Men's V-Reds not about to pull off Caper in Pit finale

Phillip Nkrumah was razzed by the fans when he missed a dunk attempt against the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds on Saturday night.

But the fifth-year forward for the Cape Breton University Capers more than made up for that miss.

Nkrumah scored 22 points - 17 in the first half - to lead the defending Atlantic University Sport men's basketball champion Capers to an easy 88-68 four-point victory before 500 fans at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym.

It was a forgettable finale for UNB basketball at the Pit. It was also predictable.

The Capers are, after all, the fifth-ranked team in the country and lead the AUS with a 17-1 record and 46 points. The V-Reds are 8-10 for 20 points.

"We're just trying to peak before playoffs," Nkrumah said. "Usually we'll come in here and underestimate UNB, but this is the best team they've had in my five years here. We knew they had beat (perennial contender) St. FX in this gym, so we never took them lightly during practice and it just showed when we played tonight."

UNB was dead even with CBU in the second quarter, 27 points apiece, but was done in by a dreadful start.

The V-Reds missed their first six shots, trailed 16-2 six minutes in and 19-6 after the first quarter.

"You just can't come out and miss as many shots as we missed in the first quarter," UNB head coach Brent Baker said. "They're not ranked in the top five because they're poor. They're a very good team. Nkrumah had 17 points in the first half alone. We didn't have an answer for him. It was 27-27 in the second quarter, so it's not that you can't compete with this team. It's the fact that you can't dig yourself a hole against this type of team."

"We expected them to be tough," said fifth-year V-Red Colton Wilson, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds. "They're more athletic and they just outworked us. We didn't make the hustle plays when we had to. We're usually a team that has to get hit in the face to wake up. Coach is always telling us to hit first, but we came out slow and it ended up bad."

UNB did manage to get to within five, 22-17, and were down eight, 34-26, when Will McFee hit a three-pointer with three minutes left before the break.

"Their coach is pushing them to make them a better team," Nkrumah said, "so we weren't surprised they came to life. They have a whole bunch of good shooters and they're one of those teams that never give up."

Still, the Capers pulled in front 46-33 at halftime and led by 29 points - 80-51 - with six minutes remaining.

"There was some fight in that dog," Baker said, "but the players hit the nail on the head when they came into the locker room. They said 'We did it to ourselves.' They beat us for sure and they played great, but we hurt ourselves. We didn't play our game."

Nkrumah put up the biggest stats, but other CBU veterans also had nice numbers. Paris Carter connected for 13 points, including a trio of three-pointers, and grabbed nine rebounds. Scott Jaspers-Fayer and Tremaine Fraser added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Daniel Quirion led the Reds with 13 points, one more than McFee, who was hampered by a right hand injury after crashing hard on the floor with 14 minutes left. Andy Wright netted nine points. Alex DesRoches scored seven and, like Wilson, hauled down 10 boards.

UNB wraps up the regular season by heading to Nova Scotia to play St. FX (13-5) on Friday and Cape Breton on Saturday. The Reds remain in fourth and it's improbable they'll fall all the way to seventh. That's why Baker is approaching this weekend like the glass is half full.

"We're hopefully going to make the playoffs," he said, "and what better way to get ready for the playoffs than by playing two of the top (three) teams in our conference? If you're going to go to playoffs, you're going to meet those guys anyway."

Nkrumah grinned when asked about his botched dunk: "I got a little excited and slipped," he said. "I'll make up for it when they come to play us next weekend."

Heading into the final week, UNB with 20 points in leads Saint Mary's Huskies and UPEI Panthers each by two points.

Acadia Axemen, who have three games remaining including a pair against sad-sack Memorial SeaHawks on their home floor, are currently in seventh spot but just four points back of both Saint Mary's and UPEI and six back of the V-Reds.

The Axemen play at Saint Mary's on Wednesday before finishing up against Memorial Saturday and Sunday. Acadia lost 81-73 to second place Dalhousie Tigers in action Saturday but bounced back to beat Dal 73-71 yesterday in Wolfville.

In other weekend action, St. Francis Xavier X-Men defeated Memorial twice, 105-87 Saturday and 114-71 Sunday in St. John's, N.L.