Fourth-year transfer Johnny Higgins took charge in the late stages of the game to lift the St. Mary's Huskies to a 97-90 victory over a vastly improved UNB Varsity team and claimed the 2012 Eric Garland CIS Men's Basketball Preseason Tournament.

Forward Harry Ezenibe dominated inside and finished with a double-double of 30 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

Ezenibe was the recipient of multiple easy baskets courtesy of the Varsity Reds inability to contain Higgins who earned tournament MVP honors with his 27 points, 9 assists and 4 rebound effort.

The game featured some incredible plays, including two buzzer beating shots as UNB's Daniel Quirion closed out the first half with a running bank shot to tie the game at 41-41.

Higgins also buried an effortless three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to end the third-quarter.

The highlight of the game however came from UNB's Jordan Irvine who posterized SMU center Riley Halpin with an outrageous in-transition reverse-dunk, plus the foul, a play that got the Currie Center crowd jumping.

Quirion put together another outstanding game with 31 points on 12-of-20 shots including 6-of-9 from downtown, while adding six assists and 10 straight fourth quarter points during a key stretch.

Quirion's heroics helped the Varsity Reds take their largest lead of the contest at 82-76, with just under four minutes remaining.

From there it was all Higgins, as he connected on back-to-back three-pointers and then found Ezenibe on the baseline to put the game out of reach and improve SMU's preseason record to 3-0.

The Huskies will look to continue their perfect start on October 13th at the 2012 Mickey Place Tournament hosted by the UPEI Panthers.

Some stiff competition waits SMU as they will play the Regina Cougars (Canada West), and two potential BasketballBuzz CIS Men's Top 25 teams in the Ryerson Rams and hosts UPEI Panthers.

Most Valuable Player
MVP Johnny Higgins - St. Mary's Huskies

Tournament All-Stars
Daniel Quirion - UNB Varsity Reds
Jordan Irvine - UNB Varsity Reds
Richard Addai – UQAM
Harry Ezenibe - St. Mary's Huskies
Jeremy Dunn - ST.FX X-Men