X-Men hold off Capers to take double OT victory
The StFX X-Men held on for a thrilling 117-116 double overtime victory over the Cape Breton Capers Saturday night at the Sullivan Fieldhouse. The X-Men held off a late game surge by the Capers for the win, worth four points in the AUS standings.
Sydney, NS – The StFX X-Men held on for a thrilling 117-116 double overtime victory over the Cape Breton Capers Saturday night at the Sullivan Fieldhouse. The X-Men held off a late game surge by the Capers for the win, worth four points in the AUS standings.
X-Men veteran forward Azaro Roker (Nassau, Bahamas) had a monster game with a double-double night, scoring 30 points and hauling in 20 rebounds as he was named Subway player of the game.
The X-Men trailed the Capers 27-21 after the first quarter but turned things around in the second, outscoring the home team 27-13.
StFX's Avan Nava (Mississauga, ON) and CBU's Osman Omar (Mississauga, ON) each scored 12 points for their respective teams in the opening half as the X-Men held a 48-40 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was back and forth play as the Capers chipped away at the X-Men lead. Midway through the X-Men were up 65-50 after a Nava three-pointer. The quarter closed out 76-69 in favour of the X-Men.
Omar continued his strong play in the fourth quarter, making key three-pointers to keep his team in the game. He sunk one with under three minutes to play to pull the Capers to within five points, 92-87.
Izaiah Ugualah (Vancouver, BC) drained another with 43 seconds left in the game to tie it up at 92-92 and neither team could hang onto the advantage in the final seconds as regulation time finished in a 94-94 draw.
The first overtime period was more back and forth action with neither team going head by more than two points and a 103-103 scoreline after five minutes forced a second overtime.
Roker was key for the X-Men in the extra frame and they lead 117-113 with five seconds to play as the Capers scored a last second three-pointer to finish out the game.
Aside from Roker's 30-point effort, the X-Men had four others in double-scoring digits including Nava with 25 points and Justin Andrew (Hamilton, ON) with 22.
Omar was the top scorer for the Capers with 34 points, while Ugualah netted 23. Cooper Ward (Ipswich, AUS) had a double-double night for Cape Breton with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
With the win, the X-Men improve to 9-6 on the season and now sit in second place in the AUS standings. They will next see action on Wednesday night as they travel to Halifax to take on the first place Dalhousie Tigers.
The fourth place Capers (6-9) will play Saint Mary's on Saturday night, also in Halifax.
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Courtesy StFX Sports Information