Huskies defeat Gaitors to capture the UNB Eric Garland Tournament

(FREDERICTON, NB) The Saint Mary University Huskies are champions of the University of New Brunswick's annual Eric Garland Tournament.

The Huskies finished 3-0 after an 82-66 win over the Bishop's University Gaiters, on Sunday.

Brian Rouse (Mississauga, ON) scored a game high 21 points to lead Saint Mary's.

Dave Belanger(Sherbrooke, QC) and Nick Harvey(Saint-Bruno, QC) both had 10 points for the Gaiters.

"It's a really good start, but we have a lot to work on," said Rouse, of the Huskies' weekend.

"We've got to continue to come together, and work on our defensive play."

The Huskies forced 26 Gaiters turnovers, scoring more than one quarter of their points off those take-aways.

Despite a decent effort, Rouse says the Huskies let down in the second quarter.

"At half time our coach really got into us and said we have to turn up the intensity," said Rouse. "We played good in the first quarter, but in the second we let down, we got comfortable. In the second half, we just took it away from them."

The Gaiters finish the weekend pre-season tournament with a 1-2 record.

Second year forward Abdul Kamane(Montreal, QC) feels the team learned a lot.

"We have to be mentally ready for every game," said Kamane. "Even when you have three games in three days, you have to be ready."

Kamane says the Gaiters were a bit tired ahead of Sunday's game, and got outworked.

"We have to be better on defence, and we have to play harder. On the offensive and defensive boards, we didn't work hard and that was pretty much it."

Rouse and SMU's Marquis Clayton(Halifax, NS), along with the Gaiters' Belanger, were named to the tournament all star team.

Clayton was named the Most Valuable Player of the Eric Garland Tournament.

RECAP AND PHOTOS BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics