Tigers make it back-to-back championships with win over UPEI

By Thomas Becker
Photo credit to Nick Pearce

In the battle of the league's best, the Dalhousie Tigers defended their title and earned the right to call themselves 2016 AUS champions, defeating the UPEI Panthers 87-85 in Sunday's finale.

"It's surreal," said game MVP Ritchie Kanza-Mata. "We woke up this morning and said one more and it feels good to have accomplished that."

The Tigers fell behind early but kept their poise as the experienced champions overcame a large deficit to grab the win.

"It was another cliché Tiger performance where we dig ourselves a hole and we fight back," said Kanza-Mata. "It's hard work to come back from double-digits, but somehow we always find a way and that's what I love about this team."

For third-year coach Rick Plato, the championship result isn't a surprise. His defence-first, grind-it-out-style has led the team to back-to-back titles.

"I push them hard and I have huge demands," said Plato. "It's a love-hate thing, but I think today they're loving it."

It was all Panthers early on as they came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. Three consecutive triples to put them ahead 9-2, forcing Dalhousie to call an early timeout.

UPEI's offence continued to pour it on as they pushed the lead to 16 midway through the first. But the Tigers were able to string together a small run to keep the score close at 25-17.

"One thing about this team is that it takes awhile for them to get going, but we hung in there," said Plato.

After struggling from the field in the semifinals, Panthers' All-Star Tyler Scott put on a show in the opening frame, scoring 10 of his game-high 23 points.

The league's top defence finally kicked into gear in the second quarter, taking a stand against a powerful Panthers' offence.

After 16 minutes of play, the Tigers erased a 16-point deficit and took their first lead of the game 32-31.

Dalhousie held UPEI to just 12 points (on 37.5 shooting), but the Panthers still led at halftime 37-36.

Scott was able to find his shooting stroke again in the third quarter as he scored 11 points, on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, pushing the Panthers lead to six.

But the Tigers' stingy defence made its mark in the final minutes of the quarter to pull ahead 61-57.

Determined to bring a championship home to Charlottetown, the Panthers jumped on the Tigers early in the fourth to retake the lead 67-66.

With less than six minutes remaining in the game, Panthers' forward Brad States drove baseline and took off for a thunderous one-handed slam, extending the lead 71-66.

But Kanza-Mata's relentless attacks to the basket and late-game heroics, including clutch free throws put an end to UPEI's momentum.

Kanza-Mata scored 15 of his 21 points in the final frame to give his team the 87-85 win.

While the loss hurts now, Panthers head coach Tim Kendrick said he's proud of the way his team fought in hostile territory.

"It was a great game and both teams went at each other hard," he said. "Our players gave everything they had today and we're really proud of them."