The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A PAIR of Bahamian student athletes were rewarded for their outstanding regular seasons when the Atlantic University Sport announced its annual awards ahead of this weekend’s conference championships.

Azaro Roker, of the St Francis Xavier X-Men, was named a First Team All-Star while Qyemah Gibson of the St Mary’s Huskies was named a Second Team All-Star.

Roker, the fourth-year forward, was one of only three players in the league to average a double double.

He led the conference in rebounding at 13.2 per game and was second in scoring at 17.2 points per game.

His numbers increased across the board in every statistical category from year three when he averaged 10 points per game and was a conference leader with 10 rebounds and two blocked shots per game.

Among his many standout performances on the season, Roker was named the “Subway Player of the Game” when he posted career highs of 30 points and 20 rebounds in the X-Men’s 117-116 overtime win over the Cape Breton Capers. Roker shot 11-17 from the field and was a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line in 41 minutes.

Gibson, in his second year with the Huskies, led the team in scoring and was seventh in the league in scoring at 15.4 points per game and eighth in rebounding at 6.5 rebounds per game.

The AUS conference championships will have a strong Bahamian presence with local players featured on three playoff teams.

The AUS Championship will be hosted February 28 to March 1 at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Shamar Burrows, Jordan Wilson and the Dalhousie Tigers were the first team to clinch a first-round bye, while Roker and the X-Men also secured their first-round bye in the last week of the season. Gibson, Sebastian Gray, assistant coach Ollen Smith and the Huskies will compete in the opening round today.

The fourth seeded Huskies, who finished the regular season at 11-9 will face the fifth seeded Memorial SeaHawks who finished the year with an 8-12 record.

The winner will take on the top seeded Tigers on February 29 at 3pm.

In the other opening round game, the third-place UNB Reds (13-7) will face the sixth seed Cape Breton Capers (8-12).

The winner will advance to face the second seeded X-Men, February 29 at 8:30pm. The AUS Championship winner will advance to the U SPORTS championship March 5-8 in Ottawa, Ontario.

The Tigers are the defending conference champions.

The perennial powerhouse has won four of the last five AUS titles and enter as the favorite once again this year with a with a 19-1 regular season record.

“Everyone who makes the playoffs have identical records and it is sudden death—you lose and you’re done,” “There is no such thing as an easy game so no matter who we play, we will have to be at our best,” Tigers head coach Rick Plato told the AUS’ Dwayne Tingley in a tournament preview,

“To be successful, we must do what we have all season, but be better and consistent, play 40 minutes and simply be healthy, and, just a little lucky. I have tremendous respect for every coach and team in this conference so to have the success that we have had to this point, it is a testament of the commitment, work ethic and teamwork of our student-athletes, They are tasked with a wide variety of demands and expectations so I am pleased that they can see the positives of their individual and collective efforts.”

X-Men head coach Steve Konchalski, said his team could be peaking at the right time.

“This season has been a growing experience for our young X-Men team with several younger players playing a significant role and finding their way,” he said, “This resulted in some ups and downs along the way, but at this point I feel we have the formula for success that the team has bought into and is executing with some consistency, particularly at the defensive end of the court.”