You couldn’t have asked for a better game on Wednesday night – at any level.
The CIS No. 4 StFX X-Men played host to the No. 8 Cape Breton Capers in a standing room only crowd that saw the X-Men fall in double-overtime 101-98. Both teams played their hearts out for the whole 50 minutes.
The first quarter saw the X-Men come out on a flying start as Christian Upshaw and Will Silver were crucial in X’s success to get the ball into the paint. Fifth year senior Alberto Rodriguez was a giant factor in the paint, securing every rebound and creating second chance points that really lifted the X-Men and the crowd early.
On the flip side, Capers big man Phil Nkrumah was doing his fair share to keep the game close, getting to the rim early and often, trying to draw as many early fouls as he could.
One thing was for sure early: The rivalry between X and CBU was as heated as it’d ever been.
Around the half-way mark of the first quarter, Nkrumah stole the ball and looked to have an easy two points. Fifth year senior Dwayne Johnson chased down the Capers big and went for the block attempt that sent Nkrumah flying into the first row of the stands.
From there, emotions erupted.
With both fans and players trying to break apart the heated rivals, you could tell that the next 35 minutes and eventually more were going to reveal more heated interactions.
After everything settled down, it was time for the Charlie Spurr show to begin.
Spurr, a native of Ottawa, Ontario, has been huge all season for the X-Men off the bench. The 50% shooter from behind the three was nothing short of exceptional on Wednesday night, hitting three big three’s to get the fans on their feet.
At the end of the first the X-Men found themselves with a 21-17 lead.
The second quarter was much of the same as the X-Men’s intensity raised their game to new levels. Will Silver was the catalyst, acting as the floor general and distributing the ball to all of his teammates. With another solid quarter under their belts, the X-Men found themselves with a 43-34 halftime lead.
The third quarter didn’t start the way the X-Men wanted it to as the Capers came out on fire. Lead by Paris Carter and Joey Dorsey, the Capers lit up the three-point line scoring 30 points in the quarter and regaining the lead.
A game of back and forth play to that point only became crazier as the final seconds ticked down in the third. A huge three to silent the StFX crowd with two minutes to go in the third by Nkrumah lifted the Capers fans in attendance. The Capers took a 64-59 lead into the final frame.
The X-Men tried to keep the game close throughout the fourth quarter and with nearly four minutes left in regulation, down eight points, they finally turned things to another level.
Lead by a full team effort, the X-Men brought the game back to a one possession game and eventually forced overtime as both teams were deadlocked at 82-82 after forty minutes of regulation time.
The first overtime saw both teams go back and forth on both ends of the floor, exchanging baskets.
With the game tied at 92 apiece, Alberto Rodriguez came up with a big play for the X-Men. As X drove the ball into the paint looking for the go-ahead basket, the ball was stripped leaving Tremaine Frasier to go coast to coast for an open layup. However, Rodriguez, the 6’10 Havana, Cuba native took off from under the basket all the way to the other end of the floor to reject Frasier’s last second layup that would’ve won CBU the game. With the game squared off at 92-92, both teams prepared for another five minutes of play.
The second overtime started slow for the X-Men as fatigue started to show and Cape Breton continued to knock down clutch shots.
First year forward Terry Thomas who’s been electric off the bench this season, provided the X-Men with a much-needed punch as he first chased down a Frasier layup to pin it between the backboard and the rim, then on the ensuing Capers possession, stripped Paris Carter of the ball and went in for the hard one handed dunk sending the X crowd to their feet.
X-Men captain Will Silver attacked the Capers defence and was relentless in his play, grabbing his own rebounds and making big plays down the stretch to keep StFX in it. In the final minute of play, the X-Men once again found Spurr in the corner who hit a key three-point shot to cut the Capers lead to one.
After a pair of huge free-throws from the Capers, the X-Men found themselves down three points with one chance left to tie the game.
A long three from Upshaw fell short. Silver darted in from the perimeter and kicked the ball out to Jeremy Dunn who had his own chance to tie the game. That shot fell short. Finally both Silver and Dwayne Johnson got their hands on the ball and Johnson had a chance to tie it up from long range but the shot missed.
Nkrumah ended with 26 points and 9 boards for the Capers, while Jimmy Dorsey posted a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Paris Carter scored 22 points, including four from three point range.
Replying for the hometown X-Men was Charlie Spurr with 21 points as he was 5 for 6 from the three-point arc, while Will Silver an impressive double-double scoring 18 points and adding 10 rebounds. Christian Upshaw contributed 16 points and Jeremy Dunn scored 15.
In perhaps one of the most exciting games this season in the CIS, the X-Men and Capers proved that the AUS will be well represented in March at the CIS Final 8.
The X-Men (7-3) now look ahead to Saturday night when they will take on the UNB Varsity Reds (4-5) at home. Tip-off time is 8:00 pm at the StFX Oland Centre.
Courtesy Mat MacDonald