By John DeCoste
Both the Acadia basketball teams improved to 5-0 on the regular season with wins Nov. 23 at UPEI.
The Axewomen started off the evening by scoring a 75-63 win, and the Axemen followed by taking an 85-79 decision.
In the women's game, Acadia led 18-13 after one quarter over an improved Panthers' squad, then saw UPEI win the second quarter 22-17 for a 35-35 halftime tie.
The Axewomen then won the third quarter 19-15 and the fourth 21-13 to secure the victory. Acadia shot 41.9 per cent from the floor compared to just 29 per cent shooting from the Panthers.
Acadia got all but three of its 75 points from its five starters, with Emily Nkosi leading the way with 18 points along with 15 rebounds.
Lindsay Harris added 17 points, Abbey Duinker 14 (and 12 rebounds), Kristy Moore 13 and Rita Sibo 10.
The Axewomen finished with a wide 55-30 edge in rebounding, which helped make up for Acadia committing 27 turnovers.
In the men's game, Acadia handed UPEI its first home loss in Tim Kendrick’s time as head coach, holding off a late surge by the Panthers to win by six. The Axemen led 17-14 after one quarter, but trailed 38-37 at halftime after UPEI won the second quarter.
The game remained close until Acadia went on a run late in the third quarter to take a 63-56 lead after 30 minutes. UPEI took the fourth quarter 23-22, but was still five points in arrears at the final buzzer.
Jonathan Tull had a huge game for the Axemen with 34 points, including six three-pointers. Anthony Ashe added 20 points and Owen Klassen 15 to go along with 16 rebounds. Acadia shot an even 50 per cent (35-70) from the floor, and was 12-32 from three-point range.
UPEI shot 36 per cent overall, but was good on 13 threes. Led by Klassen, Acadia won the rebounding battle 41-34, though the Panthers finished with 10 offensive rebounds.
The Axemen and Axewomen finished off the pre-Christmas portion of their 2012-2013 schedule by hosting St. F.X. Nov. 28 at War Memorial Gymnasium.
