UPEI reaches AUS final for second straight season

HALIFAX, NS (Feb. 21, 2026) - In the first true upset of the 2026 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Men's Basketball Championship, the fourth-ranked UPEI Panthers shocked the No. 1 seed, STFX X-Men. 

The Panthers locked down the top offense and top offensive player in the league as they beat the X-Men 77-62 in their Saturday afternoon semifinal matchup at the Scotiabank Centre. They will now await the winner of Saturday night's other semifinal between UNB and Acadia to see who they will face in Sunday's 4pm championship final. 

The game was a rematch of last year's championship final, where UPEI defeated the X-Men. This season, however, the Panthers struggled to an 8-12 mark during the regular season while STFX topped everyone with a 17-3 mark. 

It was evident early on UPEI were set on shutting down the recently named AUS MVP, DJ Jackson (Mississauga, ON) after he torched the league for 22.5 points per game this season.  

And shut him down they did, as they pressured him all game and refused to let him drive to the basket. In the first quarter, they held him to just 1-of-5 shooting. Overall, Jackson finished with seven points on 3-of-15 shooting from the field. 

On offense, UPEI shared the load in the first quarter with eight players hitting the scoresheet as they took a slim 17-15 lead into the second quarter. 

STFX closed the gap in the second quarter as Jackson and AUS Rookie of the Year, Phoenyx Wyse (Toronto, ON), combined for nine of their team's 16 points in the quarter to tie the score 31-31 at the break. 

On the other end of the court, Panthers forward Abilash Surendran (Toronto, ON) added five of his own, but his night was just getting started. The 6'7 big man scored 13 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 20 points and earn Player of the Game honours. 

In the third quarter, things remained tight as the team traded baskets with Koat Thomas (Kitchener, ON) doing the lion's share of the work in close and from beyond the arc for the X-Men, scoring 10 of his team's 16 points in the quarter. 

UPEI found a little separation late in the quarter when forward Nicolas Gonzalez Longarela scored back-to-back buckets late – the final one a two-hand dunk with 33 seconds left to put the Panthers up 53-47 going into the final 10 minutes of play. 

It was a lead UPEI never gave up as Surendran scored eight points, all from in close, to keep STFX at bay. Helping matters was guard Hugo Bermejo, who was kept quiet all game but scored 11 huge points late to cement the win. He would finish with 15 points. 

Thomas, again, came up big for STFX with six points in the fourth but left the game with an injury late. He ended the contest with a game-high 21 points. 

Teammate Tariq Armstrong (London, ON) added 11 points in the losing effort.