Panthers clinch quarter-final bye with win over Cape Breton

The match-up marked the final home contest of the AUS regular season – senior day – for the Capers, with Osman 'Ozzy' Omar (Mississauga, ON), Paul Watson (Mississauga, ON) and Jason Callaghan (Sydney, NS) honoured by CBU Athletics for their contributions to the university; athletically, academically and in the community.  

Fittingly, for the hometown crowd, the veteran trio combined to score the first three baskets of the game, including a Watson three-pointer, which gave the Capers a 7-4 advantage in the opening three-and-a-half minutes of the first quarter. 

The Panthers took their first edge of the match-up – in dramatic fashion – when Cameron Brown (Scarborough, ON) soared for an offensive rebound, off a missed three-point shot, and made an emphatic dunk to give the visitors a 10-8 lead. 

After freshman guard Justus Peuser (Geisenheim, Germany) gave the Capers a 13-10 edge, a mini spurt keyed by another athletic basket from Brown gave the Panthers an 18-13 advantage. 

With a buzzer-beating fast-break lay-up by Omar to end the first quarter, the sides were knotted at 20-20. The hoop from the defending AUS most valuable player gave him 1,699 career points, which made him one of the top-five scorers – all-time – in the conference. 

To start the second quarter, Adeboye Akinode (Burlington, NJ) made his presence known for the visitors – grabbing the rebound of his missed shot, drawing a foul and banking in the put-back. He drained the free throw to give the Panthers a 23-20 edge. 

A couple of minutes later, after a three-pointer from Omar, the Capers trailed 27-26. 

By midway through the second stanza – on the strength of an 11-2 spurt by UPEI, one keyed by four consecutive points from Kamari Scott (Malton, ON) and a rainbow three-pointer by Elijah Miller (Rexdale, ON) as he faded to the left, UPEI led 38-28.   

The Capers answered with six consecutive points, led by the playmaking ability of Callaghan, to make it 38-34. 

After Scott made a sweeping left-handed lay-up through the lane, the Panthers were ahead by nine – at 42-33. 

In the final minute before halftime, Watson nailed a three-point shot from long distance, and drew a Panther foul. When he completed the four-point play, the Capers narrowed the Panther lead to 42-37, which was the score heading to the locker room. 

Early in the third quarter, after Scott made a drive to the basket and scored, the Capers coughed up the ball and Dakelle Brooks (East Preston, NS) ended up with a three-point play – the hoop-and-the-harm finish that expanded the UPEI lead to 49-37. 

Sophomore forward Chris Ruta (Calgary, AB) canned a three-pointer to help keep the Capers within striking distance at 49-40.  

But, by the middle of the third quarter, after John Alex Vos (Charlottetown, PEI) connected from beyond the arc, the Panthers had their largest advantage – at 58-44. 

Ruta continued to lead the CBU charge with a slam dunk, which preceded a Panther turnover and Callaghan three-pointer to make it 60-49 for UPEI, with just more than three minutes remaining in the third stanza.  

After a missed three-pointer by the Panthers, Omar made a fast-break lay-up – one that not only trimmed the deficit to single digits, at 60-51, but also placed him fourth on the all-time AUS scoring list with 1707 career points.  

With less than one minute remaining in the third quarter, Vos corralled an offensive rebound and drew a foul on his made lay-up, which gave the Panthers a 67-53 advantage. 

Heading to the fourth quarter, UPEI led 72-55, after Olivier St-Pierre (Saint-Hyacinthe, QC) canned a corner three-pointer at the buzzer. 

The opponents traded hoops in the first three minutes of the final stanza, with UPEI maintaining their 17-point edge – at 77-60.  

With just less than six minutes remaining in regulation, Scott swooped in for a right-handed lay-in that pushed the Panther margin back to 20 points – at 81-61.  

Down the stretch, the Capers could only slice the deficit to as little as 18 points. 

Scott led the Panthers with a game-best 24 points, while chipping in four assists and three rebounds.  

Brown – the Subway player of the game – fashioned a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds, while Miller added 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds.  

Omar led the Capers with 22 points – including nine-for-nine from the free-throw line – while adding four rebounds and three assists. Callaghan finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Watson garnered nine points, five rebounds and one assist. 

Ruta chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.   

Along with senior day, the Capers and CBU Athletics celebrated African Heritage Day, which included the singing of the Black National Anthem – Lift Every Voice and Sing – and a drumming performance at halftime.  

Both teams will wrap up the AUS regular season on the road, with the Panthers heading to St. John's for games versus the host Memorial SeaHawks on Friday, Feb. 17 (8 p.m. NST) and Saturday, Feb. 18 (2 p.m. NST), while the Capers will travel to Halifax on Saturday, Feb. 18 (8 p.m. AST) for a match-up with the defending conference champion Dalhousie Tigers.

RECAP BY: Corey LeBlanc, CBU Sports Information / PHOTOS BY: Vaughan Merchant