The Men’s Basketball Tigers came back from 20pts down to beat the UNB Varsity Reds 84-82 on Saturday Nov. 7 at the Dalplex. It might be the game of the year in the AUS and the season is only through game two. The Tigers record is now 2-0 on the year.
“You gotta show up in this league,” said Tigers Head coach Rick Plato. “You gotta show up and you gotta play 40 minutes. Their backcourt is as good as any backcourt in the country and they made us pay early … we gutted it out and got the W at home, the wins at home are key.”
The first quarter was a back and forth affair between the two teams, as they exchanged big buckets at both ends of the floor. The Varsity Reds had the lead 24-20 heading into the second quarter. Varsity Reds G Jesse Kendall was on fire from beyond the arc going three for three from downtown in the quarter on his way to 22pts on seven of 10 from the field and five of seven from three point land.
The start of the second quarter was where the Tigers dug themselves the 20pt hole. The Varsity Reds went on a 16-0 run in the first five and a half minutes of the frame. The Tigers settled for jump shot after jump shot and could not get any of them to fall.
Trailing 40-20 with 4:30 left to go in the first half Tigers F Sven Stammberger put the team on his back. Stammberger was aggressive with the ball in his hands, driving hard to the basket and showing great poise in the post on his way to a career high 40pt night. The Tigers finished the frame on a 16-4 run of their own to go into the half trailing 44-36.
“It’s the heart,” said Stammberger, referring to his team’s ability to come from behind. “I think it just sets the tone for the rest of the season.”
The third quarter was a see-saw affair. Every time the Tigers seemed to be on the verge of closing with eight points the Varsity Reds answered with big shots of their own. Matt Daley in particular seemed to answer with a clutch shot to keep the Varsity Reds out in front. Daley finished with 18pts on the night. Stammberger had a monstrous jam plus the harm, hitting the ‘and one’ from the line in the middle of the quarter.
The fourth quarter is when the Tigers made the final push. They entered the frame trailing 66-56 but would not be denied victory. With the big crowd at the Dalplex growing their energy on every possession the Tigers clawed their way into the lead with three minutes left to play and did not look back.
Stammberger iced the game with a couple of free-throws to give the Tigers an 84-79 lead with only a few seconds left. Daley hit a deep three at the buzzer for the 84-82 final.
“We came out really flat,” said Stammberger. “But we fought back and it just shows us that we can win any game even if we’re down 20.”
Cedric Sanogo had a solid game dropping 17pts and Kashrell Lawrence came up big down the stretch and finished with 10pts.
“It’s not good for a coach’s constitution,” said Plato. “But we’ll take the result.”
Up next, the Tigers play at home in the Dalplex against the Memorial University Seahawks on Friday Nov. 13 at 8:00pm and Saturday Nov. 14 at 3:00pm.
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