Men’s Final 8
2022 U SPORTS Men’s Final 8 Basketball Championship Consolation Semifinal 2: Vikes top Redbirds, advance to consolation final
EDMONTON – Huskies guard Marquavian Stephens scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Saskatchewan Huskies to an 86-60 blowout victory over the Queen’s Gaels to clinch a U SPORTS Final 8 Saturday night at the Saville Centre.
The win sends the Huskies to their first national final since 2010 - their lone national title in program history.
“We talked about this all year, and it took a lot of hard work to get here. We had to grind out a lot of tough games, and now to actually be here, it means a lot,” said Stevens on advancing to the U SPORTS Final. “We wanted to set the tone early tonight, and we did. We brought a lot of energy over from last night too.”
The CW second-team all-star was phenomenal for the second-straight night, lighting up the box score to the tune of a 25/4/6 line that included a game-high +30 mark. Seven Huskies joined him over five points in a complete team effort in which the team finished 30 for 64 on field goals.
“This is crazy, we had so many fans who made the trip here to support us,” said Stevens of the over 1,000 fans in attendance, a vast majority of which Huskie supporters. “They helped us keep our energy up when we are down.”
Queen’s was paced by Quinton Gray who finished with a team-high 13 points despite a stout Huskies defence.
At halftime, Stephens led all scorers with to go along with three rebounds and five assists.
The Huskies outscored the Gaels 25-10 in the second quarter, then pulled away with a 32-8 third quarter to ultimately pull away.
The fourth quarter would see the Gaels in better form, recapturing some momentum for the team going into Sunday’s Bronze Medal Game.
The No. 8 seed Huskies continue their Cinderella run and will advance to play the winner of the Alberta Golden Bears and the Carleton Ravens in the Gold Medal Match at 6 PM MST/ 8 PM EST. The Gaels' first appearance in the U SPORTS Final Eight will continue in the Bronze Medal Match tomorrow at 3 PM MST/5 PM EST, facing the loser between Alberta and Carleton.
Nike Top Performers
- Saskatchewan Huskies: Marquavian Stephens
- Queen’s Gaels: Quinton Gray