AUS: Dorsey’s 49 lift Capers; X pull out OT win

Cape Breton 111, Acadia 106  6’1″ Jimmy Dorsey exploded with a CIS season-high of 49 points, including 27 in the first half as the Capers pulled in all 8 of their possible points this weekend, vaulting into contention for a first-round bye at the AUS tournament.  Dorsey finished 8 for 14 from downtown, knocking in 7 of threes in the first half alone when he and Acadia’s 6’10″ Owen Klassen engaged in a good, ol’ fashion mano-a-mano showdown from behind the arc.  Klassen had 20 first-half points including 6 threes before halftime.  The game was tight the entire way however Cape Breton took the lead for good late in the third on a 3 by Julien Smith that gave CBU a 79-77 lead.  Later, Dorsey scored 7 consecutive points to cap a 10-2 run, giving Capers their largest lead to that point at 91-81.  During this time, Capers went to a 3-2 zone to deal with foul trouble and the zone hurt the Axemen and Acadia could come no closer than 5 the rest of the way.  Dorsey added 8 rebounds and 14 assists in another of the several All-Canadian offensive efforts this season for the U.S. import guard.  Acadia was without star 6’3″ guard Anthony Sears, one of the better perimeter defenders in the AUS, for today’s game after the Axemen’s leading scorer injured his right shoulder in the third quarter of last night’s game at X running into a screen.  Acadia did welcome back 6’3″ Tyler Scott from a long bout of mononucleosis and the less-than-fit Scott showed how valuable he could be down the stretch for Acadia scoring 16 points and gutting out 24 minutes.

St. FX 70, UPEI 69 in Overtime  In a wild finish, 6’2″ Tyrell Vernon’s steal and lay-in with under a minute to play was the catalyst in a 6-0 run that rescued X from an almost-certain loss and X-Men vaulted into a first place tie in the AUS.  6’3″ Jonathan Cooper’s long 3 from the left wing had given the Panthers the lead and later 6’8″ Bol Kong turned it over with X down three and about a minute remaining.  But then Vernon’s steal conjured up memories of Gerald Henderson’s playoff thievery vs. the Lakers about 30 years ago, turning the momentum completely around after X could not buy a shot from downtown, finishing 7 for 41 (17%) from the perimeter against a variety of UPEI zones.  On the next possession after the steal, 6’5″ Jeremy Dunn blocked a lay-up attempt by Panthers Geoff Doane and 6’5″ Shane Coupland then hit a pair of free throws to give X the lead with about 16 seconds remaining.  6’6″ Manock Lual then drove the baseline but spun into a double team, turning it over and 6’5″ Terry Thomas was fouled with 5 seconds remaining, converting both his free throws to put X up by 3.  Panthers had one last chance with 5 seconds remaining however Donathan Moss inexplicably drove in for a lay-up instead of working for a game-tying 3 attempt.  Both teams were horrid from the perimeter, unable to make shots against zones and X had the game well in hand late until a series of possessions during which X-Men could not defensive rebound and Panthers were able to tie it with several put backs on the “o” glass.  Vernon finished with 10 points but only 1-10 from downtown as his confidence from the perimeter was clearly shaken as the game progressed and the usually-confident shooter passed up several open looks.  Dunn was also uncharacteristically inconsistent from beyond the arc, going 3 for 11 but did hit a big 3 early in the OT that offset an early 5 point UPEI OT lead.  Cooper led all scorers with 22 points and added 8 rebounds as Panthers went only 4-23 from downtown.  Panthers again played the game with guard Terrence Brown.  Panthers and Axemen meet next weekend.

Saint Mary’s 74, Memorial 63  6’3″ Brian Rouse made up for the loss of 6’5″ Torrey Fassett with 22 points while 6’3″ Miguel Pink broke out of somewhat of a shooting slump going 3-6 from downtown as the Huskies swept Memorial this weekend at the Tower.  6’7″ Riley Halpin was also instrumental for SMU with 22 points and 7 rebounds.

AUS Standings

#8 St. FX   12-4, 32 pts.

UPEI  12-4, 32 pts.

Cape Breton 10-6, 30 pts.

Acadia 9-6, 28 pts.

Dalhousie 7-9, 22 pts.

Saint Mary’s 7-9, 20 pts.

UNB 6-11, 18 pts.

Memorial 1-15, 2 pts.