Game recap by: Kirk Jessome
(Halifax, NS) – In the second semi-final matchup of the Rod and Joan Shoveller Memorial Tournament, the Dalhousie Tigers hosted the Cape Breton Capers. The defensive pressure of the Tigers helped them to the 76-62 win in this one.
The Tigers started hot from the field, with Alex Carson (Lower Sackville, NS) doing all the scoring on an 8-0 run to start the game, hitting back to back shots from deep to force an early timeout from the Capers.
The Capers came out of the timeout and fought themselves back to within four, thanks to the shooting of Osman Omar (Mississauga, ON) from deep.
At the end of a quiet first quarter, the Tigers held an 18-13 lead.
The Tigers picked up the pace right out of the gate in the second quarter, with Carson picking up five points, followed up by Mike Shoveller (Arnprior, ON) knocking down a three of his own to extend the lead to 10.
With the lead up to 16 at one point, some late turnovers allowed the Capers to cut the lead down to 12 before the half on a contested three from Ibrahim Gosselin-Diawara (Longueuil, QC).
Going into the break, the Tigers were up 39-27 over the Capers.
Coming out of half, the Tigers quietly increased their lead with a few nice moves in the paint from Shoveller and Sascha Kappos (Miami, FL) finished a big dunk over a defender to make the lead 20.
The Capers were able to force the Tigers into some foul trouble, getting most of their scoring in the quarter from the free throw line, but once again, they were held under 15 points in a quarter.
At the end of the third, the Tigers lead grew to 60-38.
Osman Omar was single-handedly taking care of the Capers offense to start the final quarter with a great steal off the initial inbound that led to a bucket. He followed that one up with three straight baskets to help cut down the Tigers lead.
The Tigers continued to get production from their bigs on both ends of the floor, with Shoveller and Kappos each knocking down a three, with Shoveller collecting blocks on the other end to help maintain their 20 point lead.
The Capers finally had their 20 point quarter, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers were able to secure the 76-62 win.
Omar led the Capers in scoring in the loss, finishing with 22 points, while Mike Shoveller finished with 19 points and 6 boards, and Alex Carson had 20 points and 5 rebounds for the Tigers.
The Tigers will move on to the championship game against Saint Mary's tomorrow at 3:00, while the Capers will face Memorial in the game for third at 1:00.