Will Yengue and the Tigers battled Jimmy Dorsey and the Capers from Dalplex.
Tigers 86 Capers 82 (OT)
(Recap of Sat Game at Dalplex)
Reigning CIS Player of the Week Jimmy Dorsey struggled from the field and the Cape Breton Capers missed out on numerous chances to put Dalhousie away and the Tigers came back to win in OT, 86-82 at Dalplex.
After leading by five at the end of a sloppy first half, the Tigers trailed by as many as twelve in the third quarter before making a gradual comeback that would see them finally tie the game in the final minute.
Stephen Lopez hit a jump shot with 38 seconds left to tie the game and force the extra session. Just like the closing minutes in regulation, the Capers led by as many as seven points but missed several critical foul shots and easy put backs that would have sealed the Tiger's fate.
The Capers led 82-75 with three minutes left but would not score again while the Tigers reeled off nine straight points. Ritchie Kanza Mate made four straight foul shots and hit a jumper, and Sam Williams came off the bench to knock a pair down, then made the game winning lay up off a beautiful pass from Kanza Mata.
The Capers had a chance to take the lead in transition after a Dalhousie turnover with just over twenty seconds left but Julian Smith's errant pass found the hands of Lopez and the Tigers made three of four foul shots in the waning seconds to win it.
AUS MVP leading candidate Dorsey struggled most of the game finishing with 29 points on 8 of 26 shooting from the field. The Capers star did score twenty points in the first six minutes of the third quarter but was then neutralized by Lopez for the remainder of the game.
Both teams battled foul trouble and lost key players down the stretch including big post Meshack Lufile for the Capers and versatile Will Yengue for the Tigers.
Al Alilovic was stellar for the Capers scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while Casey Fox was the player of the game scoring 20 for the Tigers.
The same two teams will battle again tomorrow at noon Atlantic time from the Metro Centre in what could be an AUS Championships Quarter Final preview. The game is being marketed as an opener for the ational Basketball League of Canada game at Two O'Clock, pitting the home town Halifax Rainmen (featuring former AUS All Stars Joey Haywood and Christian Upshaw) versus the first place London Lightning.
The webcast of the game can be seen on www.sportstream.ca.
Lines
CBU
Jimmy Dorsey – 29 Points, 11 rebs, 7 assists, 8/26 from the field
Al Alilovic- 21 points, 11 rebs
Dalhousie
Will Yengue- 17 Points, 10 rebs.
Ritchie Kanza Mata – 14 points, 9 assists, 8 rebs 8/9 FT Line
Notes
Not a pretty basketball game at times. In the first half both John Campbell of the Tigers and Thom Gillespie of the Capers seemed exasperated with their respective teams sloppy play.....outside of his explosion at the start of the 2nd half, Dorsey was kept in check by Stephen Lopez and forced at least five very bad shots. Even so, his 5 three pointers in the 3rd quarter easily drew the most excitement from the sleepy crowd....Capers will be up late thinking about how this one got away from them. They had the Tigers on the ropes several times but could not finish them off....both teams shot poorly and the Tigers committed 19 turnovers. Tigers went to the line 34 time compared to 23 for the Capers.....Tigers out-rebounded the Capers 63-48....Tigers move into a fifth place tie with the Huskies (24 points) as both teams clinched playoff spots today. The Huskies victory over UNB and the Tigers win eliminates the Varsity Reds. CBU stays in sole possession of fourth place with 30 points, two behind third place Acadia.
