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St. Mary's 88 (9-2, 1-0 in AUS), Acadia 82 (5-2, 0-1 in AUS) 6'2" Mark McLaughlin led a game-deciding 15-4 run early in the fourth quarter to lead the Huskies to victory at Acadia on the opening night of the AUS season. McLaughlin, who scored 18 of his career-high 33 points in the final frame, had 8 points during the run which culminated in his jumper that gave St. Mary's a 14 point lead at 72-58 with just 5 minutes remaining. The Huskies then proceeded to knock down all their free throws down the stretch when Acadia began to foul including a perfect 12 for 12 in the fourth quarter for McLaughlin, who was a perfect 14 for 14 from the line overall and shot 60% (9-15) from the floor. 6'1" Shane Morrison added 20 points on 7 for 11 shooting from the floor, contributing a key "and 1" during the big run while 6'5" Aaron Duncan had 14 for the Huskies. 6'5" Leonel Saintil had a 17 point, 13 rebound double double to lead Acadia, which played without last season's AUS Player-of-the-year 6'1" Paolo Santana. Santana was on the bench but not in uniform and he appeared to have an ankle injury that didn't appear to be very serious. Saintil however illustrated the Axemen's woes at the foul line (9 for 22 as a team), going just 1 for 6 from the stripe before fouling out late. 6'4" Luckern Dieu also had 17 points for Acadia on 7 for 11 shooting as 5 Axemen reached double figures. The win in a four-point game on opening night was huge for the Huskies given that their first 5 games of the AUS schedule are on the road, including a pair in Cape Breton next weekend. St. Mary's has only 1 home AUS game before the holiday break, which come on November 29th at the Tower against St. FX.

Here is a preview article on the Axemen that we just located (authored prior to tonight's game) Acadia Preview from Novanewsnow.com

As well, here is an article by Chris Kallan in the Halifax Daily News on Huskies underrated point guard Mark Ross. As well, Chris provides a preview of the contenders in the AUS this season Ross Takes on Responsibility

Latest update from College Park, Maryland has the Terrapins out to a 14-2 lead on Concordia, playing their 5th game in 8 days in 3 different time zones. No doubt the Stingers are exhausted as their 1 for 18 start from the floor most certainly attests. Concordia was down 12-0 and did not score until 6'5" freshman James Clark hit a jumper 8:35 into the game.