X-Men fall to Capers in AUS championship game

X-Men fall to Capers in AUS championship game
It wasn't meant to be for the StFX X-Men basketball team on Sunday afternoon as they fell in the AUS championship game to the host Cape Breton Capers 94-77.

Leading the way with a 23 point second half performance, Capers guard Jimmy Dorsey helped lift his Capers to two big quarters en route to victory.

Phil Nkrumah chipped in with an 18 rebound 11 point double-double for the Capers in front of an enthusiastic CBU crowd.

What looked to be a promising tart for the X-Men just wasn't enough as the Capers slowly chipped away at the StFX lead before going ahead early in the third quarter thanks to a Paris Carter three pointer.

The X-Men were paced by another great game from Jeremy Dunn who finished with 22 points, while Christian 'T-Bear' Upshaw finished with 20 points and seven assists.

Building a quick lead, StFX was able to put Cape Breton on their heels, beating them by eight points in the first quarter before holding a three point lead heading into half-time thanks to a big three from Will Silver with time winding down.

The combination of Dorsey and Carter proved to be too much for the X-Men, and exactly what Cape Breton needed to get themselves back in the game.

After scoring just 12 points in the first half, Dorsey exploded for 23 second half points on 7-for-10 shooting in the final 20 minutes.

Upshaw who was named AUS MVP earlier in the week did everything he could to try and keep his team in the game, but the sharp shooting Dorsey ended up being the dagger in StFX's season.

In front of 4,261 fans, both Cape Breton and StFX gave the supporters a great game to cheer about. The fast paced up and down offensive style of both teams made for one of the most entertaining games of the season.

Cape Breton has one of the highest ranked offensive attacks in the CIS and the X-Men knew they would have to have a great game on the defensive end in order to slow them down, but it wasn't enough for the win.

The Capers won the battle of the second chance points, outscoring the X-Men 16-5 in that category.

Cape Breton will now move on to Ottawa to participate in this year's nationals and represent the AUS.

Courtesy StFX Sports Information contributor Mat MacDonald