X-Men fall to CIS No. 5 Capers

The CIS ranked No. 5 Cape Breton Capers remain undefeated on the AUS season after a come-from-behind 77-72 win over the StFX X-Men Tuesday evening at the StFX Oland Centre in front of over 1500 fans.

Reigning AUS MVP Jimmy Dorsey sparked a fourth quarter Capers comeback to erase a sixteen point deficit at half-time. Dorsey finished the evening with 26 points as the Capers outshot the X-Men 47-29 in the second half, including a 25-11 fourth quarter advantage.

The X-Men had opened the game with a 21-15 lead after the first quarter. They outscored the Capers by ten points in the second to lead 46-30 at half-time. The Capers closed the gap in the third quarter, but X still held the advantage at 61-53 after thirty minutes.

The fourth quarter was the decider, however, as Dorsey helped spark the comeback. His three-pointer with five minutes left in the game gave the Capers their first lead in the game at 66-65. They held that lead for the remainder of play as the X-Men’s effort s came up just short.

The two teams made the final minutes exciting as the game was tied at 72-72 with 1:34 left to play. The Capers went ahead 74-72 and the X-Men were unable to put the ball in the net, despite several attempts in the final seconds of play. Cape Breton closed out the comeback at 77-72.

Dorsey was the high scorer in the game with 26. Shaquille Keith scored 14 points and had 7 rebounds for the Capers, while Arild Geugjes scored 13 and added 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Sean McCormick hauled in 11 rebounds for the visitors.

The Capers were 35.4% from field goal range, 23.5% in three-point shooting and 76.5% from the free throw line. The X-Men were 43.7% in field goals, 20.0% from the three point arc and 71.4% in free throws.

Jordan Clarke scored 18 points for the X-Men, with fellow guard Tyrell Vernon scoring 17. Veteran fifth year forward Jeremy Dunn notched 16 points and 9 rebounds, while Will Donkoh had a double-double night with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The X-Men fall to 4-5 on the season and remain in fourth place in the AUS conference with 10 points. The Capers remain unbeaten (8-0) and with the four point win, increase their lead atop the AUS with 24 points. They will host the last place Memorial Sea-Hawks (0-8) for a pair of weekend games, while the X-Men will travel to Fredericton Saturday for another four point game against the fifth place UNB Varsity Reds (3-5).