No Sophomore Jinx for Capers Smith
The 5-11 guard from North Preston, N.S., was named to the Atlantic University Sport all-rookie team last season. He came off the bench to add 5.7 points per game to the Capers offence.
This season, Smith has started in all 14 games for the Capers. He’s third in team scoring and second in assists, averaging 12.6 points and 5.0 assists per game this season. His assists average is also fourth overall in the conference.
He’s also shown great poise on the charity stripe. Smith boasts the best free-throw percentage on the team at .857.
“Last year, I was playing behind guys like Paris Carter, Jimmy Dorsey and Tremaine Fraser,” he said. “This year, I have a position to play a starting role, so I’m just taking advantage of the opportunity.
“I worked very hard. I feel like I’m a bit stronger, a bit faster and this year, I just want it more.”
Smith and the Capers men face the top two teams in the AUS this weekend at Sullivan Field House. They play the first-place University of Prince Edward Panthers (12-3) at 8 p.m. on Saturday and the second-place Acadia Axemen (9-4) at 4 p.m. on Sunday in a pair of pivotal, four-point games. The CBU men (8-6) are in fourth place in the standings, two points back of the St. Francis Xavier X-Men (10-4) for third place. A pair of wins this weekend has the potential to vault the Capers up the standings.
CBU is coming off a split with the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds two weeks ago, and have one win in their last four games.
“We’d like to get ourselves back on track,” said Capers men’s interim head coach Thom Gillespie. “We struggled a bit when Jimmy (Dorsey) was hurt a couple of weeks ago and didn’t close out a weekend against UNB when we were looking for a pair of wins, so that’s really our focus, to get us prepared and ready to roll.”
On the women’s side, CBU (9-5) is tied with the Memorial Sea-Hawks (9-5) for third place in the conference standings with 24 points apiece. The Capers women have been on fire as of late, winners of their last six games.
CBU will face the top and bottom teams in the standings. They play the last-place Panthers (2-13) Saturday at 6 p.m. and the first-place Axewomen (12-1) Sunday at 2 p.m.
“It’s a huge weekend for us with eight points on the board,” said Capers women’s head coach Fabian McKenzie. “UPEI plays exceptionally hard. They’ve been in some close ball games and won a few this year and they play tough, and Acadia’s the No. 1 team in the conference.
“We’re trying to take care of our business down the stretch — get our defence where we want it and our offensive execution, and try to position ourselves into playoffs.”
The Panthers women include some Cape Breton content on their roster. Danielle MacDonald, a 5-5 guard from Sydney Mines, is third on the team in scoring with 9.5 points per game in her second season with the Panthers.
Saturday’s women’s game against the Panthers will be the fifth annual Shoot for the Cure game. Women’s hoops teams across Canadian Interuniversity Sport help raise money at a single home game each season for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and other related charities, along with raising awareness. Since it began, $400,000 has been raised nationally.
NOTE: Capers women fifth-year guard Nicole Works practiced with the team Thursday and is still working toward making a return for playoffs.
sports@cbpost.com