The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AN historic season for Jordan Wilson, Shamar Burrows and the Dalhousie Tigers ended just short of their ultimate goal, but finished as the second ranked team in all of Canadian collegiate basketball.

The Tigers finished with the silver medal at the 2020 U SPORTS Final 8 Basketball Championships after a 74-65 loss to the Carleton Ravens Sunday at The Arena at TD Place in Ottawa, Canada.

The national silver medal represented the best finish in programme history.

Burrows finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists while Wilson finished with four points and five rebounds.

It was the Tigers’ first appearance in a U SPORTS final in programme history, while the Ravens won their 12th National Championship in 15 years.

Dalhousie finished the season at 23-2 while Carleton went 27-1 and completed the season ranked No.1 for the entire year.

The Tigers got off to a strong start and led 15-13 at the end of the first period.

After a dominant second quarter where they outscored the Ravens 21-11, the Tigers took a 12-point lead into the half (36-24).

The second half was a complete turnaround for both teams as the Ravens outscored the Tigers 50-29.

After Carleton’s highest scoring third quarter (26-18), they trailed by just four headed into the fourth (54-50). Defensively, they limited Dalhousie to just 11 points in the fourth and took the lead on a go-ahead three pointer with just 1:17 left to play.

In his final season with the programme, Wilson averaged 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while Burrows averaged 8.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

Dalhousie entered the U Sports bracket as the No.2 overall seed and AUS Conference champion.

In the quarter-final, they defeated the Ottawa Gee-Gees 67-63 on 41 per cent shooting from the field and 53 per cent shooting from three.

Wilson finished with six points, four rebounds and two steals while Burrows scored seven.

In the semi-final, the Tigers took a decisive 84-55 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday. Burrows scored eight while Wilson added six.

In a season of milestones, the Tigers claimed their fifth AUS Conference title in the last six years and earned a spot in the U Sports National Championship.

They avenged their lone loss of the regular season with a 76-64 win over Azaro Roker and the St Francis Xavier X-Men in the conference title game at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.