By Jack Longo
The Dalhousie Tigers Men's Basketball team defeated the Cape Breton Capers at Dalplex on Friday night. The Tigers extended their win streak to eight games and further built their lead at the top of AUS Men's Basketball standings as the regular season winds down. The loss for Cape Breton ended their five game win streak and dealt a blow as they continue to battle for positioning before playoffs start.
The first quarter featured positives and negatives for both teams. On the plus side, Dalhousie shot the ball efficiently inside the arc and Cape Breton found success on the offensive glass and with second chance points.
The Tigers started the game in a zone on defence but still weren't able to limit Cape Breton's attacks inside. The Capers were able to grab three offensive rebounds in the first few minutes, opening up multiple second chance opportunities, but were unable to shoot well enough to make Dalhousie pay.
The game remained close throughout the first quarter as neither team could find as easy basket. With three minutes left in the quarter, Dalhousie's Alex Carson (Lower Sackville, NS) and Cape Bretons' Jason Callaghan (Sydney, NS) traded three-pointers and evened the score at 12-12.
From there, Dalhousie were the slightly better team on offence and took a 20-16 lead into the second quarter.
The defence continued to set the tempo for both teams in the opening five minutes of the second quarter. Neither team found easy scoring opportunities and the score read 27-21 for Dalhousie halfway through the quarter.
The Tigers and Capers both settled for three-point shots throughout the first half with neither team able to hit with any consistency. A fast break for Dalhousie off a Cape Breton turnover led to an alley-oop layup from Malcolm Christie (Fredericton, NB) and a timeout for the Capers.
One of Dalhousie's advantages in the first half came at the free throw line; the Tigers hit eight free throws to only one from Cape Breton. However, the Capers' Ibrahim Gosselin-Diawara (Montreal, QC) had nine points and two rebounds in the first half to help Cape Breton maintain a foothold in the game.
Dalhousie, ultimately thanks to a swarming defence and good free throw shooting, led 38-28 at halftime.
Shamar Burrows (Nassau, Bahamas) hit a fews shots to begin the second half and keep Dalhousie on the front foot. Unfortunately for the visiting Capers, their shots were still bouncing off the rim and not dropping.
It was Ozzy Omar (Mississauga, ON) carrying the scoring load for the Capers in the third quarter. The six-foot-four guard scored the first seven points for Cape Breton, as well as seven of the total 10 the visitors scored in the quarter.
Soon after, Nginyu Ngala (Montreal, QC) stepped up and pushed the Tigers forward. Ngala's add-one finish on the fastbreak led to a timeout with Dalhousie leading 58-38. Later, a buzzer-beater from Christie gave the Tigers a 69-40 lead after three quarters.
The fourth quarter saw Cape Breton continue to battle on the offensive glass but were unable to overcome the lead Dalhousie built over the first three quarters.
The Tigers kept up their excellent defence in the fourth quarter and won the game 88-49.
Dalhousie's Ben Shoveller (Arnprior, ON) led the Tigers in scoring with 16 points, along with six rebounds, and was named the Subway Player of the Game.
Omar had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists to lead the way for the Capers.
Dalhousie and Cape Breton line up again tomorrow at Dalplex in the last regular season game of the 2021-22 AUS Men's Basketball season for both teams. Tip-off is at 3pm.