Wild card selection offers experience for Axemen

When the forty-ninth edition of the CIS men's basketball nationals kicked off in March of 2011, the Acadia Axemen, for the 22^nd time, were part of the field. The young Axemen weren't as good as they were going to be, but they had won the games they needed to win to secure a berth at nationals.

Acadia finished the regular season a surprising fourth with a 7-13 record. With a young but solid core of players, the future, as one media report stated, had arrived sooner than expected.

At the conference playoffs in Halifax, the Axemen opened with an 81-61 victory over UNB. Owen Klassen and Anthony Sears had 22 points each for Acadia, with Klassen adding 11 rebounds.

Acadia's semifinal opponents were the Cape Breton Capers, who had gone 19-1 during the regular season and entered the playoffs on a 12-game winning streak.

At one point in the fourth quarter, the Capers led by 13, but the Axemen chipped away at the lead and ultimately tied the score at 68 on a Tyler Lutton tip-in with less than a minute on the clock.

Overtime would be required to decide the final verdict. Two free throws by Sears clinched an 83-81 Axemen win - and with the AUS guaranteed two teams at nationals, it also punched Acadia's ticket to the Final Eight.

Justin Boutilier, stepping up late in regulation and in overtime with Klassen, Lutton and Tom Filgiano having all fouled out, finished with 24 points, a trio of three-pointers, eight rebounds and 7-7 free throws off the bench. Klassen added 17 points and Sears 14 for Acadia.

The following day's conference final was a disappointment, not to mention an anticlimax, for the Axemen, who dropped a 78-47 decision to Dalhousie. Tournament MVP Simon Farine led the Tigers with 24 points, five rebounds, six assists and eight steals. Klassen had 15 and Sears 14 for Acadia.

The nationals were back in Halifax for the first time since 2007. The Axemen opened against UBC, the tournament's top seed. Acadia was within seven points of the T-Birds after three quarters, then UBC pulled away in the final 10 minutes to score a 96-77 victory. Klassen had 22 points, Sears added 19 and Alex McLaughlin 16 for Acadia.

In the consolation semifinals the next day against Lakehead, the Axemen dropped a 75-67 decision after trailing 33-32 at halftime. Klassen, who turned heads all weekend, had 26 points and 14 rebounds. Boutilier added 17 and Sears 10.

In 2012, the nationals would turn 50, and the Axemen were well positioned to be part of the field.