Antigonish, N.S. - The visiting Cape Breton University Capers (8-10) scored a 85-78 win over the StFX X-Men (4-14) in AUS basketball action Saturday night at the Oland Centre.
In the first quarter, StFX jumped to a 9-2 lead in the opening two minutes, with Julius Antoine (Woodbridge, ON) leading the offensive charge with a pair of baskets in the low post and a three-point shot.
On a shot from beyond the arc by first-year guard Akil Charles (Glenn Dale, MD), the X-Men took a 21-12 edge late in the opening stanza.
The home team led 24-16 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, keyed by the perimeter shooting of Kevin Bercy (Kanata, ON), the X-Men extended their advantage to as many as 12 points.
Ignited by four straight points from Kenny Jean-Louis (Montreal, QC), the Capers carved into the lead in the final minutes before intermission.
The X-Men led 36-33 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Antoine provided a three-point play to put StFX up 44-39.
After a steal and lay-up from Charles and a left-handed put-back dunk from Bercy, which electrified the home crowd, the X-Men led 50-41.
With less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Charles drained a jumper from downtown to give StFX its largest lead - 58-45.
The Capers closed out the period with an 11 to six burst to trim the deficit to eight points, including a slam dunk from fifth-year senior forward Meshack Lufile (Burlington, ON).
After Bercy completed a three-point play to give StFX a 68-58 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Capers answered with back-to-back three pointers from Jack MacAulay (Charlottetown, PEI) and Cedric Kasongo (Welland, ON), along with a Jean-Louis fast-break dunk, off an X-Men turnover, to cut the deficit to two points.
Point-guard Davonte Provo (East Preston, NS) stopped the Caper surge with a floating lay-up in the lane, but MacAulay struck again from beyond the arc to make it 70-69 for the X-Men midway through the final quarter.
After Provo scored on another acrobatic drive into the paint, and MacAulay hit another three-pointer, StFX led 76-74 with three minutes remaining in regulation.
After a basket from Subway player of the game Seth Amoah (Montreal, QC) and a three-pointer from Kasongo, the Capers were ahead 81-76 with less than two minutes left in the game.
Cape Breton finished the match-up on a 9-2 spurt to seal the deal.
For the Capers, Lufile finished with a double-double - 22 points and 12 rebounds - while chipping in three assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
Amoah and Jean-Louis also hit double figures with 17 points apiece.
Jean-Louis contributed seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals, while Amoah added eight rebounds and two steals.
Kasongo finished with eight points, seven assists and three rebounds.
For the X-Men, Bercy collected another double-double, with a game-high 28 points and 18 rebounds, while adding two assists and two steals.
Charles finished with 24 points, along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Antoine chipped in 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists.
Provo collected four points and two steals, along with a game-best nine assists.
The Capers will return wrap-up the regular season with a pair home games versus the Dalhousie Tigers (Friday, Feb. 26) and Saint Mary's Huskies (Saturday, Feb. 27) at Sullivan Fieldhouse in Sydney.
The X-Men will be on the road to Saint John's next weekend, where they will tip-off against the Memorial SeaHawks on those same evenings.
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