Saint Mary’s protects home court in 91-77 win over UPEI

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Qyemah Gibson scored 27 points and  Johneil Johnson  added 21 to lead SMU over UPEI 91-77 on Friday night.  

Donate Mitchell (Vaughan, ON) added 17 points for the Huskies, who improve to 4-5 in Atlantic University Sport men's basketball action. 

SMU's Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) scored seven of his game-high 27 points in the opening quarter, as the Huskies jumped out to a five-point lead and led 23-17 after 10 minutes. 

Jamesley Jerome (Montréal, QC) and Jack MacAulay (Charlottetown, PE) combined for 14 of UPEI's 23 points in the second quarter, as the Panthers outscored SMU by four in the frame and the Huskies led by two, 42-40 at half. 

Neither team managed to pull away in the third quarter, with the largest lead in the frame was four points. UPEI outscored SMU 22-21 in the quarter and trailed the Huskies by one, 63-62 after thirty minutes.  

Gibson and Mitchell combined for 16 points in the final frame, as Gibson was a perfect 2 for 2 from the three-point-land in a 28-point team effort for the Huskies in the quarter, with SMU outscoring UPEI by 13 in the fourth and held on for the 91-77 victory. 

Michael Young (Bloomfield, New Jersey) finished with 10 points off the bench for UPEI while teammates Dakelle Brooks (East Preston, NS) and Elijah Miller (Etobicoke, ON) each scored nine points for the Panthers, who drop to 2-7 in conference play. 

SMU's Tristan Hyde (Bedford, NS) added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. 

Both teams return to action on Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. from the Homburg Centre. 

Recap by Dominic Nolasco, SMU