By Marcel Vander Wier
The Guardian
Six-foot-four forward Donnie Moss slashed to the hoop, spun past his defender, and launched himself towards the basket for a second quarter lay-in, at the same time drawing a foul that found him laying on his back.
He scored the extra point on the play to pick up three of his game-high 21 points in the UPEI Panthers 67-64 win over the Acadia Axemen Sunday afternoon, pushing UPEI's pre-Christmas Atlantic University Sport record to 6-0.
Acadia's Owen Klassen had 18 points and 17 rebounds to lead Acadia, but Moss stole the spotlight for the second straight game.
The 21-year-old Bahamas-native picked up 10 rebounds, a block and a steal in the contest en route to being named player of the game.
On Saturday, he had a team-high 27 points and 10 rebounds in UPEI's 98-89 win over Acadia.
"It doesn't get any better than this," Moss said Sunday. "We're just trying to take it one game at a time to get to the AUS championship."
Moss, who was named MVP of the Holland College Hurricanes' Division 2 club, alongside Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association All-Canadian and
Player of the Year honours, seems to have found his game early in his first year with the Panthers.
"These two games were big to us because our coach always gave us confidence no matter what," he told The Guardian.
The 6-0 start is a big turnaround for the Panthers, who finished last season out of the playoffs at 7-13.
"We bond as a team, on and off the court," Moss said of the club's winning ways. "And our coach, he's great. He lifts us up all the time and gives us great confidence."
Rookie coach Tim Kendrick has been perfect early, and said he couldn't be prouder of his squad.
"They've done everything that's been expected of them and more," said the 49-year-old coach. "I could not be prouder of them right now, literally."
He praised Moss' weekend performances.
"He's a great athlete," Kendrick said. "You're seeing a bit of a transformation. You're seeing a great athlete turn into a great basketball player."
He expects his small forward to only get better as the season progresses.
"One of the greatest things that we've got from our team ... everyday, somebody else comes up big for us."
He noted Geoff Doane's 16-point effort Sunday as an example.
The ever-animated Kendrick picked up a technical foul in the second quarter for arguing for a traveling call on Klassen from the sidelines.
"I really believe that it's not the players' place to be talking to referees and things like that. That's a coach's job," he said. "And with that comes a responsibility to the coach - you have to defend your players."
Acadia was able to close the lead to three in the fourth quarter, but Klassen missed a desperation three from the defensive half to end the game.
"I thought they did a great job," said Axemen head coach Stephen Baur. "We came in here knowing it would be tough to play UPEI on the road. I think Coach Kendrick's done a great job with this group, getting them playing with confidence. They're definitely very athletic and talented."
The Axemen entered the weekend determined to shut down Panthers guards Jonathan Cooper and Terrance Brown.
But when they were able to stifle Cooper and Brown's offensive contributions in Sunday's contest, Donnie Moss filled the gap.
"They've had a lot of offence go through Cooper and Brown," Baur explained. "We were definitely very concerned about them and trying to find a way to keep them in check, and I think maybe as a result of what we were doing, Donnie Moss had a chance to get a little bit of space.
"He's pretty good in space."
