In front of a packed gym of mostly Hurricanes fans the MTA Mounties pulled off an upset in ACAA Men’s Basketball quarterfinal action Friday in Charlottetown, defeating the Holland Hurricanes 68-67. The Hurricanes were attempting to defeat the Mounties for the fourth time this season. HC got off to a solid start, taking a 13-7 lead after the first quarter. The Mounties closed the gap in the second quarter and the Hurricanes took a 29-24 lead to the dressing room at half-time. The two teams battled evenly in the third as it remained a five-point ‘Canes lead to start the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter was filled with many examples of both teams leaving it all on the floor. With less than 24-seconds to go, the Mounties were forced to foul the Hurricanes and put them on the line. Matt Morrison went 2-2 in his first trip to the line giving HC as three-point lead. The Mounties then drove hard to the basket and guard Nolan Hanson got the score back to one-point. Morrison was again fouled this time hitting one of his two free-throws. The Mounties quickly inbounded the ball, pushed it down the floor and Kevin Monaghan found Brandon Malally in the corner. Malally then knocked down the clutch three-pointer giving MTA a one-point lead over Holland College. With three-seconds to go the Hurricanes pushed the ball down the court and Alex MacLeod got up a three at the buzzer, but came up short sealing the win for the Mounties. Kevin Monaghan scored 23 points to lead all scorers. Player of the Game Brandon Malally scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in addition to hitting the game-winner. Akil Smith had 13. For the Hurricanes it was Matt Morrison having a great game score 20 points and dishing out seven assists. Morrison was the Hurricanes Player of the Game. Leo Morris had 19 points and 11 rebounds while Alvin Parker scored 11. Holland College out-rebounded MTA 38-31. The Mounties will now face the No. 1 seed MSVU Mystics at 6 p.m. Saturday night. The No.2 seed STU Tommies will face either King’s or Crandall. For the boxscore go to: http://hollandcollege.com/acaa_2012/
