Thompson shines in semifinal victory
HALIFAX, NS (March 1, 2025) – The UPEI Panthers men's basketball team are off to play for Atlantic University Sport (AUS) supremacy.
The No. 2 seed Panthers scored a narrow 74-68 victory over the third-ranked Cape Breton University Capers in 2025 Bell AUS Men's Basketball Championship semifinal action played Saturday night at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. Next up for UPEI – a date with the top-ranked STFX X-Men with the AUS title on the line.
"We've been locked in all week. We worked so hard throughout the season because we wanted that bye and get that rest," said Panthers guard Kyree Thompson, who was named the Subway Player of the Game after scoring 23 points. "We were ready and prepared for this game."
The championship final is set for 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon, and the Panthers most definitely have revenge on their minds after being blown out by the X-Men in the 2023 gold medal game, 104-54.
It was a good night to be a Panthers fan, as earlier in the evening, UPEI's women's basketball team also booked a ticket to the AUS final on Sunday afternoon, beating Acadia 76-50 in their semifinal matchup.
In the game, not much separated the teams. UPEI's largest lead came midway through the third quarter when they went up nine points, 46-37, on a Tarrance Booker free throw. CBU's biggest lead was just three points, 11-8, when Stefan Anisko threw down a dunk in the first quarter.
After three quarters of play, UPEI held a tiny 51-48 lead, giving way to a physical and tightly contested final 10 minutes of play.
Right out of the gates, Thompson hit a three-pointer to put the Panthers up 54-48 and then 37 seconds later hit another one to put his team up 57-50.
CBU was held at bay for the next three minutes before Tafarian Black hit his own three-point shot to cut the UPEI lead to one, 59-58.
That is as close as the Capers would get as UPEI pulled away and extended their lead to 69-60 when Thompson made good on the second of two free throws.
CBU's last ditch effort came with less than a minute left when AUS First Team All-Star Shak Pryce scored eight of his 23 points in a 20-second window to cut the Panthers lead to 71-68.
Panthers First Team All-Star Kamari Scott and All-Rookie Team member Hugo Bermejo combined for three free throws with just seconds on the clock to cement the victory.
Scott finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Daniel Gonzalez Longarela added 16 points and 14 rebounds.