Friday 8 October 2010

St. FX 78, Cape Breton 75

The X-Men built a 48-33 halftime lead which grew to 19 midway through the 3rd quarter but had to come back from a late 3 point deficit to defeat the Capers in an AUS championship game rematch on the opening day of the Eric Garland tournament at UNB. 

Player-of-the-game 6'5" Dwayne Johnson showed he is likely all the way back from a severe back injury that forced him to miss all of last season, making several key plays including a steal and subsequent transition layup with about 2 minutes remaining to give X the lead for good.  Later Johnson, who went 9-11 from the floor and finished with a game-high 21 points and 3 rebounds, added the back breaker on a slick back door cut and layin with 1:15 remaining off a feed from Christian "T-Bear" Upshaw, who was relatively quiet with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists as the X-Men asserted their advantages inside.

6'7" Scott Jaspers-Fayer had a tidy 16 point, 7 rebound effort for Cape Breton, working hard to get his.  The Capers struggled from the perimeter, going only 8 for 28 from three point land including 6'2" Jimmy Dorsey, who went 1-15 from the floor after lighting up X for 35 points in the AUS championship last season.  Fellow 6'1" guard Tremaine Fraser did not make a field goal, going 0-9.

Despite the difficult shooting night, the Capers mounted a strong second-half comeback, as touted freshman Julian Smith (9 points) hit a pair of 3's as did Justin Roper hit pair of 3s during the stretch during which Cape Breton outscored X by 22.  But Johnson then took over the game and X got stops when they needed, especially on the final possession during which Capers had the ball with 20 seconds left down 3 and X buckled down forcing up a tough 3 that was not close by 6'4" Paris Carter. who came off the bench to score 12 for CBU.

6'9" Alberto Rodriquez authored an 11 point, 10 rebound double double while steady 5'9" guard Will Silver (9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) was also solid in the X win. 

6'7" Al Aliovic started for CBU and had 14 points including 2 3's.  6'4" Phil Nkrumah had 9 points but fouled out late and was very tough all night. 

The loss was the second consecutive for the Capers, who last weekend played without Nkrumah and Dorsey; Dorsey was injured in last weekend's tournament in a game against Lee Academy and sat out the championship game loss to Holland College while Nkrumah was unavailable all of last weekend.

Lakehead faces UNB tonight at 8 PM AT and tomorrow X faces the hosts while Lakehead and Cape Breton square off.

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