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It was light weekend schedule in the AUS with only 5 games this weekend, beginning with Acadia's victory at home over UPEI 82-72. The Axemen (3-0) jumped out to a big first quarter lead and then relaxed from there as the Panthers (0-3) mounted some runs. Casey Fox had 18 to lead the way while Justin Boutilier, coming back quickly from an injury earlier in the year, had 13 points in 23 minutes as coach Steve Bauer used his bench extensively. Douglas College transfer point guard Tyler Lutton saw considerable time and had 7 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in 29 minutes, spelling Anthony Sears who battled foul trouble all evening. Game Recap from Acadia blog

Saint Mary's sweeps UNB The Huskies (3-1) defended the Tower both nights by jumping out quickly early, playing with an "edge" as Coach Ross Quackenbush put it. Unlike earlier in the year, SMU appears to be taking better care of the ball and over the weekend they shot the ball better and dominated the offensive glass. Friday night's game the Huskies shot 57%, grabbed 17 offensive boards and took leads as large as 25 before coasting to an 84-64 win. Joey Haywood had 21 points while Mark McLaughlin added 13 points and 7 assists while Ike Uchegbu had 8 offensive rebounds as part of his 12 point/16 rebound performance. On Saturday, it was much of the same as SMU grabbed 14 "o" boards and shot 54% and McLaughlin added a season-high 24 points with 7 assists while newcomer Demitre Harris had a Huskies-career-high 14 points in the win. 6'5" Alex DesRoches had 19 points and 14 rebounds for UNB (0-4), casting further doubt on my pre-season prediction as the V-Reds being one of Canada's most improved teams this season.

Tigers take two but games much closer than scores indicate Dalhousie (3-0) had to fight back from a pair of halftime deficits at home to tame the Seahawks as 6'2" Simon Farine again led the way. In the first game on Saturday, MUN (0-4) led 32-28 at halftime, continually beating the Tigers off the dribble, before Dal started guarding the ball and putting more pressure on the wings to hold MUN to only 5 third-quarter points. The Tigers scored 66 second-half points as they started making shots and getting transition scores off their "d" to win 83-62. Farine had 21 points and 11 assists while 6'6" Jason Wang had one of his top career games with 15 points and 6 assists. MUN made it even more difficult this afternoon, leading by two at 62-60 after three quarters and were down only 5 with about 4 minutes remaining before the Tigers scored on their last 12 possessions to win going away 96-81. Farine had 28 points and 7 rebounds while Marcus Wong had 16 points/6 rebounds. Fifth-year guard Andrew Sullivan was solid with 14 points and 8 assists as Dal scored 36 fourth-quarter points to seal the win. The Seahawks have a relatively small team and are perimeter-oriented offensively usually with 4-out/1-in looks and UCLA cuts. 6'5" Robbi Habib is a nice perimeter-oriented four man who can stroke it and face up when he has a favorable matchup. 6'3" Mike Helsby from Kitchener is another solid dribble/drive guy for the Seahawks while 6'4" Jason Shephera is another bigger wing who can attack off the dribble. The Hawks were in both games but appeared wilt amid tighter ball pressure and when decision making time shortened tended to start settling for jumpers at key moments rather than attacking. It was a promising weekend for MUN despite the losses given how Dal was tested.