Masters Leads UNB Over Crandall
(FREDERICTON, NB) Exams are still weeks away. That's a good thing for the UNB Varsity Reds men's basketball team.
The VReds scored 42 third quarter points Saturday, on route to a 107-85 exhibition game win over the Crandall University Chargers. Despite the win, Varsity Reds head coach Brent Baker was far from pleased. "If I was going to grade us right now, out of 100, I would say we're at about a 45. We need to get to about an 80 or 85 for us to be successful."
Javon Masters led the UNB offence, scoring a game high 31 points. Jesse Kendall came off the bench to contribute 21.
Thomarcus Nix scored 19 points and grabbed a dozen rebounds to lead the Chargers, who outscored UNB in the final quarter, but were unable to come close.
Masters, who went 10 of 17 from the field, admits the Varsity Reds may have taken the Crandall squad for granted in the first half. He says they made adjustments for the second. "We came out in the second half, wanting to execute, wanting to get on a run and entertain the fans and I think we did a good job of that."
The coaching staff wasn't happy with the opening half either. Baker said "our lack of effort and our lack of intensity in the first half was, I'll say, atrocious."
Baker was happy to see his team adjust at the half. "The first five minutes of the half, I think we won every effort play."
The win pushes UNB's pre-season record to four wins and three losses.
"Any practice, every game that we have, there's always an opportunity to get better," says Masters.
UNB opens their Atlantic University Sport regular season schedule on November 6th, at Dalhousie.