The Memorial Sea-Hawks finally step back onto the hardwood this weekend when they travel to PEI to face the UPEI Panthers for a two-game series.
The Sea-Hawks carry a similar team to the one that they played with during the 2019-20 season (the 2020-21 season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic), they have 9 returning players, including featured starters Cole Long, Nathan Barker, Boris Ristanovic, and Jason Thompson. The conference's leading scorer Long averaged 20.6 points-per-game on 45.1% shooting from the field, while making nearly 2 three's a game on 38.2% efficiency. Long, who plays the centre position, wasn't only relied on for his scoring either, as he added impressive marks of 9.6 rebounds-per-game and 2.7 assists-per-game, he was regarded as not only one of the better players in the AUS conference, but the whole nation. Sea-Hawks forward Nathan Barker was Long's primary running mate during the last full campaign, Barker was able to average 14.8 points-per-game which placed 2nd on the team. With the long layoff due to last years cancelled season, Sea-Hawks head coach Ian Coultas was happy with what his team showed in the preseason: "We are happy with how our preseason turned out. We hadn't played in 20 months, so getting back on the court was a great feeling and getting two wins against tough competition gives us some confidence going into the season" said Coultas. The Sea-Hawks won a pair of their three preseason games and will look continue their winning ways this weekend.
The UPEI Panthers, who finished in last place during the 2019-20 season with just 3 wins in 20 games, but with the nearly two-year hiatus for AUS basketball this is a new, exciting Panthers squad. Despite the changes made since the last time they stepped on the court, the Panthers still have two of their top scorers returning for another season. Panther's leading scorer from the 2019-20 season and returning guard Elijah Miller should be the focal point of the Panther's offence and his 15.3 points-per-game placed 9th in the conference the last time a full-season was played. Also returning is senior guard Dakelle Brooks, who's 11.3 points-per-game in 2019-20 placed 3rd on the Panthers, and he should play a crucial role once again this season.
The season opener between the Sea-Hawks and Panthers will take place at 8:00 PM ADT on Saturday, October 30th, and the following game will be at 3:30 PM ADT on Sunday.