THE MATCHUP
The Sea-Hawks continue their 2019-2020 AUS basketball season hosting Acadia Axemen for a pair of games this weekend. Both teams have the record of 2 wins and 2 losses and a win for either team would prove very beneficial at this stage of the season. The teams will be familiar with each other as they played 4 games last season, with Memorial winning the two games in St. John's and Acadia winning the two in Wolfville. However, the Sea-Hawks managed to win the point differential and prevail in the battle for the playoffs.
The Axemen finished 7th in the conference last season and narrowly lost the battle for playoffs for the first time since 2015, as they lost in the last game of the season to UNB on a buzzer beating shot. The team is drastically different from last year as Acadia graduated their top 4 scorers in Ben Miller, Trevon Grant, Nick De Palma, and Junior Moaku-Matia. However, this team has shown that it has enough to compete this season as they have earned two wins so far against tough opposition. The Axemen have a very balanced scoring with 5 players averaging over 9 points per game. Marcus Upshaw and Jacques Lukusa, 4th year guards, have played exceptionally well, with the former averaging 13.5 points and 3.5 assists per game and the latter averaging 16.5 points per game coming off the bench. With the addition of Alex Muise, a sophomore guard from Bedford, NS, the Axemen have a trio of skilled guards that is proving to be a problem for the opposing defenses. Acadia also has a lot of talent up-front with their 3rd year forwards, Forest Mahoney and Rowan Power. Power is averaging 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while Mahoney is one of the best rebounders in the conference, grabbing 8 rebounds per game. The Sea-Hawks will need to keep their focus on the defensive end and try to stop too many Axemen hands getting hot this weekend in order to prevail at home.
HAWKS EYE
Memorial Sea-Hawks will look to continue their solid play into this weekend and earn a sweep against Acadia following a tough road trip to Cape Breton. All the starters scored in double digits in the Saturday's game with Cole Long and Nathan Barker leading the way throughout the weekend. Both Long and Barker are top 5 in scoring in the AUS this season so far, averaging 17.3 points per game. Long showed his versatility again last weekend as he is also top 5 in the AUS in rebounds, blocks, and steals, and will be looking to continue to impress this weekend against the Axemen.
When asked about the games against Acadia this weekend, Long said: "This match up is very important, as it is another opportunity for us to grow as a team and work towards a winning streak. It is also important that we defend our home court, as the road is not an easy way to pick up weekend sweeps."
Barker looks to be returning to his usual form, as he scored 19 or more points in his last three outings. He feels that staying disciplined will be the key for the Sea-Hawks against Acadia.
"We need to go out there and put in the work required to win both games. If we provide the effort, we should put ourselves in a good position to win"
Providing consistent play inside this season for the Sea-Hawks, Boris Ristanovic had another good pair of games last weekend against the Capers. The second year forward from Kragujevac, Serbia is showing great improvements this season, averaging 13.3 points and 7 rebounds per game all while shooting an accurate 60 percent from the field. He will look to keep up the consistent performances against the Axemen, as the lack of size upfront could prove to be useful for the Sea-Hawks.
"We are very focused on getting two wins this weekend", Ristanovic said. "Personally, I am focused on doing whatever the team needs me to do in certain situations in order to win the game"
Another steady performance from Memorial's starting point guard Jason Thompson shows how deep this team is and how much damage they can do to other teams in the AUS. The Sea-Hawks will look to put together another pair of solid performances this weekend, come out with two wins and up their record to 4 wins on the season.
COACHES COMMENTS
Head Coach Peter Benoite had mixed feelings about last weekend's match-up with CBU. When asked about his thoughts on the weekend, Benoite said: "Any time you can get wins on the road that's a positive, so I am happy with that. I was a little bit disappointed with our effort on Sunday as I didn't think we matched CBU's intensity enough."
Benoite feels that the team needs to be better this weekend in order to secure the sweep. "Acadia are playing well, they are shooting the ball well, they play very hard and we are going to have to match their intensity to have success", Benoite stated. "We have to make sure our effort is where it needs to be, and then we have to make sure we play smart."
Benoite also believes that the team needs to get more from the bench this weekend. By getting more guys involved, the Sea-Hawks will look to provide depth that Acadia will find hard to stop, and will improve their chances of securing two wins at home.
Written by Kosta Tiodorovic