Men’s Basketball
The Tigers could not repeat as champions this year at the annual Rod Shoveller Memorial Tournament.
They started with a convincing 72-64 victory over the Bishop’s Gaitors on Thursday, overcoming a poor 37.9% shooting performance from the field. Devon Stedman led all scorers with 23 points and added seven points, while John Traboulsi added ten points off the bench.
On Friday, the Tigers were stunned by another last-second loss to the UPEI Panthers. Down 77-75 with only four seconds left on the clock, Ritchie Kanza Mata drove the lane and got a floater to go with 0.5 seconds left. Deontay Smith then did the unthinkable, and drained an 80 foot hail mary off the backboard to win the game for the Panthers. Stedman led the Tigers again, this time posting a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Simon Marr and John Traboulsi added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
They faced the Acadia Axemen on the final day of the tournament, and were outmuscled and outgunned by a strong Acadia squad. The game got ugly as Acadia led by as many 23 in the fourth quarter. Head coach Rick Plato played his entire squad, hoping to find a unit that would gel. Jarred Reid has 15 points on 6-11 shooting to pace the Tigers, while Marr added ten points. Devon Stedman was named to the tournament all-star team after averaging 17 points per game.
Men’s Hockey
The Tigers did not begin 2014 the way head coach Chris Donnelly hoped for, going 0-2 with losses against St. Thomas and UPEI.
On Saturday, Brad McConnell, Fabian Walsh and Andrew Wigginton all scored in the first period to help the Tigers gain a 3-1 lead over the St.Thomas Tommies after 20 minutes of play.
The Tommies would score twice in the second period, and outscore the Tigers 3-1 in the third period to defeat the Tigers 6-4. The Tigers were outshot 29-24 on the day, and goalie made 23 out of 28 saves in the loss.
On Saturday, the Tigers faced the UPEI Panthers in Charlottetown. After a scoreless first period, Patrick Daley and Fabian Walsh scored in the second period to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead going into the third period. The Panthers would go on to score four unanswered goals in the third period, including two power play goals, and the Tigers lost 4-2.
The pair of losses drops the Tigers to 1-14-1, and they have lost six straight.