tyler ennis buffalo locker room.JPG

Syracuse guard Tyler Ennis answers questions in the Orange locker room on Saturday.

(Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com)

Buffalo, N.Y. — Tyler Ennis and Dyshawn Pierre first met on a basketball court in Canada. Ennis, a native of Brampton, Ontario, and Pierre, who grew up in Whitby, lived about 45 minutes apart. They'd convene in Toronto to play basketball for CIA Bounce, the AAU program co-founded by Ennis' dad Tony McIntyre.

On Saturday, the two will meet as adversaries. Ennis is the Syracuse point guard, while Pierre plays forward for Dayton. At stake? A trip to the Sweet 16.

Both are cool Canadian customers. Ennis keeps busy building his legend of basketball composure. The Syracuse point guard said Pierre is equally calm under pressure. Pierre sank three critical free throws with 27 seconds left on Thursday to help his team eliminate Ohio State.

Both players expect family and friends to be in Saturday's First Niagara Center audience. They talked Friday afternoon about their relationship, their fleeting meeting in Maui and all things Canadian:

Dyshawn Pierre: "I saw him in Maui, said 'hi' and watched some of the video events that were going on at the time and kind of left it from there. I haven't seen him since."

Tyler Ennis: "We didn't hang out in Maui. You don't really get to hang out too much when you have different games and practice times. I watched all of his games when they played on TV."

Dyshawn Pierre: "There was still a bit of a (geographical) distance and we kind of met on the EYBL circuit. We're still close, but we didn't hang out much when we were growing up."

Tyler Ennis: "I played with him at CIA Bounce in his last summer of AAU. We were on the same team. He was a year older, but I played up (a year) with him for a summer."

Dayton forward Dyshawn Pierre talks to reporters Friday in the Flyers' locker room.

Dyshawn Pierre: "I haven't played against him, but we played together on the AAU circuit. He's a very talented player. I'm happy to see how well he's been doing this year. His talent spoke for sure. We were all about winning then, too."

Tyler Ennis: "It's a little bit different playing against guys you know. It just shows Canada is on the rise. The generation before us just kind of opened our eyes and told us that we could play on this level. And it goes to show that we have so many players playing in the tournament still and being key players. It just shows we have talent."

Dyshawn Pierre: "It's cool. A lot of Canadians are doing well. It's always nice to see your friends doing well. We had (Anthony) Bennett go first-round, first pick last year. (Andrew) Wiggins? Who knows where he's going to go? Anywhere from 1 to 2."

Tyler Ennis: "Dyshawn, he just gets it done, whether it's mid-range shooting, finishing at the basket. He's one of the best rebounders we had back then and he's one of the best rebounders Dayton has. He's definitely one of their key contributors both offensively and defensively so he's going to be someone we have to keep our eye on tomorrow."

Dyshawn Pierre: "I think I'm a team player. Whatever coach needs me to do, whether it's rebounding one game or play defense on a player or if it's be aggressive and try to score and make plays for our team that's all I really want to do."

Dyshawn Pierre: "I think my whole city is behind us for sure. Obviously, there's going to be a bit of Syracuse fans for Tyler back home, but I'm going to have my fans, too."