The Keyano Huskies men's basketball team wanted to hit the ground running when they hit the ACAC full-time next season.

This weekend against the Augustana Vikings, the Huskies hit the ground running at the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre and then some, as they blew out the ACAC North team in two straight games, 89-72 Friday and 85-67 Saturday.

While the offence hummed along, it was the Huskies' defence that still gave head coach Mike Connolly some concerns.

"That's the only thing we're going to worry about," Connolly said. "It's still got some flaws in it and even though it seems like 67 points (against) is good, I feel we can still do a lot better defensively. Defence is what's going to help you win championships."

Connolly's defence was excellent for the first three quarters Saturday, allowing only 45 points and not committing a lot of turnovers. In the fourth quarter, things got a bit out of hand with second and third string players thrown in the roles, but most of the players still did what was expected of them.

It was the defence that led the Huskies to the lead, Connolly said.

"Anytime someone scores a basket on you, you can improve," Connolly said. "I think that we'll just keep working on our team defence and fundamentals and keep working on our team defence and individual footwork, and just understand how to play as a unit. We saw some signs of that tonight, when we play as five guys as one, and not one guy on five."

Moe Hamid, one of only a couple of players left from last year's ACAL champions, had 22 points Friday and 15 Saturday and flourished in the role of wing.

"I think we're building pretty good right now and we're only going to get better," said Hamid, a Composite High School graduate who had nine rebounds Friday. "Everyone's starting to work together and share the ball."

It's been a bit tough to get that out in game action, as the Huskies are only playing in exhibition games and tournaments this season.

"It's tough but we've got to push harder at practice," Hamid said. "The competitive practices keep us going."

Clarence Smith also starred on the weekend, draining 21 points Friday and 23 Saturday — including five three-pointers.

The shooting in general seemed to be going well for the Huskies, as they were able to drain a lot of the uncontested shots they took."

"Everyone's been coming in on their own time," Hamid said. "We've got a $10,000 shooting machine that everyone's taking advantage of, so a lot of guys are using that."

The Huskies play next at a tournament at Olds College at the end of the month.

COREY ATKINSON

Today staff