Panthers look to pad lead against second place teams

By Thomas Becker

Fresh off a CIS top-10 ranking, the UPEI Men's Basketball Panthers are hoping to keep their perfect homestand alive this weekend.

It won't be easy for the nation's tenth-ranked team, as both the UNB Varsity Reds and Dalhousie Tigers aim to dethrone the 8-2 Panthers from atop the AUS standings.

"The teams we play this weekend are obviously really good. They were picked to finish ahead of us at the start of the season," said head coach Tim Kendrick.

Friday's game pits a high-scoring UNB squad that matches well against the Panthers. The Panthers boast top-five scorers Tyler Scott and Brad States, while UNB counters with Javon Masters and Matt Daley.

"We know that Masters is their leader offensively. And we know the other guys play well off of him, so we're going to have to make sure none of the other guys go off."

Saturday's matchup, on the other hand, features the Panthers league-leading offence, scoring 97.9 points per game, against a smothering Tigers defence that allows just 74.3 a game.

The discrepancy between the two teams is a cause for concern, considering the amount of time needed to game-plan for each opponent especially in a back-to-back series, said Kendrick.

"It's a tough weekend because they're quite dissimilar in their approaches to the game."

While adjustments will be made to limit each opponent, the Panthers know success can be found in playing their own style of game.

"We're a confident group. We feel that if we're the best we can be then that's going to put a lot of pressure on the teams we play."

The Panthers can be seen in action Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. against the UNB Varsity Reds (7-4) and again Jan. 23 versus the Dalhousie Tigers (6-5) at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre.