THE MATCH UP
Memorial Sea-Hawks will travel to Cape Breton this weekend for a pair of games against the Capers. These two teams have meet three times last season, with CBU winning two games in the AUS, and Memorial winning the game at the Shoveller Christmas Tournament. This match-up is very important for both teams as they are closely ranked in coaches' poll for this AUS season, Memorial ranking 5th and CBU ranking 4th. It will be interesting to see the battle between these closely matched teams considering both split the games in the opening weekend. A pair of wins for either side would gain much advantage in the standings over their rivals, as there are currently 6 teams in the AUS with the record of 1 win and 1 loss.
The Capers finished the 2018-2019 regular season in the AUS at 4th place with a record of 9 wins and 11 losses. After recovering from an injury-plagued regular season, CBU managed to reach the semi-finals of the AUS championships before losing to a strong St. Mary's squad. With most of the last season's core returning, The Capers will aim to improve on last season's performance and perhaps advance further in the AUS championship this year. They will be once again led by last season's AUS scoring champion Osman Omar, a 3rd year guard from Mississauga, Ontario. Omar earned the First Team All Star honors last year, averaging 21.9 points per game while hitting 49 percent of his attempted field goals. After having a slow start in their season opener, Omar bounced back in their second game against Acadia, scoring 22 points on efficient 8 for 16 shooting. On defense the Capers will rely on Paul Watson, a 6' 7'', 4th year forward from Mississauga Ontario, that was chosen to be the Defensive Player of the Year last year. Watson will look to command CBU's defense this season while also providing steady rebounding numbers. The Capers also have two AUS All-Rookie Team members returning this year in Ibrahim Gosselin-Diawara and Eugene Kanku. While Kanku didn't play in the first two games of the season, Gosselin-Diawara impressed in the season opening weekend. He averaged 17.5 points and 6 rebounds per game over the weekend and will be looking to extend his form in the match-up against Memorial.
HAWKS EYE
The Sea-Hawks opened up the 2019-2020 AUS season with a split against UNB Varsity Reds and will be looking to improve their record with two wins against the Capers this week. After a statement win on Saturday, Memorial started sluggish to open up the second game on Sunday. However, the team rallied and lost to a talented UNB team only after a hard-fought overtime battle that saw both teams break the 100-point mark. Cole Long continued his string of impressive performances in his first two official games for the Sea-Hawks, showing he will be a key addition for Memorial this year. The 4th year forward averaged 19 points and 9 rebounds per game over the weekend, placing him in the top 5 in both points and rebounds per game in the AUS.
When asked about his first games for the Sea-Hawks Long said: "It was a very special moment to finally play at home again after all this time. It was an awesome environment to be a part of, and the fans were amazing. We would have liked to go 2-0, but it was a good way to kick off our season".
Nathan Barker will look to gradually improve his form against CBU after a big double-double on Sunday against UNB with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Another player that was instrumental in rallying the Sea-Hawks for a comeback on Sunday was Jason Thompson. After a quiet game in the home-opener on Saturday, the 3rd year guard exploded on Sunday with 19 points and 7 assists, showing why he led the conference in assists last season.
"Getting my teammates involved is the number one priority", Thompson said. "We got multiple guys that can put up points in a hurry, so getting everyone a feel for the ball makes us a dangerous team".
Boris Ristanovic, a second year forward from Serbia, was also exceptional against UNB, securing his 2nd double- double of his AUS career on Saturday with 11 points and 11 rebounds. An important factor against the Capers this weekend, who scored over 80 points in both of their games so far, will be Deng Ring who showcased the potential to be one of the best defenders in the AUS this season. Ring was impressive on both sides of the floor, averaging 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals per game.
When asked about the impact of defense Ring said:" We hear it time and time again that defense wins games. We have pieces for offense, and I felt like we have always been able to match teams scoring wise. But now with our defense there to disrupt the opposing teams' main sources of scoring, we can start taking the lead for a change and take over games on both ends of the floor".
The Sea-Hawks will have to come out this weekend with a good defensive performance against CBU in order to secure the wins and get ahead of the pack early in the season.
COACHES COMMENTS
Head Coach Peter Benoite was pleased to see his players play good enough to give Memorial a chance to win in both games.
"UNB came out on fire on Sunday, we had to battle back hard and still had a chance to come away with the win.", Benoite said. "If we had executed better down the stretch, we could have pulled out the second win, despite not defending well most of the game. A lot of positives out of the weekend for sure. If we maintain better focus defensively and not make mental errors that hurt us, then I like our chances each and every game".
Benoite believes that limiting turnovers will be crucial for the Sea-Hawks this weekend against the Capers.
"The biggest key for us against Cape Breton is to make sure we take care of the basketball and handle their pressure well. They have some guys that can really score as well, so we will have to have good defensive focus and play with good energy and effort. If we defend well and take care of the ball, then I feel we will give ourselves a good chance to have positive results".
Written by: Kosta Tiodorovic