confident point guard". Thompson stated: "With me being out it gives younger guys an opportunity to play a lot of minutes and learn how to handle it at this level. I have no doubt that our guys will step up and take care of business"
In the absence of Barker, players that stepped up and played big minutes were Deng Ring and Boris Ristanovic. With Ristanovic being questionable for the games against Acadia, Ring will need to provide a steady source of offense, while continuing his campaign for the Defensive Player of the Year. He thinks that playing on the road against Acadia isn't easy but that with the right attitude, the Sea-Hawks should take care of business. "Acadia will have a slight edge this weekend as they are playing at home, but I believe we are the better team anywhere we play", Ring said. "The key to repeating our performance is to keep a must win mentality and treating every game with the same level of importance and urgency. We can't take anything for granted as anything can happen in the AUS". Memorial will need to remain focused in order to come out on top this weekend and secure their place for the bye in the first round of the playoffs.
COACHES COMMENTS
Head Coach Peter Benoite believes that the team shouldn't dwell on the losses last weekend and that they should look forward on concentrating on Acadia. "They can be a very dangerous team and we need to go into their gym with good focus and discipline and make sure we play good basketball for 40 minutes". He knows how tough Acadia is on their own court and thinks the team can rise to the occasion and get two wins on the road. "They are very tough in their own gym, and they will be very hungry for these games, so we will need to defend well, and make sure we keep our focus on D for the full game". Benoite acknowledges there is still work to do: "We have to keep focusing on doing the things it takes for becoming a better basketball team. There is lots of room for improvement and we need to keep learning as we keep moving forward"
Written by: Kosta Tiodorovic