MBB: CAPERS drop close one in Antigonish
The Capers were ahead 14-5 midway through the first quarter and were up 19-12 after one as Ozzy Omar (Mississauga, ON) netted seven points for CBU early on.
Antigonish, NS – The STFX X-Men played to an 83-76 victory over the Cape Breton Capers in Wednesday night AUS action on Coach K Court at the STFX Saputo Centre.
Subway Player of the Game Justin Andrew (Hamilton, ON) scored a game-high 27 points for the X-Men in the win and added seven rebounds and four assists.
The X-Men got out to a slow start in the game in a low-scoring opening half for both squads.
The Capers were ahead 14-5 midway through the first quarter and were up 19-12 after one as Ozzy Omar (Mississauga, ON) netted seven points for CBU early on.
Cape Breton maintained the lead in the second quarter, they were up by eight points, 27-19 with four minutes to go after Andrew drained consecutive three-pointers for X to close the gap.
Andrew sank three more trays in the final two minutes and the X-Men trailed 35-32 at halftime.
Omar led the Capers in the first half with 17 points and Andrew had 15 for the X-Men, all from three-point range.
Both teams picked up the pace in the third quarter with the score remaining close. The Capers held a 62-59 after three despite being outscored 25-22 in the quarter.
The fourth quarter was another close scoring affair and the X-Men overtook the lead. They had a three-point lead with just over two minutes to play and increased that to five with 42 seconds left in the game.
The Capers were unable to come back and the X-Men held on for the 83-76 win.
Omar finished with 26 points for CBU and CJ Bennett (Brampton, ON) netted 23 and was the top Capers rebounder with six on the night. Izaiah Ugoalah (Vancouver, BC) added 16.
The X-Men had four athletes in the double scoring digits including Andrew's 27 point night. Avan Nava (Mississauga, ON) scored 17 while Antoine Vernon (Hamilton, ON) and Bennett Grambach (Toronto, ON) each netted 11 points.
David Muenkat (Brampton, ON) was the top X rebounder with 10 on the night.
With the win the X-Men gain four-points in the standings and improve to 4-3 on the season. The Capers drop to 2-6.
STFX will be back on Coach K Court at Saturday night to host the Dalhousie Tigers in a 6:00 pm game.
Cape Breton will next see action on Saturday, November 27th when they host UNB.
-30-
Courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Sports Information