Dalhousie hands Panthers 45-point loss

By Thomas Becker

After yesterday's strong performance, the Dalhousie Tigers showed they still have another gear in them, as they easily took down the UPEI Panthers 89-44 Saturday night.

The Tigers (5-0) were outstanding on both ends of the floor. They shot the ball at a 55.2 per cent clip, while holding their opponent to just 34 per cent — both were improvements from a night ago. 

And again they used a balanced attack to thwart the Panthers (1-5). Third-year point guard Keevan Veinot finished with a game-high 20 points and was named the Subway Player of the Game for his effort, while fellow starter Jordan Brathwaite chipped in with 12. Alex Carson and Brent Martindale finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively to lead a bench unit that outscored UPEI's 38-9. 

"Our main focus was to come out and execute offensively and defensively," Veinot said. "Yesterday, in the first half especially, we didn't really execute our sets and our plays, which showed. And defensively, we didn't have our rotations down pat. But today, we did a better job."

It didn't take very long for the Tigers to seize control of the game. In a near perfect opening quarter, they allowed just a single field goal, while shooting a blistering 71.4 per cent themselves. After they opened up a 15-2 advantage, Carson took over the scoring load and drilled two consecutive triples as Dalhouise led 26-3 after one.

"We got the ball inside a lot more, which forced the defence to collapse and gave us open looks on the outside." said Veinot of the team's hot shooting night.

UPEI did a better job of containing their opponent, who scored just 14 points in the second. But they managed just 16 themselves and trailed 41-19 at the break. 

Dalhousie rediscovered their offensive rhythm in the third where Veinot and Brathwaite combined for 16 points. Martindale used his size to get easy looks inside and had six off the bench, as his team opened up a 67-34 advantage. 

Despite the big lead, the visitors refused to give the Panthers anything easy and held them to just 10 points in the final quarter. The Tigers' had eight different players score in the frame — none scoring more than four points — as they cruised to the victory.

The Panthers look to erase their five-game skid when they welcome the Cape Breton Capers on Nov. 23 for an 8 p.m. showdown.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan