GAME RECAP - Championship Game: Axemen take championship in Overtime
Acadia 74, Saint Mary's 72 (OT)

March 10, 2007 (HALIFAX, NS) - In front of a crowd of 4,190 fans tonight at the Halifax Metro Centre, the Acadia Axemen defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies by a score of 74-72 in overtime to capture their first Atlantic University Sport men's basketball championship since the 1997-98 season.

The Axemen were led by player of the game Achuil Lual, who grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds to go with his 11 points and 3 blocked shots.

Both teams shot over 40% from the floor in the first half as the Huskies took a 38-34 lead into halftime.

The second half saw the Huskies come out on fire as they increased their lead to 59-43 at the midway point of the half. With 8:14 left, Ike Uchegbu picked up his fifth personal foul for SMU and this turned out to be a pivotal development. Following his exit, the Axemen took off on a 13-to-2 run which gave them a two point lead.

Although Acadia regained the lead, they too lost a key contributor as league MVP Paulo Santana picked up to his fifth foul.

Trailing by a point on SMU's final possession, in a mad scramble, Huskies' football quarterback Eric Glavic attempted a shot that did not fall but he managed to draw a foul, which put him on the line with an opportunity to put the Huskies ahead with 1.4 seconds remaining.

Glavic hit the first one to tie the game, however would rim out the second attempt as Acadia's Lual smothered the rebound to force overtime.

The overtime period had most of those in attendance on their feet for the entire 5 minutes as both teams continued to make plays. The Axemen moved ahead early, however a Mark McLaughlin 3-pointer with eight seconds left would bring the Huskies to within a point.

An Acadia missed free throw gave the Huskies some hope, but McLaughlin's desperation runner fell off the mark.

For Acadia, Lual finished with 11 points and 17 boards, while Peter Leighton and Shawn Berry each added 13 points. For the Huskies, McLaughlin dropped a game-high 29 points and Cordell Wright added 17.

Both teams now wait to find out where they will be seeded for the Milk Energy Final 8 CIS championship next week.

Game recap by Shaun Gillis