Cape Breton falls to the Maroon and Grey
By: Laura Sinclair
The intensity level was high at the Burridge Gym on Sunday afternoon where the Marauders Men’s Basketball team managed to pull off a win against another top AUS team. The final score was 79-74, but the win for the Marauders was anything but easy.
The Cape Town Capers were coming off of two wins against Ryerson and Brock, and were looking to keep the streak alive on Marauder territory. They started off with a bang in the first quarter, getting themselves to a 5-0 lead early. The Marauders used time to their advantage and retaliated with a couple of key baskets, surpassing the Capers lead and making it 10-4. Aaron Redpath kept the Marauder team alive, scoring 8 points, while Joe Rocca and Nathan Pelech kept their 3-pointer streak going, scoring a couple of key ones heading into the second quarter.
It was all Maroon in the second quarter, with the lead getting up to 20 points, and the defense stepping it up to keep the Capers on their toes. It was a 43-27 lead for the Marauders heading into the intermission.
The third quarter of the game marked the beginning of an amazing comeback from the Cape Breton Capers. After some incredible defense that led to a series of turnovers, they shrunk the Marauder lead to two points, just trailing them with a score of 57-55. Contributing to the comeback from the Capers included James Dorsey and top recruit Shaquille Keith, who scored 21 points each. Keith, who is the 15th ranked prospect from the class of 2012, missed a crucial 3-pointer that would have given the Capers the lead. Nathan Pelech of the Marauders took control on the next possession, and was successful in his 3-pointer attempt, giving the Marauder team some leeway heading into the fourth quarter. The end of the quarter was 63-55 for the Marauders.
In the fourth quarter the Marauders led by 13 points with the help of some key baskets from Aaron Redpath. The determined Capers team refused to give up, diminishing the lead to two points, yet again, with only one minute of play left in the game. The Capers fouled in the final play of the game, which led to a free throw by Aaron Redpath to settle the final score.
The leading scorers for the Marauders included Aaron Redpath with 25 points, Nathan Pelech and Joe Rocca who scored 14 points each, and Taylor Black with 12 points.
The Marauders will try to key off some Pacific Division Competition this weekend on a trip to British Columbia, where they will face UBC, UNBC and UFV with the hopes of keeping the winning streak alive.
