Huskies top Panthers 94-78 and earn their spot in Sunday’s championship final

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - The second-seeded Saint Mary's Huskies downed the No. 3-seeded UPEI Panthers 94-78 Saturday night at the Halifax Metro Centre in front of 4,884 fans and will move on to play in the Subway AUS men's basketball championship final Sunday at 2 p.m. 

Both teams traded blows in the opening quarter with Brian Rouse getting things going for the Huskies with five quick points in the first few minutes. 

Saint Mary's pushed the pace with their transition game including a big two-handed jam by Theon Reefer that put the Huskies fans into a frenzy.

Harry Ezenibe was huge on the offensive and defensive boards with eight rebounds in the first half, limiting UPEI's second chances and helping Saint Mary's build a 15-point lead at the break, 41-26.

Donathan Moss and Ellis Ffrench were the high scorers for the Panthers at the break while Theon Reefer had a halftime high of 10 points for the Huskies. 

Saint Mary's continued to push the pace in the second half, building their lead as high as 21 points in the third quarter. UPEI players were able to get themselves into good positions to shoot but were struggling to convert.

At the end of the third quarter, the Huskies led UPEI by 19, 70-51.

Saint Mary's kept using their strong defensive rebounding to get out in transition. Led by Marquis Clayton's 12 assists, the Huskies had 28 total assists in the game on their 35 made field goals.

UPEI got as close as 11 in the fourth quarter as Donathan Moss scored 10 in the final frame. That would be as close as Saint Mary's would let them get as Boyd Vassell went 8-for-8 on free throws in the final minute of the game to close out the game 94-78. 

Leading the way for the Huskies were Boyd Vassell with 19 points, Theon Reefer with 16 and Harry Ezenibe, who also took home Subway Player of the Game honours, with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Donathan Moss scored a team-high 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Panthers while Deontay Smith chipped in with 16 points in the loss. 

Saint Mary's moves on to play the StFX X-Men in Sunday's final of the 2014 Subway AUS men's basketball championship, 2 p.m. at the Halifax Metro Centre. StFX defeated the top-seeded Acadia Axemen 93-89 in Saturday's first semifinal matchup.