New Look Mounties begin 2022-2023 season this weekend in Montreal
After a month of practice, the adversity of delayed gym renovations, and three early Fall scrimmages against U SPORT competition vs. Acadia, Cape Breton University and the UNB Varsity Reds, the Mount Allison men's basketball team will see its first exhibition games of the season this weekend when they travel to play three games in Montreal at the Quebec Classic. On Friday the Mounties will play Sherbrooke College in a 5:00pm start, Saturday they will face Saint Foye at 1:00pm, and wrap up the three-game weekend Sunday tipping off against Fanshawe College at 12 noon.
This year's edition of the Mounties will be a different look for their fan base compared to just one year ago with the loss of some players from last year's roster including the graduation of four players in starting roles. The Mounties, ACAA Champions in 2020, finished 3rd place in the COVID interrupted season. The Mounties will once again participate in the parity filled ACAA conference kicking off their first league game on October 28 against St. Thomas University. Fourth year standout guard Noah McCarthy, the 2020 ACAA Rookie of the Year, and 3rd year shooting guard Emanuel Adugna of Toronto are the only two remaining members of the 2020 championship team. McCarthy led the ACAA in several statistical categories in 2022 and Adugna is entering the season healthy since an ACL injury 2 years ago. They along with veteran starting PG Minwoo Park of Fredericton, will be part of a leadership core for the Mounties young line up which features 10 of its 14 players being in either second or first year at the ACAA level. According to Coach Steve Chapman: "Min, Noah and Eman are vets in this league, they know how to win and they are highly competitive with a never say die attitude. Our returning players and new prospects must feed off that and become a solid cohesive unit which has been the characteristic of past teams we have had here. We had planned on a large returning class of 9-10 players but some early August decisions to not return so close to the start of season really put us in a difficult position in terms of roster plans. With so many new faces we have made many changes to our whole look, how we want to play, and are providing new roles for both returning players and recruits. To date, our guys have adapted to what we have asked and are working very hard in the most difficult of situations not being able to practice in our own facility. It's been rough no question, and I commend our guys for fighting through a disadvantaged spot starting the year and dealing with such. We learned a lot in our scrimmages against U SPORT competition but now it's time to get some games in before league play. We have 6 games over the next 10 days and 7 games overall before we start ACAA play. We are confident we can use this early adversity to grow, become more cohesive, and develop into a very good basketball team and be right there in the end like we always are. Right now, we are just excited for two straight tournaments, getting out of town, playing some games, and learning more about each other in real time".
In addition to McCarthy, Adugna, and Park are a group of second year returnees including 6'10 forward Tim Ellison of Halifax, 2022 Team Rookie of the Year 6'4 Jonas Munro of Moncton, 6'4 guard Miles Haines – Lacey of Fredericton, and 6'0 guard Simon Tector of Halifax. Newcomers to the garnet and gold include 6'6 forward Rashawn Ferguson of Nassau, Bahamas; 6'6 forward Gabe Powter of Almonte, Ontario and 6'4 small forward Connor Briand, of Kingston, Ontario. Also joining the Mounties are 5'10 guard Momar Niang from Victoria, BC; 6'4 forward Nathan Kayembe from London, Ontario; 5'10 shooting guard Baridiilo Poromon from Calgary, Alberta, and combo guard Brodie Richardson from St. Stephen , NB. Both Danielle Steadman and Lauren Gray return in their roles as student therapists as do team managers Noah Lenehan and Li Zhen Ng. Assisting Coach Chapman once again will be veteran coach Mike MacDougall from Riverview.
The Mounties complete exhibition and ACAA schedule can be found on the teams website: Mountiepride.ca.
Go Mounties!