Sunday 20 February 2011

Acadia 73, Dalhousie 71 *Updated*

6'2" Alex McLaughlin tipped in the game winning shot at the buzzer after a miss right as the Axemen broke a long losing streak with a valiant come-from-behind thriller over the Tigers in Wolfville.  McLaughlin fought off a Tigers rebounder and banked home the tip of a miss of a three point attempt from the left wing by 6'8" Owen Klassen, sending the Acadia bench into a frenzy.  Acadia is now four points behind UPEI and Saint Mary's for the final playoff spot in the AUS.  Acadia trailed 70-60 late as 6'1" Simon Farine had a strong fourth quarter that seemingly had broke open what had been a tight game to that point but then back-to-back 3's by 6'1" freshman Thomas Filigiano and McLaughlin energized the home side.  Later McLaughlin tied the game at 71 with another 3 with just 20 seconds remaining when the Tigers, up 3, decided to double down on Klassen in the post and the slick all-conference candidate found McLaughlin wide open on the left wing.

Today's game was a defining moment in the career of McLaughlin, the younger brother of legendary Saint Mary's Huskies star Mark McLaughlin and helps the emerging young star move out of the shadow of his well-decorated brother.  As importantly, the win gives the Axemen momentum entering Wednesday's game at home against the Huskies.

The game was tight throughout until the midway through the fourth when it appeared Dal would pull away.  Filigiano's buzzer-beating 3 tied the game up at 51 after 3.  Axemen had a valiant effort with Klassen and 6'3" Anthony Sears in foul trouble for much of the afternoon.  Sears and Klassen both picked up #4 late in the third but Acadia stayed in the game.  6'5" Justin Boutilier was much more confident and agressive getting to the rim.  Dal hurt themselves at the line, going only 9 for 17 through three quarters.

1 comment:

Bill McLean said...

As Dave Chafe pointed out to me last week, the Axemen are in the driver's seat for a playoff spot despite being 4 points behind. The Axemen have three home games to finish the season, a two point game vs SMU, and 2 four point games vs last place Memorial. So 10 points still up for grabs for the Axemen and you have to figure they'll get at least the 8 vs MUN. So basically you can give the Axemen 22 points with 1 game left, the Huskies 18 with 2 games left on the road (at Acadia, at Dal) and UPEI 18 pts with 2 games left (at CBU (4 pointer, and at X)