SYDNEY, N.S. – On the strength of a 33-point explosion in the third quarter – one in which they outscored their opponent by 20 points – the Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers (6-8) rallied for a 92-80 victory over the Acadia Axemen (2-11) in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) basketball action at Sullivan Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
Coming off a lopsided loss to the Capers one day earlier, the Axemen came out hungry in the first quarter.
By the midway point of the opening stanza, Acadia held a razor-thin 11-10 edge.
With less than two minutes remaining, Miguel Perez Boskovic (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) canned a three-pointer to give the visitors a 17-12 edge.
After the first quarter, Acadia led 23-19.
Highlighted by a shot from downtown by Adam Barney (Ottawa, ON), the Axemen extended their advantage to 30-22 in the opening couple of minutes in the second quarter.
Midway through the stanza, after a three-pointer from Gabe Davignon (Whites Lake, NS), the visitors took a double-digit edge – at 37-27.
Jason Callaghan (Sydney, NS) of the Capers answered with consecutive hoops to trim the deficit to 37-31, but the Acadia margin ballooned to 42-31 after they scored five straight points.
Down the stretch before halftime, CBU got no closer than eight points and headed to the locker room trailing 48-37.
Early in the third quarter, the Axemen maintained their double-digit margin, with Ryan Munro's (Timberlea, NS) free throw making it 50-39.
By halfway through the period, after Tyson Cato (Ajax, ON) scored, the sides were knotted at 51-51.
Led by the scoring of Subway player of the game Osman 'Ozzy' Omar (Mississauga, ON) and Callaghan, along with a stingy defense, the Capers catapulted to a 70-61 lead after three quarters.
Midway through the final frame, Cato finished a sensational tic-tac-toe passing play engineered by Omar and Callaghan to make it 81-74 for the Capers.
Perez Boskovic – particularly from the free-throw line – and his teammates tried to stay within striking distance, but they could not regain the lead.
CBU sealed the deal with an 11-4 run to end the game.
Alex Muise (Bedford, NS) led five Axemen in double digits, with 23 points, while adding seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Perez Boskovic finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Seth Blundell (Wolfville, NS), Ryan Munro (Timberlea, NS) and Davignon finished with 10 points apiece.
For the Capers, Omar finished with a game-high 26 points, while adding four assists and two steals.
Cato finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Callaghan – off the bench – contributed 17 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Freshman Justus Peuser (Geisenheim, Germany) and Paul Watson (Mississauga, ON) hit double digits – with 11 and 10 points, respectively – while the veteran forward added six assists, five rebounds and five steals.
Sophomore forward Chris Ruta (Calgary, AB) collected a game-high 13 rebounds, while chipping in nine points.
The Axemen will return to the court on Friday, Jan. 27, when they host the Dalhousie Tigers in an 8 p.m. start at War Memorial Gymnasium in Wolfville.
The Capers hit the road to face the Memorial SeaHawks on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. NST, at the Field House in St. John's.