Capers defeat Huskies 88-78 in home opener
By Corey LeBlanc
SYDNEY – The Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers (2-1) scored a home-opening 88-78 victory over the Saint Mary's Huskies (1-2) in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) men's basketball action Friday night at Sullivan Fieldhouse.
First-year Caper guard Shakael Pryce (Ajax, ON) – the Chartwells player of the game – meshed a game-high 29 points, while adding six rebounds, six steals, five assists and one blocked shot.
In a see-saw first quarter, the visitors took an 11-9 on an old-fashioned three-point play from Jayrell Diggs (East Preston, NS).
On the strength of a steal and basket from Pryce, the Capers took a 20-16 edge later in the opening stanza.
After Shae Linton-Brown (Toronto, ON) completed a three-point play, the Huskies only trailed by one point.
On a basket at the buzzer from Mitchell Mersereau (Sydney, NS), CBU led 24-23 after the first quarter.
Both teams started slowly in the second quarter, with the Capers outscoring the Huskies 3-2 in the opening four minutes.
The back-and-forth continued for most of the quarter, with the largest edge for either side four points for the Capers.
After Linton-Brown drained an off-balance three-pointer from the corner, the teams were knotted 40-40.
Keyed by a three-pointer from Stefan Anisko (Caledonia, ON), along with baskets from Pryce and Tyson Cato (Hamilton, ON), the Capers finished the final two minutes on a 9-0 spurt to take a 49-40 lead to the locker room at halftime.
In the third quarter, it was a battle of the big men in the opening five minutes with Jamal Cadore (Toronto, ON) of the Capers and Jackson Enyinna (Port Harcourt, Nigeria) trading hoops. The CBU forward also contributed a key blocked shot on his counterpart.
Midway through the third quarter, the Capers led 58-50.
After Enyinna cut the Saint Mary's deficit to six – at 60-54 – Anisko canned a three-pointer and Pryce scored the final five points of the frame for the Capers to give the home side a double digit advantage – 69-58 – heading to the final quarter.
Benefitting from CBU going scoreless in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, and spurred by four consecutive points from Tjark Lademacher (Luneburg, Germany), the Huskies pulled within five points – at 69-64 – but they could not get any closer.
When Saint Mary's tried to rally down the stretch, the Capers – and especially Pryce – had the answers.
Along with Pryce, four other CBU players hit double digits in scoring, including Anisko (off the bench), with 16, Cato (15), Peuser (12) and Mersereau (11). Cato fashioned a double-double with 14 rebounds.
For the Huskies, Linton-Brown led three players in double figures, with 24 points, followed by Diggs (23) and Lademacher (10). Marc-Denault Gabriel added 13 rebounds.
The teams will be back in action tomorrow – Saturday, Nov. 4 – at 8 p.m. ADT, in the second half of the weekend doubleheader.
-30-