The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS U Sports men’s basketball heads into the winter break, Jordan Wilson, Shamar Burrows and the Dalhousie Tigers remain the No. 2 ranked team to headline Bahamian players competing at the top level in Canada.

The Tigers are currently 6-0 and one of three undefeated teams in the country along with No.1 Carleton (8-0) and No.3 Calgary (6-0).

Dalhousie closed out the first portion of its schedule with a 94-75 win over the Acadia Axemen. Wilson finished with a team high six rebounds. The Tigers head to Memorial for two games beginning on January 4.

Wilson is averaging 9.7 points and a team high 6.3 rebounds per game nearly doubling his totals from last season of 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He has also been a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line this season.

His season was highlighted in early November when he went on to earn Dalhousie’s Muscle Milk Male Athlete of the Week Award.

In game one, the Tigers won 82-53.

The versatile forward finished with a double double - 14 points and 10 rebounds - seven of them in the offensive and received Subway Player of the Game honours in the win.

Burrows has thrived as a more consistent member of the Tigers’ rotation.

This season, he is averaging seven points and four rebounds per game off the bench and has set several career highs.

He averaged 3.3 points and 1.7 rebounds per game last season.

Last season, the Tigers finished the regular season 14-5, won the AUS Conference Championship (the fourth in five years) and finished fourth overall in the U Sports Final Eight.

Azaro Roker and the St Francis Xavier X-Men headed into the break below .500 at 3-4 with a split against the Memorial Seahawks.

In game one, the X-Men came away with a 99-91 win in overtime powered by one of Roker’s best game of the season - 23 points and 11 rebounds.

In a back-and-forth game that saw several lead changes, the Sea Hawks were up by 16 late in the third quarter before the X-Men mounted a fourth quarter comeback for the win.

In game two, Roker was again the star on both ends of the floor but was unable to match the Sea Hawks.

He finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds but Memorial won 102-85.

StFX was up by three, 69-66, headed into the fourth quarter but were outscored by 20 in the final period (36-16) in the final period.

The fourth place X-Men will next see action on Saturday, January 4 when they travel to Fredericton for a game against the UNB Reds.

In his final season, Roker is averaging 17.9 points and 13.1 rebounds per game to lead the X-Men.

Last season he averaged 10 points and was a conference leader with 10 rebounds and two blocked shots per game

The X-Men were the No.5 seed in the AUS tournament, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

An up and down season for the St Mary’s Huskies continues as they headed into the break with a lopsided loss 91-69 at the hands of UNB.

Qyemah Gibson finished with 17 points and six rebounds while Sebastian Gray scored eight.

The Huskies fell to 3-5.

In his second season with the programme, Gibson is second on the team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

Sebastian Gray is averaging 9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in his first season as a Husky.

The Huskies will be on the road when the season resumes January 4 to take on the Cape Breton Capers.

Last season, St Mary’s concluded the regular season at 19-1 and finished in first place in the AUS standings.

In the conference finals the Huskies were the subject of the biggest upset of the season when they lost to the Tigers.

The Huskies advanced to the U Sports Men’s Basketball Final Eight last season and finished sixth overall.