Huskies fall 88-78 (OT) to Tigers in AUS Championship final

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - The Dalhousie Tigers topped the Saint Mary's Huskies 88-78 in overtime Sunday evening to claim the 2015 Subway AUS Men's Basketball Championship banner – their first since the 2010-11 season.

The Tigers came out strong in the opening quarter, but two late quarter runs by the Huskies put SMU on top 21-12 at the end of one.

Despite Dalhousie's fiery defence, Saint Mary's still managed to sink 56 per cent of their shots from the field with help from Osman Barrie (Ottawa, Ont.) who went 3-for-3 from the floor.

Kashrell Lawrence (Brampton, Ont.) led Dalhousie with five, while SMU's Brian Rouse (Mississauga, Ont.) topped all scorers with seven points and added four rebounds. 

The Saint Mary's big men, led by Osman Barrie's 10 points, proved too much for the Tigers in the first half, and the Huskies increased their lead to 41-28.

Lawrence posted 12 points and eight rebounds in the first half to lead the Tigers.

SMU's shooting percentage seemed to be the difference maker, doubling Dalhousie's 28 per cent.

Through three, Saint Mary's remained ahead 60-52 led by Jeremy McAvoy's 13 points, including three three-pointers in the quarter.

Dalhousie managed to bring the game within one early in fourth and kept the momentum up until the last moments of the game, trading baskets with Saint Mary's all the way through the fourth quarter. With 27.4 seconds remaining, Dalhousie tied the ball game at 73, but neither team could decide the winner in regulation. 

Overtime continued to be as thrilling as the first four quarters. Dalhousie carried their late momentum into extra time and would not be overcome, winning 88-78. 

Ritchie Kanza Mata (Toronto, Ont.) seemed to be the Tigers spark, and scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth and overtime periods. 

Kashrell Lawrence, the Subway player of the game and championship MVP, scored 31 points for Dalhousie.

Saint Mary's Subway player of the game was Brian Rouse, who led the Huskies with 21 points, 11 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block.

The members of the championship all-star team from Saint Mary's were Marquis Clayton (Halifax, N.S.) with nine points, four rebounds, eight assists and four steals, and Osman Barrie who added 16 points and eight rebounds.

Kashrell, Kanza Mata and Sven Stammberger (Halifax, N.S.) made up the rest of the all-star team. Stammberger had seven points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Tigers now advance to the 2015 ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS men's basketball Final 8 championship, being hosted by Ryerson University in Toronto March 12-15.

For more information on the CIS championship format, visit
http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mbkb/index.