Owen Klassen scored 16 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots to lead Acadia (photo courtesy of Acadia Sports information).
by Mark Wacyk
Owen Klassen converted 1 of 2 free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining to give Acadia their margin of victory and Huskies 6’5″ Torrey Fassett then back-rimmed a potential game-winning bucket from the top of the bowl as Acadia edge Saint Mary’s 76-75 before a loud crowd at the Tower in Halifax. Both plays were subject to some controversy in the wild finish in another exciting AUS match-up.
5’11″ freshman Sean Stoqua (16 points, 8 in the fourth quarter) was brilliant down the stretch for Acadia, making several big plays at both ends, including a huge block on 6’2″ Brian Rouse that helped Acadia grab a three point lead with 40 seconds remaining and knocking down a pair of 3′s, the first one that gave Acadia their first lead of the fourth quarter at 70-69. Earlier, the clutch first-year point guard broke an 8-0 Saint Mary’s run at the beginning of the fourth with another three from straight on that started Acadia’s late game comeback.
The wildly exciting fourth quarter saw several lead changes in the final minutes of play beginning with Klassen (16 points, 13 rebounds, officially 4 blocks – there were likely more), on a slick feed from Stoqua, hammering home one of about 7 dunks combined by both teams on the night – a play which ignited the Huskies bench which complained about too long in the key. Huskies would later watch as calls on the final two possessions went again them, the first on an in-bounds play to Klassen that led to a foul with 1.2 seconds and the next a non-call as several Saint Mary’s players argued vociferously that Fassett, who led all scorers with 28 points while adding 11 rebounds and 5 assists, had been hit on the arm on his shot attempt to win the game at the buzzer.
After Klassen’s dunk tied the game, Fassett gave SMU the lead back with a slick reverse lay-in and then Stoqua’s 3 shot Acadia back in front. Fassett again gave the Huskies the lead at 71-70 but Klassen had an “and 1″ and Stoqua blocked Rouse leading to 6’3″ Jonathan Tull going 1-2 from the line. Later Klassen had a chance to put the game away, but went 1-2 from the line – after Saint Mary’s coach Ross Quackenbushiced him – setting up a Miguel Pink attempted 3 with 3.2 seconds remaining that came off but was rebounded by Rouse to tie it. After an Acadia timeout, Axemen in-bounded the ball from the right sideline directly inside to Klassen who turned to shoot but Halpin was whistled for a foul with 1.6 seconds left, setting up the wild finish.
6’3″ Anthony Sears got to the rim all night, scoring 22 points for Acadia in a game where both coaches severely shortened their benches in a playoff-type atmosphere.
After a slow start in which Saint Mary’s scored the first 8 points of the game, Acadia controlled much of the first half before Huskies came out of the gate in the second half with energy, creating Acadia turnovers, not settling from jumpers and used an 11-2 run to take an early third-quarter 45-43 lead on a baseline jumper by Jerome Smith. Acadia could not match Huskies intensity for much of the quarter however five straight points to end the quarter by Sears allowed Acadia to tie it 55 going into the fourth.
Acadia had looked to pull away late in the second quarter to lead 38-30 by halftime as Klassen asserted himself defensively with at least 2 swats plus a number of shot alterations while Tull started killing the Huskies off the dribble, setting up draw-and-kick 3′s – with 6’3″ Anthony Ashe (10 points – all in the first half) being the beneficiary or takes all the way to the rim. Saint Mary’s stayed in the game on the heels of 8 late quarter points from Fassett, who had 12 overall at the half.
The Huskies ran off the first 8 points of the game and led 10-5 after a Rouse dunk in traffic got the crowd in the game. But the Axemen were equal to it as Acadia scored the next 10 points including a steal and transition dunk by Tull followed by back-to-back catch and shoot 3′s from Ashe. The first quarter dunk fest continued as Klassen hammered home a post feed from Sears but a Pink 3 got the game back to 19-17 by the end of the quarter.
Mark Wacyk is a blogger and basketball enthusiast living in Ottawa. Check out his outstanding website at www.cishoops.com and follow him on twitter at cishoops.
