The UNB Saint John Seawolves men’s basketball team has clinched its first ACAA championship title.
The host Seawolves downed Saint Vincent University 77-64 in Sunday’s championship game.
Paul Vaughan, head coach of the men’s basketball team, said the community support played a big role.
“The atmosphere in the gym was amazing. You see a lot of kids in the crowd and people just so supportive and excited for the game. It was just great to see,” Vaughan told our newsroom.
Undefeated Mount Saint Vincent was heavily favoured to win the title over UNB Saint John, which had a 12-7 record.
However, the host team came out on top, led by a historic triple-double from AJ Nash, who had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
Jack Fury-Miller led all scorers with 21 points and added nine rebounds, while Ben Power contributed 17 points and five assists.
Ethan Szemerda recorded 10 points, seven assists and four rebounds, while Lance Howeltt picked up six points for UNB.
Vaughan said while Mount Saint Vincent is a good team, UNB Saint John had a couple of close games against them during the regular season.
“In our last two games against them, we were a little short staff, we had a player suspended and we had some guys that were trying to work through some injuries,” he said.
“It was just a 10-point game the last one we played them, so we felt we could play with those guys. We just had to kind of prove it.
“Also heading into that last game, we weren’t expected to win. The pressure was not on us, so we have the home crowd behind us, we get to sleep in our own beds and we were just playing with house money at that time.”
The Seawolves will now head to the national stage as they compete for the CCAA championship title next week.
Eight teams from across the country will be taking part, with quarterfinal action starting the tournament on Wednesday.
