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The Huskies defeated the No. 1-ranked Brock Badgers 77-73 on Friday in their opening game at the U Sports Final 8 men’s hoops championship in Edmonton. That sends the eighth-seeded Huskies into a Saturday semifinal against fifth-seeded Queen’s, who beat No. 4 Dalhousie 90-80. The winner of that semifinal will play for gold or silver on Sunday, and the loser for bronze.
Brock, who won the Ontario championship, went 14-1 during his regular season and had won nine straight regular-season and playoff games before facing Saskatchewan on Friday.
Saskatchewan placed third in the Canada West Final Four, which was enough to earn the final spot for nationals.
The Huskies led 25-9 at the start and 36-29 at halftime. Brock erased the gap in the third quarter, and the final frame was a back-and-forth affair. Saskatchewan scored the ball with nine seconds left while trailing 73-72, and took the lead for good when Marquavian Stephens scored on a shot with four seconds left. He then stole Brock’s tackle pass after a timeout, sealing the victory.
Stephens finished with a team-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Alexander Dewar chipped in 18 points and Nervens Demosthene scored 14.
Brock got 26 points from Tajinder Lall.
Saskatchewan’s victory came a day after the Huskie Women, the defending national champions, missed a repeat opportunity when they fell a 62-55 decision to Queen’s. That setback sent them to the consolation side of the national tournament.
Huskie males have won one national title in their history. That came in 2009-10.
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