Capers hand X-Men first loss of season

After recently celebrating his 800th career victory, Coach K’s X-Men were unable to deliver win #801 to their veteran head coach, as they fell 101-88 to the rival Cape Breton Capers Wednesday night in front of a full crowd at Sullivan Fieldhouse in Sydney, NS. The loss was the first of the season for the CIS ranked No. 2 X-Men.

The Capers were led by Jimmy Dorsey who scored 24 points, half of which were from behind the three-point arc. Terry Thomas replied with a game-high 28 points for the X-Men as both players earned Player of the Game nods for their respective teams.

Cape Breton held slim leads of 29-27 after the first quarter and 54-53 at half-time as the two teams battled it out in classic StFX-CBU rivalry fashion. The Capers started to pull away late in the third quarter and led by as much as ten points as they closed out 30 minutes of play with a 78-74 advantage. The AUS-leading X-Men tried to come back in the fourth quarter but they were not able to overcome the Capers lead as time ran out and Cape Breton held on for the 101-88 win.

Cape Breton holds the notoriety of becoming the first team to solve the X-Men this season, as StFX were previously 7-0 in AUS conference play and 18-0 overall.

Along with Dorsey’s 24 point effort, five other Capers were in the double scoring digits as they brought a well-rounded attack. Al Alilovic scored 18 points, Jamie Glasgow had 15, Julian Smith contributed 14 and Arild Geugjes and Meshack Lufile each scored 13.

Replying for the X-Men was Thomas with 28 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, while Tyrell Vernon scored 18 points and had 7 assists. Jeremy Dunn scored 12 points and Marquis Clayton and Shane Coupland each added 11. Coupland also hauled down 8 rebounds.

With the loss the X-Men fall to 7-1 on the season but remain in first place overall in the AUS conference. They face another tough road game this coming Sunday, January 15th as they travel to Charlottetown to play the second place UPEI panthers (6-2).