SMU wins first of two versus Memorial

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia. – The SMU Huskies defeated the Memorial Sea-Hawks 77-66 in a crucial game worth four points on Saturday night from the Homburg Centre.
 
Saint Mary's, improves 6-8 in Atlantic University Sport action, was led by sophomore Qyemah Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) who finished the day with 20 points, six rebounds, four blocks and three steals in 33 minutes of action.

Also scoring in double-figures for Saint Mary's were sophomore Dontae Mitchell (Vaughan, ON) with 15 points and junior Johneil Johnson (Lake Echo, NS) also had 15 and pulled in five rebounds and had three steals. Fifth-year Travis Adams (Halifax, NS) led the team in rebounding with 15 and added a double-double with 11 points.
 
Cole Long (St. John's, NL) paced all scorers on the night with 23 points for the Sea-Hawks and Jason Thompson (St. John's, NL) added 19 and Boris Ristanovic (Kragujevac, Serbia) had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, as Memorial drops to 6-9 on the year. 

Long scored the first six points for Memorial as the Sea-Hawks led 6-1 with 6:48 left in the first quarter. Long doubled up SMU 10-5 with a layup midway thru the frame. SMU closed out the quarter on a 10-8 run and the Huskies trailed Memorial by three, 18-15.

Both teams traded buckets in the second quarter, as the frame saw four ties and seven lead changes. Scoring was even 15-15 and Memorial led by three at half, 33-30.

Memorial led by five, 37-32 early in the third quarter. SMU erased that deficit in 52 seconds and drew even, 37-37 with 7:01 left in the third. A 18-11 SMU run closed out the third and the Huskies led by seven after thirty minutes, 55-48.

SMU controlled the final frame, leading by as much as 14 and outscored Memorial 22-18 in the quarter. Saint Mary's held on for the victory, 77-66.

Up Next: Both teams return to action Sunday Feb. 2^nd to conclude their weekend series at 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on AUStv.ca
 
Dominic Nolasco, SMU

Photo Nick Pearce