SASKATOON – Emmanuel Akintunde matched his career-high of 24 points, as he helped the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's basketball team record their third-consecutive victory, with a 99-63 win over the MacEwan Griffins on Friday, Nov. 8 on Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court at the PAC.
 
Akintunde was the story of the night for the Huskies, as the fourth-year guard, who was 10-17 from the field, hauled in ten rebounds to record the double-double. Second-year guard Noah Nickel also had an impressive night in the team's home opener, as he tallied 11 points, four rebounds and a team-high five assists.
 
The Huskies outscored the Griffins in points in the paint, points off turnovers, fastbreak points and bench points, as they led for 32:36 of the 40-minute contest.
 
Saskatchewan, who entered the weekend sixth in the U SPORTS top ten, improve to 3-0 on the season, matching the program's best start to a season since 2013-14.
 
While, MacEwan, who was swept in their opening games last weekend, fell to 0-3 with the loss.
 
Deonte Doslov-Doctor led the Griffins with 16 points on 7-12 shooting while tacking on four rebounds. Abiel Tabufor, who averaged 19 points per game coming into the contest, was held in check, recording six points on 3-6 shooting.
 
The Griffins came out firing and put an early scare on the Huskies on their home floor, hopping out to a quick 7-2 lead, with Dustin Gatzki recording four of the seven points on the run for the visitors. However, Saskatchewan responded in the late going of the opening quarter, with the hosts going on a ten-point run of their own off the backs of four layups, two of which came from Akintunde and a pair of Kessler Bishop free-throws to take a 14-9 lead. After consecutive J.T. Robinson jumpers to get the guard on the scoreboard, MacEwan responded with a Doslov-Doctor three-pointer to tie the contest at 19-19 at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Huskies started to take control in the second, as they opened the frame with a 10-1 run off the backs of four points from both Alexander Dewar and Akintunde, to take a nine-point lead. A dominant second quarter saw Saskatchewan outscore the visitors 30-11, as they closed the frame on a 7-2 run to take a 49-30 lead into halftime.
 
Saskatchewan followed up their strong finish to the first half by getting right to work in the third quarter, hopping onto a 5-0 run to begin the frame. Much like the second quarter, the Huskies outplayed the visiting Griffins, outscoring them 26-10 in the third. Saskatchewan closed the quarter on a 6-0 run, as Robinson knocked down a pair of jumpers to end the frame giving the guard 13 points on the night through three quarters. The run allowed the hosts to carry a 74-40 lead into the final quarter.
 
The Huskies went on a 13-point run, the largest of the game, midway through the fourth, with Cameron Wright, Robinson and Fisayo Moibi each connecting from three-point range during the run, which helped lead the hosts out to a 90-57 lead. However, despite outscoring the hosts in the fourth and finishing the contest on a 9-2 run of their own, the Griffins fell short on the night.
 
Saskatchewan and MacEwan will battle in the second half of the back-to-back at 7:00 tomorrow night at the PAC, as the Huskies will look to remain perfect in this 2019-20 Canada West campaign.
 
All of the action can be watched live on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.