Sunday 3 February 2008

CIS Sunday Results: Late Redmen rally leads to win; SMU defeats UNB

St. Francis Xavier (19-8, 10-4) 86, UPEI (6-21, 5-11) 66 X turned up the heat in the fourth quarter, finishing the game on a 28-11 run to break open a three point game as 6'2" Tyler Richards (22 points) shook off a sluggish first half and 6'8" Islam Luiz de Toledo (11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks) got going offensively and energized his team with a pair of blocked shots. 6'3" Dwayne Johnson was a beast inside for X, finishing with 17 points and 6 rebounds while 5'10" Christian "T-Bear" Upshaw produced 21 points. X also got another underrated performance from 6'3" Dave Joyce, who started against the smaller Panther lineup and continued his strong defensive play, including several deflections at the top of X's press. The Panthers, who deployed a smaller lineup typically with 4 guards/wings on the floor, again played without veteran shooting guard Brent McLaren and Coach Matt Davies was not on the bench after he was ejected from yesterday's game with SMU. Assistant coaches Jared Cheverie and Greg Lucas did a good job in his absence. 6'6" freshman Manock Lual led UPEI with 16 points and 5 boards, while 6'3" Andrew Black, another tough, physical forward in the mould of Dwayne Johnson, had 15 and 7, with Shakir Chambers scoring 8. The Panthers shot just 2 free throws all afternoon. X now goes into a very important three-game portion of their schedule, starting with Thursday's game in Antigonish against arch-rival Saint Mary's which will go a long way in deciding third place in the AUS. Still, one of two first round byes is not beyond the realm of possibility for X as later they play a pair of big road games at Acadia and at Cape Breton, currently 1-2 atop the AUS standings.

McGill (12-12, 6-7) 78, Bishop's (6-13, 2-9) 70 6'4" Sean Anthony's three-point play after being fouled on a slick spin move gave the Redmen the late lead for good and then 6'5" Michael White clinched the game with a long three very late in the shot clock as the Redmen came from four down entering the fourth quarter to defeat the Gaiters at home. Anthony's play gave McGill a three point lead at 68-65 and came after Bishop's 6'7" Hermon Tesfaghebriel was assessed a technical foul and 6'4" Pawel Herra (16 points including 4-7 3's) hit the ensuing two free throws to tie the game. Later White made it 74-70 with his clutch 3 as the Redmen scored the final 7 points of the game to hand Bishop's their 9th consecutive loss. McGill strengthens their hold on third place in the "Q". Herra came alive, knocking down a pair of fourth quarter 3's that allowed McGill to outscore the Gaiters 27-14 in the final frame. 6'3" freshman Kevin Selman had 19 including 2-6 3's for Bishop's while 6'1" Junior Nicolas added 15. 6'3" Moustafa El-Zanaty led all scorers with 22 points for McGill.

Saint Mary's (21-8, 10-5) 88, UNB (5-23, 2-14) 76 6'1" Shane Morrison had a career-high 30 points to lead the Huskies at UNB. Morrison added 11 rebounds and 5 assists in a dominant performance while 6'5" Ike Uchegbu had his way inside with 21 points and 7 rebounds while reliable 6'3" wing Mark McLaughlin added 19 points for Saint Mary's. The Varsity Reds stayed in the game by going 12-26 from downtown including a 5-10 effort from Colin Swift who led the Reds with 18 points.

Cape Breton (19-6, 13-3) 88, Memorial (1-23, 0-14) 60 6'5" Eric Breland had 24 points and 8 rebounds as the Capers outscored the Seahawks 30-11 in the third quarter to sweep their weekend series.

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