THE MATCH UP
The Sea-Hawks will start the 2019-2020 AUS season at home playing against UNB Varsity Reds. These two teams met only twice last season, splitting the wins evenly. Both teams have a group that has been together for quite some time and are very comfortable playing together. Both teams also have high hopes for the 2019-2020 season, relying on a relatively young team without 5th year players. The first weekend of the season will provide insight in how these teams will match up, with both of them hoping to get two in the winning column on the first weekend.
University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds finished last season in 2nd place of AUS with the record of 13 wins and 7 losses. After exiting the playoffs in the 2nd round last year, Varsity Reds will look to come back strong and repeat their 2017-2018 campaign in which they won the AUS. The chemistry should be there considering they are returning important players from last year. Leaders of this team will once again be Ibrahima Doumbouya, 3rd year forward from Calgary, AB, and Chris Spurell, 4th year guard from Quispamsis, NB. Doumbouya earned First-Team All-Star honors by leading the conference in rebounds and being the only player last season to average a double-double with 15.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Spurell was selected to be a Second-Team All-Star after having a break-out year for the Varsity Reds last season where he upped his scoring to 15.3 points per game. The 3-point shooting of him and Tyler Leotaud, a 4th year forward from Ajax, ON, are going to be crucial for the Varsity Reds, especially after graduating their marksman from last year Jesse Kendall. Marcus Masters, younger brother of 3-time AUS MVP Javon Masters, will look to carry an important role as well in his first year with UNB. The Varsity Reds are going to be very deep this season, hoping for yet another successful season in the AUS.
HAWKS EYE
Sea-Hawks will look to build on a fairly successful preseason and open up the new season with the win. After going 4-3 and winning the Concordia Classic tournament they will look to make a leap this season, finishing 6th in the AUS standings last season. Cole Long is fitting in well with his new teammates, proving to be an important addition to the Sea-Hawks. The 4th year forward averaged 15.9 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists per game in preseason while also capturing Concordia Classic All-Star and MVP honors. "It was a great environment to be apart of and it felt like I was surrounded by a group of people who truly support me. It felt really good and I honestly can't wait to play again", Long said about the preseason with his new team. Sea-Hawks will be keen to see the development of their two sophomores, Boris Ristanovic and Emanuel Ring. Ristanovic had a solid first season for Memorial, and after spending the summer at training camp for U-20 Serbian National Team, will look to have more responsibility this season. He averaged 10.7 points and 4 rebounds per game through 7 preseason games. "I am really looking forward to this season", said the Serbian forward. "We have a group of talented guys who love playing together. If we continue to work hard, I think this group can do something special". Emanuel will try to continue his success from last season in which he won the recognition of the AUS Rookie of the Year. Averaging 10.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in the preseason, Emanuel showed his presence on both sides of the floor, especially on defense where him and his brother Deng were exceptional, both averaging 1.3 steals per game. When asked about playing with his brother, Emanuel said: "It was awesome. It has been a while since we've played alongside each other". Nathan Barker nabbed the Concordia Classic All-Star honors as well, while other players like Daniel Foo and Nicholas Tuff had strong performances in the preseason. This shows that the Sea-Hawks will have a lot of depth this season, as they look ready to attack the AUS this year.
COACHES COMMENTS
Head Coach Peter Benoite was satisfied with the team regarding the preseason. "Overall I was pleased with our pre-season trip", Benoite said. "I would have liked to have better outcomes in our 2nd tournament, but was pleased with our compete level and our ability to give ourselves chances to win games, even when we weren't playing well". He believes that Memorial has a chance of being a really good team as long as the team keeps challenging themselves. When asked about the Varsity Reds, Benoite said: "They have been a great program the last few years, and are very good again this year. UNB always play hard, so we will need to make sure we play as hard or harder than them". He finds that the Sea-Hawks will need to have a good performance this weekend and focus on their competitiveness in order to start off the season with a pair of wins.
Written by: Kosta Tiodorovic