Reds Surge Past Capers

(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB Reds scored 59 second half points in a come-from-behind 85-70 win over the Cape Breton Capers, on Sunday.

Chris Spurrell (Quispamsis, NB) scored 13 of his 17 points in that second half, earning Subway Player of the Game honours.

"We knew our defence was going to bring it home for us," said Spurrell. "We knew our shots were going to fall. We were just telling ourselves in the locker room, at the half, that our shots were going to fall and to keep playing D."

Spurrell also had six assists and four steals.

The Reds established an early rhythm, and a 15-11 lead after the first 10 minutes of play, but fell behind in the second.

The Capers surged past the home team, taking a 34-26 lead to the half-time break.

UNB returned to the court a different looking team.

The Reds went on 11-0 and 6-0 runs in the third quarter, sparked by back-to-back Marcus Masters (Kitchener, ON) three-point shots, to take a 40-38 lead.

The Capers responded, but were still down 56-50 after three quarters.

Matur Maluach (Sydney, Australia) scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth as the Reds held off the Capers for their second win in as many days.

"We said coming in, this was a no split weekend," said Spurrell. "We needed to win two games to move up in the standings. I think we've put ourselves in a pretty good place now."

Osman Omar (Mississauga, ON) led all scorers, sinking 21 points for the Capers, while Cooper Ward (Ipswich, Australia) added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

"They had a pretty good run, right at the beginning of the third quarter and kind of punched us, and we weren't able to recover from that," said Capers head coach Matt Skinn. "I thought we played some of our best defence of the year in the first half, but we just weren't able to do it for 40 minutes."

Ibrahima Doumbouya (Calgary, AB) scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Reds, while Sterling Simpson (Fredericton, NB) was 6-for-6 shooting for 13 points. He also pulled down nine rebounds.

The Capers, now 4-and-6, are back in action on Saturday, when they host UPEI.

With the win, the Reds improve to 6-and-4 and are in a three-way tie for third in the Atlantic University Sport standings.

UNB goes on the road to face the league-leading Dal Tigers on Friday, in Halifax.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics