Photo by Udantha Chandre @ucephoto  

The Memorial Sea-Hawks (6-8) will look to get back into the win column when they host the UPEI Panthers (7-5) for a pair of games this weekend.

            The Sea-Hawks have endured a bit of an up-and-down season, now with 4 consecutive losses, taking advantage of these home games before the playoffs start. In a sigh of relief for Sea-Hawks fans, Memorial is getting back closer to full strength, having missed key players in each of the last 4 matches. The Sea-Hawks and Panthers have met previously this season, with the Panthers coming out on top by scores of 75-66 and 80-75, setting up a heavily contested matchup in the last weekend of the regular season. The Sea-Hawks currently boast 4 players currently averaging over 10+ points-per-game, with leading scorer Cole Long (19.1), Boris Ristanovic (14.9), Nicholas Tuff (11.6), and Nathan Barker (11.5). In terms of efficiency, Boris Ristanovic has been tough to stop for opposing teams, shooting a team-high 57.4 FG%, and 44.8% on 3PT shots, extremely impressive efficiency for the Sea-Hawks big man.

            The Panthers have had a solid season up to this point, currently sitting in 3^rd place in the AUS standings, and looking to potentially move up into the 2^nd spot with a pair of good performances this weekend. The Panthers are led by one of the premier guards in the AUS, Elijah Miller's 19.1 points-per-game, who's also scored at an efficient pace, shooting at solid 46.8% clip. Miller is also the Panthers main ball distributor, averaging a team-high 5.3 assists-per-game, and is a competitive rebounder, sitting 2^nd on the Panthers with 5.1 rebounds-per-game. Continuing with Miller's exceptional play, he also shines on the defensive end, averaging a conference-high 2.5 steals-per-game. The Panthers have two other players averaging over 10+ points-per-game, those being Glen Cox (11.2) and Dakelle Brooks (10.2), both have provided extremely valuable scoring throughout the season.

            This weekend's series will take place at the Memorial Fieldhouse, with the opening game on Friday, March 11th at 8:00 PM NST, and the finale on Saturday at 3:00 PM NST.

Sports Writer Daniel Bruce