The best game of the 2024 ACAA Basketball Championships was saved for last as, on Sunday afternoon, the top-ranked St. Thomas University Tommies and second-ranked Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics put together one of the greatest collegiate basketball playoff games people will ever see.
The battle, contested in front of the best crowd at the McMillan Centre all weekend, was so close and intense that it needed a fifth and extra quarter. In the end, it was fourth-year guard and Player of the Game Jaydan Smith who was the ultimate hero, scoring a three-point jump shot with 34 seconds remaining to send the Mystics home with a well-deserved 2024 ACAA Men's Basketball Championship.
Just like the women's championship game, the men were also quick to create an entertaining, rapid-paced match from the beginning. Points were traded back and forth until the Tommies gained control four minutes into the first quarter, jumping out to a 16-11 lead before a Mystics timeout. STU started to pull away and led 25-16 at the buzzer. The second quarter saw the action tighten up, as the Tommies held offensive control for the most part, but MSVU refused to go down without a fight, scoring two more points than STU in the quarter. STU's Noah McCarthy got Tommies fans on their feet with several free throws and a three-point buzzer-beater, sending his team into halftime with a 51-44 lead.
The play remained almost equal in the third quarter with offense shining and defense lacking from both ends. STU held a decent lead the whole way, but MSVU was far from out. The fourth quarter featured two minutes of misses, and then with 7:23 remaining, Jaxon Smith and Sam Gilmore got the Mystics within one at 68-67. The rest of the quarter was an all-out war between each team that went down to the wire in the final minute. MSVU got control of the ball in the dying seconds, and at the very last one, Gilmore sent the loud atmosphere into silence with a jump shot, but the ball rolled around the rim and off, thus forcing an extra quarter.
The fifth quarter was one that everyone in the ACAA will remember for a very long time. Neither team gave an inch for five minutes, swapping leads and giving the fans a memory for a lifetime. After Jaydan Smith scored a three-pointer with 34 seconds left, STU's Noah McCarthy had one last shot to steal the championship for his team, but couldn't prevail, sealing the deal for MSVU to claim regional glory.
Smith was named MSVU's Player of the Game after recording 31 points, eight assists, three rebounds, and one steal. McCarthy was named STU's Player of the Game after recording 31 points, five assists, four rebounds, and one steal.