Ngala leads Tigers to win over Huskies

Recap by Dr. Casper Macaulay / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics

HALIFAX, NS - The Dalhousie Tigers (4-2) entered the Homburg Centre and walked away victorious, defeating the Saint Mary's Huskies (1-5) 84-73 on Friday night. 

The Tigers were buoyed by a hot start from guard Malcolm Christie (Fredericton, NB) and a smooth continuation from Player of the Game, guard Nginyu Ngala (Montreal, QC), who scored 25 points on 8-14 shooting. 

The Tigers jumped out to an early first quarter lead on a rare five-point possession, after a lay-up through contact by forward Riley Stewart (Stevensville, ON), followed by a three-pointer by Christie off the missed free-throw. 

The Huskies had an early advantage on the offensive glass, forcing Tigers veteran head coach Rick Plato to call timeout and make some frontcourt substitutions. The first quarter saw sharpshooters Christie and Huskies guard Jonas Maerz (Rosenheim, Germany) trading three-pointers, with Christie's 11 points countered by nine points from Maerz, and the teams were deadlocked at 24-24 heading into the second quarter. 

Christie cooled down in the second quarter, but reserve guard Nginyu Ngala picked up the Tigers scoring, pouring in 11 second quarter points on 4-7 shooting. An unfortunate turning point in the second quarter for the Huskies occurred when Tigers guard Samuel Maillet (Moncton, NB) missed an attempt after tough defense by guard Tjark Lademacher (Lüneburg, Germany) who accidentally tipped the ball into his own basket to bring the score to 38-34. The Huskies never led after that moment, and trailed going into half 47-39. 

The Tigers were led by Christie's 13 points and 11 from Ngala in the first half, while Maerz responded with 12 for the Huskies. 

The second half began to slip for the Huskies as Tigers guard Lydell Husbands-Browne (Halifax, NS) and Ngala combined for a triplet of triples, ballooning their lead to 17 points, but a three and a pair of free throws from Huskies guard Shae Linton-Brown (Toronto, ON) brought the lead within 12. 

However, Maillet's pin-point passing enabled a pair of Tigers layups, coupled with strong interior defence, and the Tigers would not allow the Huskies to cut into their lead for the remainder of the quarter, taking a 71-55 lead into the final frame. 

The Huskies started the fourth quarter with a flurry; guard Devawn White (Montreal, QC) backed down Maillet from for a lay-in. Subsequently, Tigers guard Dolu Johnson (Caledonia, ON) thought he had emphatically blocked a layup from guard Jayrell Diggs (East Preston, NS) with what looked like his forearm, but it was called a foul. Linton-Brown made a deep three off the rebound on the second free throw for a potential six-point swing, giving the Huskies some hope. 

However, Christie halted this momentum shift with a timely three of his own. With eight minutes left, Huskies applied pressure in the full and half court, but White fouled Christie on a low-shot clock three, who sunk each of his three free throws. 

The Huskies cut the lead to nine with just under five minutes remaining, and on the next play, Diggs stole the ball from Christie, but lost it out of bounds at the rim under pressure. The Huskies came close to a key defensive stop, but Ngala dashed to the hoop, for a shot-clock beating layup that lingered on the rim before restoring the double-digit buffer at 81-70.  

A foul on another late shot-clock drive, this time by Tigers guard Dolu Johnson appeared to seal the deal. The Huskies had multiple three-point attempts on the ensuing possession to try and cut the lead to single digits, but none found their mark, leading to a frustrating shot clock violation. 
 
After a mullet-slick behind-the-back pass from Maillet to Johnson facilitated a layup blocked by Linton-Brown. Towards the end of the game, Maillet attempted to save a rebound, catapulting into the Huskies bench and leveling one of their training staff, who rose blushing but unhurt, as Husbands-Browne drew a charge to seal the game, and the Dalhousie Tigers walked away with a hard-fought 84-73 win. 

Player of the Game Nginyu Ngala led the Tigers with 25 points on 8-14 from the field and 6-6 from the free-throw line. Christie added 21 points and three assists, while Samuel Maillet stuffed the stat-sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals. 

The Huskies were led by Shae Linton-Brown who scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, and Jonas Maerz who chipped in 15 points on 5-10 from three-point range. 

The Tigers win improved their record to 4-2 on the season. They'll be on the road next weekend, heading to Antigonish to take on the X-Men on Friday at 8:00 p.m. 

The Huskies loss improved their record to 1-5 on the season. Saint Mary's will be on the road next weekend, taking on the UPEI Panthers on Friday, Nov. 17 in Charlottetown, PEI, before returning to home court to host the STFX X-Men on Friday, Nov. 24, with both games scheduled to tip-off at 8:00 p.m.