Men’s basketball falls just short of playoff spot
Tigers don’t make the dance for the second year in a row
Dalhousie University’s men’s basketball team missed playing in the Atlantic University Sport championships by just two league points, failing to make the playoffs for the second year in a row.
The Tigers have won seven of the last 10 Atlantic University Sport men’s basketball championships, but fell three points short of making the playoffs last season. This year marks the third time coach Rick Plato’s squad failed to make the playoffs in his 13 years as head coach; the only other season came in his first year at Dal.
Dalhousie finished the season 7-13, two points behind the University of Prince Edward Island and Memorial University. Both will play in the championship when it comes to Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre from Feb. 20 to 22.
The Tigers beat the Memorial Sea-Hawks twice on Feb. 6 and 7, putting Dal in the sixth-place playoff position, but a loss to third-place Acadia University on Feb. 12 and two wins for Memorial against last-place St. Mary’s University saw the Sea-Hawks push Dal out of the championship.
Look back on the season
This year’s men’s basketball team featured a mix of upperclassmen who were part of the Tigers’ most recent championship run and a plethora of first-and second-year players still finding their footing in AUS basketball. The team has eight freshmen players on the roster, and with the recruits came growing pains.
Dalhousie started the season 1-5, but rattled off four wins before the winter break, heading into the second semester with a 5-6 record. The Tigers came back to earth in January, losing all six of their regular-season games last month. It’s been a see-saw season for the Tigers, in which Plato searched for consistency with his young group.
“The other teams, they want it more,” Plato said. “It’s a five-on-five game, but ultimately it comes down to you against your man, and you’ve got to win those individual battles.”
Lydell Husbands-Browne, the team’s starting point guard and lone fifth-year player, said the key to the team’s fall winning streak was its defence.
“That’s been one of our struggling points this year,” Husbands-Browne said. “If we can do that, we know we can beat any team. It’s that defensive aspect. It leads to easy baskets, too.”
He said the team lost sight of that identity in the second half of the season.
“We’re giving up too many easy baskets, not communicating enough and not doing the things that are stressed by coach Mike [Michael Barrie] and coach Plato,” Husbands-Browne said.
Before the home stretch of the regular season, Husbands-Browne said the team needed to make their shots and put their hard hats on while playing defence. The Tigers played three do or die games that if they won all three would lock them into the playoffs. Dal defeated Memorial University twice and held them to less than 76 points. But in the deciding game against Acadia University, Dalhousie was ousted 88-58.
Plato wanted his young team to experience the bright lights of the AUS playoffs at the Scotiabank Centre.
“Between playing and coaching, I’ve done a lot there and experienced a lot on both sides,” Plato said. “The atmosphere and the experience for the guys, it’s critical.”
