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Capers end Huskies season with 86-81 quarterfinal win
Posted: Feb 28, 2025

Capers end Huskies season with 86-81 quarterfinal win

Tickets Photos Video Box Score
Game Leaders
Saint Mary's
Pts: Jasha'Jaun Downey - 24
Reb: Eliel Nsoseme - 16
Ast: Eliel Nsoseme - 6
Cape Breton
Pts: Shakael Pryce - 24
Reb: Tyson Cato - 10
Ast: Shakael Pryce - 4
Team Stats
Full stats

The Saint Mary's Huskies dropped a tough quarterfinal loss to the Cape Breton Capers, 86-81 on Friday night at the Bell AUS Men's Basketball Championships played at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.

The opening moments of the game were a back-and-forth affair, as Huskies guard Jayrell Diggs (East Preston, NS) hit a three-pointer to open the scoring, followed by a three from guard Tjark Lademacher (Lüneburg, Germany), opening up a 6-5 lead.

The Huskies kicked into another gear to finish the quarter on a 15-2 run, including a lay-in from guard Aidan MacDonald (Timberlea, NS) followed up by an and-one lay-in from forward Marc-Denault Gabriel (Montreal, QC).

A thrilling buzzer-beater by Jayrell Diggs with just 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock gave the Huskies a 29-17 lead after 10 minutes of play.

 

That momentum carried through into the second quarter, with strong play from all-stars Jasha'jaun Downey (North Preston, NS) and Eliel Nsoseme (Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo), helping the Huskies open up a game-high 24 point-lead, 49-25, with 2:40 remaining in the first half.

But the Capers showed signs of life late in the half, cutting the deficit to 17 points before halftime.

Early in the third quarter, another Jasha'jaun Downey three gave the Huskies a 54-36 lead. But the Capers responded on a 17-5 run, with a Liai Tong three-pointer cutting the lead to 59-53. 

Downey had another big shot left in the tank, as he hit a 30-foot three-pointer to push the lead back up to 64-56, and the Huskies took a 68-61 lead into the final quarter.

On the opening possession of the fourth quarter, Huskies guard Devawn White (Montreal, QC) hit a straight-away three to extend the lead back up to 10 points, 71-61.

Unfortunately the next few minutes were all Capers, as guard Shak Pryce took over, scoring 10 points in the quarter, including a three-pointer that tied the game at 75-75 with 4:37 remaining in regulation.

Tong followed up with a trio of free throws to give CBU their first lead since the opening quarter, and Saint Mary's could not find a way to claw back. Jasha'jaun Downey and Jonah Crowther (Dartmouth, NS) each hit three-pointers late to cut the deficit to three, but the Capers made their free-throws late, with Pryce sealing the 86-81 win with a pair from the line.

The Capers were led by Shak Pryce, who scored 10 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter, adding eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Liai Tong added 20 points off the bench including 9/10 shooting from the free-throw line and forward Tyson Cato chipped in a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double.

The Huskies were led in defeat by their all-star duo of Jasha'jaun Downey, who scored 24 points and added eight rebounds, while Eliel Nsoseme added 12 points and 16 rebounds, and Jonah Crowther chipped in 14 points and five rebounds.

With the win, the Capers advance to Saturday night's semifinal as they take on the #2 seed UPEI Panthers at 8:30 p.m. at the Scotiabank Centre.

Recap by Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics
Photos by Nick Pearce / Atlantic University Sport