AUS Champion Axemen celebrate 50th Nationals

The CIS men's basketball nationals turned 50 in 2012. It was appropriate both that the tournament would be played in Halifax, for a 30^th time, and that the Acadia Axemen, for a 23^rd time, would be part of the tournament field.

Following a 14-6 regular season, good for second in the AUBC, the Axemen moved on to the conference championship, from which the top two teams would advance to nationals.

Acadia met Saint Mary's in the semifinals, and scored the game's last 11 points to secure a come-from-behind 96-87 win. Player of the Game Anthony Sears led all scorers with 31 points, and Jonathan Tull, Anthony Ashe, Brad States and Tyler Scott added 17, 12, 11 and 10 points respectively for the Axemen.

Acadia moved to to face St. F.X. in the final, and captured its first conference title since 2007 with an 82-71 victory. Owen Klassen led the way with 20 points (and six rebounds), but four Axemen reached double figures in a solid performance by the entire roster.

Despite being the conference champions, Acadia was seeded eighth for nationals (ranked behind even St.F.X.), and drew top-ranked Carleton as their quarterfinal opponent.

While the Ravens ultimately won the game 82-68, their margin of victory was a bit misleading. With 6:50 left, Carleton led by just five points, 65-60, before shifting into a higher gear down the stretch.

Anthony Ashe finished with 13 points for Acadia against his former team. Tyler Scott, chosen Acadia's player of the game, had 13 points off the bench, and Tull and Sears added 10 points each.

Carleton went on to repeat as national champions, and the Axemen had the consolation that they had come closer to the Ravens than any of their three tournament opponents.

Moving on to the consolation round, Acadia got the finish against Lakehead that they would have preferred against Carleton, scoring an 84-75 victory. Klassen finished with 27 points,15 rebounds, 15-19 free throws, and was dominant on defense. Sears and Ashe added 17 points apiece, and Tull 10.

Acadia faced Ryerson in the consolation final with fifth-place in Canada on the line. For a second straight game, the Axemen finished strong, coming back to force overtime, then outscoring the Rams 12-5 in the extra session for a 90-83 win.

Klassen led the way with 21 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks despite playing much of the fourth quarter and the overtime with four fouls. Sears added 20 points, Ashe 16, Sean Stoqua 14 and Tull 10 in a strong team effort.