Tigers crowned AUS champions after dominant second half

By Thomas Becker 

The UPEI Panthers should be commended for their effort. 

Throughout the game, they stood toe-to-toe against one of the country's best, but ultimately fell short as the Dalhousie Tigers came away AUS champions following a hard fought 84-78 win. 

The Tigers outscored the Panthers 49-29 in the second half which proved to be the difference in the game.

Even in defeat, Panthers head coach Darrell Glenn said he's proud of his team's fight and competitive spirit.

"I couldn't be prouder of this group. They gave everything they had this weekend and they certainly did again tonight," he said. "We played against some seasoned veterans and there was a lot of opportunities for us to quit but we didn't."

Elijah Miller and Glen Cox carried the scoring early for the Panthers with four apiece, but still trailed 11-8. Layups from Sam Chisholm and Cox pulled them ahead before Isaiah Ankra drilled a three-pointer to cap off a 7-0 to make it 15-11. Cox then went on an individual 9-3 run to give his team a 24-14 lead after one quarter. 

The Tigers came out strong in the second quarter and went on a 12-4 run to trim the deficit to 28-26. Keevan Veinot got it started with and three-pointer and Samuel Wade capped it off with a layup.

Cox continued to have the hot hand, as the sophomore guard connected on another three-pointer midway through the quarter to push the lead back up to six, 37-31.

Dalhousie tried to regroup with a timeout, but UPEI just padded their lead, as Cox added six more points in a 10-3 run on their way to a 49-35 advantage at halftime.

Cox led all scorers with 26 of his game-high 32 points at the break, while Shamar Burrows had eight the other way. Burrows led his team in scoring with 19 along with Veinot, who also had 19 points. Alex Carson finished with 17, while Wade was the fourth Tiger to reach double digits with 14. 

Burrows came out of the break strong and drove to the basket for two early layups to make it a 10-point game. After Dalhousie went in for another layup, Miller responded with a big three-pointer to make it a double digit lead again. However, that was short-lived as the Tigers quickly cut the deficit in half on a Carson layup and a Veinot three-pointer. 

The Scotiabank Centre erupted moments later when Veinot went in for a thunderous dunk that made it 57-55, forcing Glenn to use a timeout. The breather proved to be timely as they closed the quarter on a mini 6-1 run and took a 63-56 lead into the fourth.

The lethal Carson-Veinot duo struck again early in the quarter when the pair connected on back-to-back three-pointers to make it a 63-62 game. They'd take the lead for the first time since the 7:36 mark of the first quarter on a Carson triple followed by a Wade layup. Carson added another layup before Burrows drilled a three-pointer to give them a six-point advantage. They'd ride that lead to the end in the 84-78 win.

Photo Credit: Nick Pearce