WOLFVILLE, N.S. – A different result in Acadia's second home game matchup against visiting Memorial, as the Axemen dominated from beginning to end in a 76-65 win over the Sea-Hawks.
No last second three point shot was needed for today's win.
Acadia pushed quickly out on a 9-0 run to gain a 15-3 lead that grew to a first quarter 28-12 Axemen advantage. Fifth year senior forward Erik Nissen posted 10 points and 9 rebounds in the opening quarter, to pace the Axemen to an eventual 50-30 halftime lead.
"I think we took things a little more personal and our match-ups a little bit. We were a little bit stronger and we made sure we protected our paint. We wanted to prove that we're better than that team. We didn't want to leave any doubts. The game got a little bit closer than what it should have but it felt as though we controlled most of the game," said Nissen following the game when questioned what the difference was between last night's result and today.
The Axemen were 39% from the floor compared to Memorial's 22% and Acadia out-rebounded the Sea-Hawks 59 to 30 with most of the work coming from Nissen's 17 boards and teammate Rhys Larry's 15 rebounds and 12 point effort.
Nissen finished the game with a game high 24 points, while Sea-Hawk Daniel Gordon posted Memorial's high, for the second night, in a row of 16 points.
The Sea-Hawks would come as close as seven points in the opening six minutes of the second quarter and trailed as much as 24 points at the half-way point of the third frame.
On a positive note for Memorial, they netted 38 points from the bench. Gordon led the way with 16, while Austin Chambers added 11.
The Axemen bench provided points from Nick De Palma, Mason Middaugh and Eli Kraushar of 6, 6 and 5 respectively. Starters Ben Miller, Mitch Tempro and Trevon Grant added 7, 6 and 5.
The Axemen head to Antigonish next weekend to take on the host StFX X-Men on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 8:00 p.m. Memorial will host the defending AUS champions Dalhousie Tigers on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. NT.