Acadia reach first AUS final since 2013

HALIFAX, NS - The Acadia Axemen will play for the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) men's basketball championship banner for the first time in over a decade. 

On Saturday night in front of a packed crowd at Scotiabank Centre, the third-seeded Axemen defeated the second-ranked UNB REDS 78-69 in their AUS Men's Basketball Championship semifinal contest. 

On Sunday, the Axemen will meet the UPEI Panthers, who upset the top-ranked STFX X-Men earlier on Saturday. Game time is set for 4pm. 

The last time Acadia played for an AUS title was back in 2013 when they fell to Cape Breton University. The last time Acadia won an AUS title was the year before in 2012 when they defeated STFX to earn their conference-leading 17th AUS title. 

The game started slow as both teams traded a few blows early.  

Four minutes into the opening quarter a Ryan Regault (Scarborough, ON) jump shot made the score 5-4. More was coming from Regault later. 

Malko Young (Toronto, ON) connected from beyond the three-point arc with just five seconds left in the quarter to give Acadia a slim 17-15 lead. 

The second quarter is when things started to go downhill for UNB, as they shot just 17 percent from the field (3-of-17). The good news, however, is that they matched Acadia's 13-point output in the quarter to trail 30-28 at the break. 

The shooting woes continued for the REDS after halftime, as they shot a slightly better 22 percent from the field (5-for-22). The bad news, however, is Acadia shot 57 percent and extended their lead to 53-45 going into the final period of play. 

Eden Otshudi (Hamilton, ON) was the lone bright spot for the Reds in the quarter, scoring seven points – four of which came from the free throw line. 

The action picked up considerably in the fourth quarter as both teams tried to clinch a berth in Sunday's championship final. 

Marcus Barnes (Kitchener, ON) scored nine points and teammate Matthias Muscroft (Sussex, NB) added seven more to try claw their way back. 

Regault had other ideas, though.  

He scored 14 points in the final 10 minutes of play – hitting four crucial free throws in the final minute of play to help seal the victory for his Axemen. 

Regault finished the game with 19 points and seven rebounds. Teammate Robbie Grant (Halifax, NS) added 22 points along with seven rebounds of his own to be named Player of the Game. 

Barnes ended his night with 22 points. Otshudi added 13.