Huskies to finish regular season at home against Wesmen

“It’s definitely harder coming off a bye week, so we hope we’ve kept these guys mentally fresh, physically tuned up and ready to play,” Rawlyk said. “We don’t want to overwork them either, so hopefully, we’ve struck the right balance and we’ll see how we come out on Friday night, the early stages will be really important in setting the tone.”

And for the U of S, they’ll have extra motivation from their home-crowd fans to get them going, as well as something extra to cheer about, as Saturday night’s contest will serve as fifth-year night, as the team honours Emmanuel Akintunde, as well as Addison Dewar, a graduating member of the 2022-21 roster.

“It seems like it’s been so long since we’ve played at home, especially in front of our fans,” Rawlyk said. “For our guys, they love to compete, especially in front of their supporters and there’s another element for our guys to thrive on. Obviously, we’re pleased to honour Emmanuel and Addison.”

For the Huskies, it has been a while since they last stepped on their home floor, Jan. 22 to be exact, but that hasn’t seemed to matter to Addison’s brother Alexander Dewar. The Saskatoon product has absolutely torched the Wesmen this season, averaging 28.5 points per game against.

“Alexander is just one of those guys who comes out and plays hard all the time, a very disciplined player, always in the right positions and just really does the right things all the time,” Rawlyk said. “His hard work is really important to his success, he runs the floor extremely well and defends.”

As far as playoff seeding is impacted by this weekend’s games, with a sweep over the Wesmen, the Huskies would finish tied for fourth. According to Rawlyk, however, where they end up doesn’t matter as the goal remains the same, winning.

“We just have to beat the people that are in front of us,” he said. “We’ll just focus on what our game is and try to play as well as we can and let the chips fall where they lay.”

Of course, after this weekend the Huskies will be on the road the rest of the way, but with a 6-2 record on the road to this point, Rawlyk’s team is quite alright with that.

“As much as we love to play at home, we’re not fearful in any way of going on the road, I think we’ve proven that we can win road games. Everybody has to go on the road for the playoffs, so it’s just one more step in the process.”

And when asked if Rawlyk had any last thoughts on this weekend he simply stated to enjoy being at home and that his players get the recognition they deserve.

“We’re just excited to be in front of our home crowd and we really hope we have a really supportive crowd to support Emmanuel and Addison, just really looking forward to the weekend.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8

by Ben Tompkins

Huskies to finish regular season at home against Wesmen

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