Photo credit: Nick Pearce of the AUS Championship
The # 2 ranked Dalhousie Tigers win the battle of Halifax as they took down crosstown rival, St. Mary’s Huskies 90-75 to advance to their second consecutive AUS men’s championship final.
As expected both teams wanted to jump out to a fast start, DAL started the first quarter on a 14-4 run led by AUS all rookie team member Spencer Riar, who scored 8 of the teams first 14 points. DAL was red hot from three point range hitting 4 three pointers in the opening quarter. Third year guard Jayrell Diggs pulled the Huskies back within 6 point, scoring 6 himself in the opening quarter. Dalhousie picked up where they left off starting the second quarter going on a 22-8 run led by Nginyu Ngala who scored 19 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assist. AUS MVP and first team all star Malcom Christie of the Dalhousie Tiger’s also had a monster half with 15 points giving DAL the 49-32 lead at the halftime break.
The story of the night was the scoring ability of Nginyu Ngala, who had his most impressive and crucial quarter of the game scoring 10 points which helped stop the Huskies surge and expanding their lead to 18 points going into the fourth quarter. Heading into the final quarter the story was much of the same, Ngala and Christie carried the bulk of the Dalhousie scoring, the Huskies tried their best to get back into the game with Devawn White carrying the offensive load but ultimately the star power of Dalhousie was too much to overcome. This is the second consecutive year the Dalhousie Tigers have made it to the AUS championship final where they will have a rematch against the defending champions St. Francis Xavier X-Men in a # 1 vs # 2 matchup.
Key performances from the Dalhousie Tigers were, Nginyu Ngala who scored a tournament high 37 points while also contributing 7 rebounds and 2 assist. Malcom Christie poured in 27 points for the Tigers (12 points from three point range) and 4 rebounds. St. Mary’s Huskies third year guard Devawn White scored 17 points and 9 rebounds in a losing effort, while Jayrell Diggs also pitched in with 16 points and 5 rebounds.
Stay tuned for more AUS championship weekend content!