Diggs, Mitchell lead Huskies to 95-87 home opening win over Tigers

Saint Mary's Huskies guards Jayrell Diggs (East Preston, NS), and Dontae Mitchell (Vaughan, ON) combined for 58 points, helping lead the Huskies to a 95-87 win over the Dalhousie Tigers on Thursday night at the Homburg Centre in Halifax.

The Huskies home opener saw them defeat their crosstown rivals and defending AUS Champions in front of over 410 excited fans.

Early in the first quarter, Dalhousie guard Malcolm Christie (Fredericton, NB) converted on a four-point play to put the Tigers up 4-2, which would go down as their first and only lead of the night. Mitchell came out strong in the first quarter, scoring a game high 10 points, including a pull up three pointer and a tough transition lay-up on back-to-back possessions, and the Huskies took a 21-18 lead into the second quarter.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS �� @DontaeMitchell scores five of his 10 first quarter points in stylish fashion. Huskies lead @DalTigers 21-18 after the first. pic.twitter.com/JSQE4drhuO

— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 3, 2022

The second quarter was the Jayrell Diggs show, as the second year guard converted on a tough and-one layup to put the Huskies up 33-28 with 4:35 remaining in the first half.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Jayrell Diggs hits a tough lay-up through contact for the and-one. Huskies lead 37-32 in the second quarter. pic.twitter.com/UL2FtvjjDC

— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 3, 2022

Diggs continued his strong play throughout the quarter, going on a personal 7-0 run, and finishing the quarter with 12 points on 4/7 shooting from the field, and 4/4 from the free-throw line. 

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Jayrell Diggs goes on a personal 7-0 run to extend the Huskies lead. Diggs scored 13 of his 17 first half points in the second quarter, Huskies lead @DalTigers 46-36 at the half. pic.twitter.com/TlQfQVM90l

— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 3, 2022

The Huskies took a 46-36 lead into the locker room after the first 20 minutes, led by 17 points from Diggs and 14 from Mitchell. The Tigers were led by forward Joshua Koulamallah (Gatineau, QC), who recorded 10 points and four rebounds in the first half. Dalhousie's bench also contributed in the first half, scoring 13 points compared to the Huskies six. 

The Huskies backcourt continued their dominant play in the third quarter, as Mitchell (8 points), Diggs (5 points) and Shae Linton-Brown (Toronto, ON) combined for 19 of the Huskies 22 points in the third, with reserve guard Jonas Maerz (Rosenheim, Germany) adding a three of his own, and also drawing a pair of charges in the quarter. The Huskies took a 68-52 lead into the final quarter.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS �� @DontaeMitchell with an acrobatic finish for two of his 22 points, and Jonas 'Charge Master' Maerz draws his third offensive foul of the game. Huskies lead 68-52 after 3Q. pic.twitter.com/EennNnLe8R

— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 4, 2022

Early in the fourth quarter, another Diggs three-pointer extended the Huskies lead to 20 points, 74-54. That would be the largest lead of the game, but a late Tigers comeback led by guards Shamar Burrows (Nassau, Bahamas) and Nginyu Ngala (Montreal, QC), who each scored 10 fourth quarter points, would make the Huskies uncomfortable and make it a close game late.

Trailing by 19 points with just over two minutes remaining, the Tigers went on a 16-2 run to cut the Huskies lead to five, before Diggs hit five free-throws down the stretch to secure the 95-87 victory.

"I thought we played well," said Huskies head coach Jonah Taussig post-game. "It got a little too close at the end there though with their pressure – they did a good job. I also thought we were careless with turning the ball over. But it's a good win – we're happy." 

Huskies guard Jayrell Diggs was named Subway Player of the Game scoring a career high 32 points on 9/19 from the field, 3/8 from beyond the arc, and 11/11 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds.

"Everyone was calling us underdogs… we knew we had to come out hard from the beginning of the game. We knew that they're one of the top teams in the nation, we never beat them all of last year, so we knew we had to run hard and push them," said Diggs post-game.

Post-game interview with @SUBWAYCanada Player of the Game Jayrell Diggs who scored a career high 32 points and added 5 rebounds in the Huskies 95-87 win over @DalTigers. pic.twitter.com/jfYPJmUL4M

— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 4, 2022

Mitchell added a season high 26 points along with six rebounds and four assists, and Linton-Brown stuffed the stat-sheet with 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Huskies rookie Conrad Scotchburn (Ajax, ON) also recorded the first points of his AUS Career.

The Tigers were led by Koulamallah who recorded a 21 point, 10 rebound double-double, while Burrows and Ngala added 14 points each. 

The Huskies win improved their record to 2-1, while the Tigers loss dropped their record to 2-1. The two rivals will meet up again on Saturday, this time at the Dalplex, with tip-off scheduled for 8 p.m. 

"I like this schedule where we have one day between games to try and find a few adjustments, and try to be ready for what they're going to do," said Taussig post-game. "They'll be ready to fight and so will we." 

Recap by Lauren Phillips / SMU Huskies Athletics