St. John's, NL
It was a night to remember at the Feildhouse, as the Sea-Hawks dominated the Huskies from start to finish, claiming a statement 34-point victory and clinching a playoff berth in the process. The Sea-Hawks came out quite literally flying as Ivan Tsafack, Nick Tuff, Flynn Boardman-Raffet, and Jason Thompson took turns getting to the rim. An 11-point deficit at the end of the first quarter was just the beginning of Huskie woes.
As Coach Ian Coultas utilized his bench, the intensity only increased. Josh Reimer and Jojo Modiandambu both wasted little timing making their mark on the game. Reimer was tidy from long Range shooting, and Modiandambu showed up with his signature in-your-face defense. Jojo is a verb. An equally impressive 2nd quarter left the Sea-Hawks with a very comfortable and well-earned 57-32 lead. Nick Tuff lead all first half scorers with 12 points, including a trio of trays.
Not content with just 1 foot in the playoffs, the hosts kept their foot on the gas and the fun continued in the 3rd frame. In true townie fashion, Tuff, JT, and Ring took turns making it rain from beyond the arc. Add in a Manny Ring dunk and a Josh Reimer behind the back highlight reel, and the party was more than on. By the end of the third quarter the Sea-Hawks had more than doubled the Huskies. The 93-45 score line presented an unthinkable 48-point lead.
The fourth was just a formality with both teams taking the opportunity to rotate their squads and offers some valuable developmental minutes to younger players. The final score was 108-74 to the Sea-Hawks. Fittingly for senior's night, Jason Thompson and Nick Tuff shared the scoring spotlight, both putting up a game high 20. Jayrell Diggs, who was oh so influential in Friday's contest, was kept off the scoreboard all together. Memorial showed their team scoring depth as 6 players hit double digits, and that doesn't even include Boardman-Raffet who is the team's top scorer this season. Remarkably, 47 points came off the bench, and this truly was a team victory.
Memorial will now face the UNB Reds in Friday's AUS quarter final at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. On paper there is not much separating these 2 teams. Both finished the regular season at 10-10, and the head-to-head matchup was split 2-2, with each school protecting their home court with sweeps. Tonight's loss has cost the Huskies a semi-final bye, and they will now have to emerge past the UPEI Panthers to claim that spot. Basketball fans will acknowledge that the 2023-24 AUS season was one of the most tightly contested in recent history. Heck, it was perhaps one of the closest competitions that any AUS sport has seen in some time. It's all to play for next weekend in Halifax and it's been proven all season long that absolutely any one of the 6 entries could emerge as champions. You won't want to miss this one – tune in next weekend at austv.ca.