In the third place game (played after X captured the tournament championship), the host Dal Tigers grabbed a confidence-building 74-66 win over UPEI Panthers and did so in come-from-behind fashion. Many would agree that this week was a coming out party of sorts for Dal's freshman point guard Ritchie Kanza Mata from Scarborough Mother Teresa and he punctuated a solid week with a 16 point, 11 assist, 7 rebound afternoon going against the Panthers stable of athletic guards and wings. After PEI jumped out to a 12-0 lead off the opening tip, Kanza Mata and 6'6" Robert Nortman keyed a 26-9 run that gave Dal a five point lead midway through the first half. Dal had to come back again midway through the fourth as UPEI took their last lead with about 6 minutes remaining and then Nortman, Kanza Mata and 6'2" Alex Arthur went to work to help the Tigers claim the Bronze medal. Nortman scored on a free throw and then subsequent layup to give Dal the lead for good and later Arthur hit two big threes, the final one with just under two minutes to play that gave Tigers a six point lead and iced the game.
UPEI, led by tournament All-Star Manock Lual (14 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 38 minutes) had retaken the lead late in the third but poor free throw shooting (15 for 27 55%) and great work by the Tigers, sent the Panthers home at 1-2 for the week. Box Score
Tournament All Stars
Warren Ward (Ottawa) - had the big mid-court buzzer beating shot to beat Acadia in the consolation semi-finals but Johnny Berhanemeskel could have easily been Ottawa's all-star based on his strong 31 point effort vs. X
Will Donkoh (StFX) Some believe Donkoh was the catalyst to both the semi-final and championship game wins as he was most instrumental when X made their game-deciding runs. Taking over the role as X's energizer bunny in the press, Donkoh has matured and is now one of X's most important players.
Kyle Desmarais (Concordia) solid performance by the steady guard; had a nice punch down at the end of a fast break in today's game that wowed the crowd.
Manouk Lual (UPEI) Looking to make his fifth and final season special and had a very good tournament
Ritchie Kanza Mata (DAL) Starting to show that he may be one of the top freshmen in the AUS.
Tournament Most Valuable Player: Terry Thomas (StFX) X's highlight-waiting-to-happen had at least two fierce dunks today and has progressed into one of the top players in the AUS in just his second season with added strength that makes him even more difficult on the offensive glass, in transition and finishing strong and hard around the rim.
1 comment:
Officially, Concordia was the runner up in this tournament but having seen most of these games on stream I'd have to say Ottawa was the second best team, just behind X.
Ottawa lost by a one possession margin in OT and it took a Bol Kong 3 point heave just to get them there.
Essentially the tournament began with the championship game.
Neither UPEI nor Concordia seriously threatened X the way the Gee Gees did.
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