(Halifax, NS) The 2025-26 ACAA Men's Basketball Championship tipped off this evening as 3 seed UNBSJ Seawolves defeated 6 seed Mount Allison Mounties 96-71 at the A. Garnet Brown Memorial Gymnasium.
Daren Clarke (Hamilton, ON) and AJ Nash (St. John's NL) carried the Seawolves to victory. Clarke finished with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Nash matched his teammate, as he tallied 22 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Ethan Szemerda (Saint John, NB) contributed with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
Lance Mombourquette (Fredericton, NB) finished with a game-high 25 points, 12 rebounds for the Mounties in defeat. Christian Hager (Brantford, ON) registered 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the Mounties. Ryan Norris (Ottawa, ON) chipped in with 14 points.
As the first quarter-final tipped off, the Seawolves would strike first as Doyle Burton (Stillwater Lake, NS) would secure the offensive rebound and connect on the and-one finish to put them on the board. On the next possession for the Seawolves, Burton would find himself on the opposite block as he would rise over his defender for another strong finish to give the Seawolves an early 5-0 finish. The Mounties would get on the board as Lance Mombourquette would finish down low over his defender. As the quarter continued, the Seawolves would lean on Burton as he would connect for his third field goal of the quarter to put them up 9-3. The Seawolves would continue to ramp up the intensity as AJ Nash would steal the ball from the Mounties and find his teammate Daren Clarke for an easy layup to put them up by 8. It was all Seawolves early in the first quarter as Nash would find Lance Howlett (Hubley, NS) for the three to give them a 16-7 lead. In the next possession for the Mounties, they would get a response from their big man Ryan Norris when he nailed a three to cut it to 16-10. As the quarter reached its end, the Seawolves would use great ball movement to lead to a three from Ryan Pollard (Quispamsis, NB). In the following play for the Mounties, Christian Hager would respond with a lay-up. The Seawolves would take a 23-14 lead into the second quarter.
Hager would open up the scoring in the second quarter as he drove to the basket for the strong lay-up. The Seawolves would quickly answer when Clarke swiped through and stole the ball off the Mounties' guard and finished in transition for the lay-up over the defenders to give the Seawolves a 25-16 lead. Hager would continue his strong play for the Mounties as he would take the ball up the court on the ensuing possession and attacked through the contact for the and-one finish. The Seawolves would call on Nash to lead their second quarter attack when he would score on consecutive drives to give them a 33-22 lead midway through the quarter. As the quarter continued, the Seawolves would extend their lead after Nash rose up for a lay-up then Ewan Wilson (Falmouth, NS) would connect on a triple which extended their lead to 40-25. In the last two minutes of the quarter, the Seawolves continued to attack the basket as Ethan Szemerda pushed past his defender for the lay-up. In the final minute of the quarter, the Mounties attempted to chip away at the lead as Norris would find the range from the right corner to narrow the lead to eight. As the time expired in the half, the Seawolves took a 46-38 lead into the half-time break.
Just like the first quarter started, Burton kicked off the scoring in the third as Nash found him off his drive for the easy bucket. The Seawolves continued to push the pace as Szemerda would drive the lane and find Pollard on a backdoor cut for an uncontested lay-up to extend their lead to 12. Teams would exchange crucial plays as neither team was able to make a run midway through the quarter. First, Hager would find Mombourquette as he connected on a Mounties' three. Next, Szemerda would find Nash on the following play for a Seawolves' three. Lastly, Hager would drive to the basket and score for the Mounties to lessen the lead to 10. Following the barrage of points, the Seawolves called a timeout in an attempt to take back control of the game. Out of the timeout, the Mounties would claim the momentum as they would narrow the gap to five off the flashy assist from Hager which led to the Brennan Devereux (Moncton, NB) layup through the contact. As the six-seeded Mounties carried all the momentum out of the timeout, they would call on Jonas Munroe (Moncton, NB) as he nailed a clutch three to make it a three point game. As both teams battled in a tightly contested game, the Seawolves would counter the Mounties' run with a mini-run of their own which was capped off by a three by Wilson to extend their lead back to 10 points with less than 2 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Off a missed free throw by the Mounties, Nash pushed the ball quickly up the court to find Howlett as he slashed to the basket for the and-one finish to put them up 66-53. The Seawolves would take a 69-55 lead into the final quarter.
As play resumed in the fourth quarter, Nash would continue to facilitate for the Seawolves as he would drive and kick to the left wing to find Clarke wide open for the three. Fast forward to a few possessions later and Nash would find another teammate for a wide open three. This time it was Howlett who connected from range for the Seawolves as he extended their lead to 18 as they led 75-57. The Mounties would continue to attack in an attempt to narrow the gap, as Mombourquette would find the basket again as he connected on a three from the top of the key. In a game that was measured by hustle plays, it was Wilson getting to the loose ball for the Seawolves which led to a second chance basket as Clarke crashed the offensive glass for a putback lay-up. It would be a familiar face for the Seawolves, as Nash continued to be the driving force for the Seawolves' attack as he would attack the basket to beat the shot clock, as they held a 80-63 lead with roughly five minutes remaining. The Seawolves would continue to use their defence as a catalyst for their offensive production as Clarke would steal the ball and drove through the contact for the acrobatic finish to extend their lead. The Seawolves would continue to extend their lead late in the quarter when Burton would find the cutting Nash on a precise pass to the basket for the easy lay-up. As time trickled down, the Seawolves were able to close out the Mounties 96-71 to clinch their berth in the semi-finals tomorrow.
Cleve's Source for Sports Player of the Game
AJ Nash (UNBSJ Seawolves)
Lance Mombourquette(Mount Allison Mounties)
The UNBSJ Seawolves advance to tomorrow's semi-final matchup as they face the St. Thomas Tommies. Tip off is at 8:00 p.m.