CAPERS Can't Finish Off Huskies

(HALIFAX, NS) — The SMU men's basketball team held its ground again on home turf, trailing by as much as 12 points before turning the tide, forcing overtime and finishing out an 81-78 win over the visiting Cape Breton Capers at Homburg Centre. 

CBU's Osman Omar (Mississauga, ON) paced all scorers with 30 points and recorded three steals and three assists in the loss.

Junior forward Sebastian Gray (Nassau, Bahamas) led the Huskies with 25 points on 10 for 19 shooting from the floor in the win.

Cape Breton led 20-19 after the opening 10 minutes as Omar scored 10 points in the frame.

The Capers outscored SMU 24-16 in the second quarter and took a nine-point lead into the half, 44-35.

SMU used a 14-13 scoring pace in the third quarter to trim CBU's lead to eight points after thirty minutes, 57-49.

The final frame saw SMU claw back and outscored the Capers 19-11 in the quarter and both teams were tied 68-68 after 40 minutes.

Each team traded two points in the first minute of overtime when Gray's three-point play on the hoop and harm gave SMU a 73-70 lead with 2:55 left. Gray grabbed the rebound off the next Caper missed shot and went coast to coast with a layup, putting the Huskies ahead by five with 2:18 left. 

Omar hit two free throws and Donate Mitchell's (Vaughan, ON) lay up increased SMU's lead to five, 77-72 with 1:14 left. A three-point play from Jason Callaghan (Sydney, NS) made it a one-possession game, 77-75 with 56 seconds left. 

Johneil Johnson (Lake Echo, NS) sank four free-throws down the stretch for SMU as Omar nailed a last-second three-pointer and the Huskies held on for the 81-78 victory.

Cooper Ward (Ipswich, Australia) registered a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for CBU while Ibrahim Gosselin-Diawara (Longueuil, QC) chipped in nine points off the bench while Callaghan finished with eight points. The Capers drop to 6-10 on the year in Atlantic University Sport action.

Johnson and Mitchell each finished with 16 points for SMU and fifth-year forward Travis Adams (Halifax, NS) had eight points and six rebounds and junior guard Will Spaulding (Halifax, NS) chipped in seven points for the Huskies, who improve to 9-8 in AUS standings.

NEXT: 
CBU continues their Halifax road trip Sunday, Feb. 9 versus the Dal Tigers at 3 p.m. while SMU has a home-home series with StFX on the road Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. and at home Friday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. for Senior Night.

Dominic Nolasco