CONSOLATION FINAL: CIS championship: Capers edge Windsor in OT, finish 5th

Photo credit Freestyle Photography / Courtesy of Carleton University sports information office
 
OTTAWA (CIS) – The second-seeded Cape Breton Capers let a 17-point lead slip away in the second half but recovered in overtime to edge the No. 4 Windsor Lancers 95-92 in the consolation final of the CIS men’s basketball championship, Sunday afternoon, at Scotiabank Place.
 
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mbkb
 
The AUS champion Capers, who lost 82-74 to No. 7 Calgary in Friday’s opening round and beat No. 6 Lakehead 87-65 on Saturday, finish the tournament in fifth position.
 
The OUA finalist Lancers, who fell 71-68 to No. 5 Saskatchewan in the quarter-finals before defeating No. 8 UQAM 79-74 on Saturday, end up in sixth place.
 
The Capers led 24-18 after the first quarter, 41-30 at halftime and 60-49 after 30 minutes of play. They were up by as much as 17 points in the second half (50-33) but saw their Ontario rivals mount a furious comeback in the fourth quarter to tie it at 75 all after 40 minutes.
 
With Windsor trailing 75-68, Matt Handsor hit a three-point shot with 90 seconds remaining in regulation, Nigel Johnson-Tyghter hit a pair of free throws with under a minute left, and Josh Collins tied it at 75 on a layup with nine seconds on the clock.
 
Andre Smyth and Enrico Diloreto opened the overtime period with back-to-back three-pointers for Windsor, but Paris Carter responded with two long shots of his own for Cape Breton to tie it at 81-81.
 
With the Capers trailing 90-88, Carter hit his third three of the extra frame to send Cape Breton ahead for good with 28 seconds to go.
 
Down 93-90 with eight ticks left, the Lancers had one more chance to send the affair to double OT but Smyth had to settle for a two-point bucket.
 
“I wasn’t really happy about the way we played. If you let a team like that hang around that’s what's going to happen in the end,” said Cape Breton head coach Jim Charters. “I’m proud of our guys coming back after the loss in the quarter-finals.”
 
“We can’t let ourselves get down like that before we start playing defence,” said Windsor coach Chris Oliver. “We got into that situation too much in this tournament.”
 
Carter, a fourth-year guard from Baltimore, was named player of the game for the winners after he scored 11 of his 15 points in overtime.
 
Sophomore James Dorsey of Westminster, Maryland, paced Cape Breton with 16 points and eight rebounds. Mark McGarrigle and Ryan Roper, both fifth-year seniors from Hammonds Plains, N.S., tallied 14 points apiece, while Tremaine Fraser of North Preston, N.S., with 11, also scored in double figures.
 
Smyth, a fourth-year guard from Windsor, was named Lancers MVP following a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double, including seven points in extra time.
 
Isaac Kuon of Mississauga, Ont., finished with 22 points in the losing cause, Johnson-Tyghter of Brampton, Ont., had a 12-point, 11-board double-double, and Handsor of Chatham, Ont., had 12 points.
 
Both teams hit 15 times from beyond the arc, Cape Breton on 34 attempts (40%) and Windsor in 35 tries (42.9%).
 
GAME NOTES: For the second straight game, the Capers were without the services of CIS defensive player of the year Phillip Nkrumah, who was injured on Friday.
 
Scoring by Quarter
 
CBU 24-17-19-15-20: 95 (OT)
WIN 18-12-19-26-17: 92
 
STAT LEADERS
 
Cape Breton
Points: James Dorsey (16), Paris Carter (15), Mark McGarrigle (14), Ryan Roper (14), Tremaine Fraser (11)
Rebounds: James Dorsey (8), Cameron John-Proctor (8)
Assists: James Dorsey (3)
 
Milk player of the game: Paris Carter
 
Windsor
Points: Andre Smyth (24), Isaac Kuon (22), Nigel Johnson-Tyghter (12), Matt Handsor (12)
Rebounds: Nigel Johnson-Tyghter (11), Andre Smyth (10), Enrico Diloreto (8)
Assists: Josh Collins (5)
 
Milk player of the game: Andre Smyth
 
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS
 
Friday, March 19
Quarter-final #1: Calgary 82, Cape Breton 74
Quarter-final #2: UBC 79, Lakehead 58
Quarter-final #3: Saskatchewan 71, Windsor 68
Quarter-final #4: Carleton 83, UQAM 72
 
Saturday, March 20
Consolation #1: Cape Breton 87, Lakehead 65
Consolation #2: Windsor 79, UQAM 74
Semifinal #1: UBC 77, Calgary 63
Semifinal #2: Saskatchewan 86, Carleton 82
 
Sunday, March 21
Consolation final (5th place): Cape Breton 95, Windsor 92 (OT)
18:30 Championship final: No. 3 UBC vs. No. 5 Saskatchewan (TSN2)
 
 
-CIS-