Masters Buzzer Beater Wins QF For Reds

(HALIFAX, NS) What a finish.

Down 21 points after one quarter, the UNB Reds rallied to beat the Cape Breton Capers 77-76 in their Subway Atlantic University Sport quarter-finals, at Scotiabank Centre, in Halifax, on Friday.

First year Reds guard Marcus Masters (Kitchener, ON) scored the winning basket as time expired, his arcing lay-up bouncing off the top of the backboard and straight down through the hoop.

"The play wasn't even for me, it was for Chris (Spurrell)," admitted the Reds' hero. "We waited for the play to develop and I looked at the shot-clock and saw the time was winding down, so I just had to make a move, so I went up, put it up, and it went in."

The Reds amazing finish was anything like their start.

After the Capers opened the scoring with a three-point shot, Daniel Pitcher (Sydney, Australia) responded with the same.

But strong shooting from the three-point line allowed the Capers to build a 16-6 lead less than five minutes in, prompting Reds head coach Brent Baker to take an early time-out.

Out of the break, the Capers went on a 7-0 run, pushing their lead to 23-6, and Cape Breton led 32-11 after the first quarter.

The Reds began the second quarter on a positive note, scoring the first three baskets, including Tyrell Leotaud's (Ajax, ON) three-pointer, trimming the Cape Breton lead to 14 points.

Despite a much better second quarter, the Reds still trailed at the half, down 44-30.

Early in the third, the Capers pushed back, re-establishing an 18 point lead, 56-38, before Masters hit a three-point shot to spark a 7-0 run as the Reds came to within 11, at 56-45.

As time expired in the quarter, Pitcher heaved the ball from the Reds foul line, sinking a long-range three-point shot, but the Capers led 64-50 through 30 minutes.

"I just slung it. It wasn't even a proper shot," said Pitcher. "I just threw it. I'm glad it went in. It was a big momentum swing, because then we all got excited and the crowd got into it. It was just a crazy, crazy shot."

The Reds charged out of the gate in the fourth quarter, going on a 9-0 run.

A Pitcher lay-in, just 2:10 into the fourth, pulled the Reds to within five, at 64-59.

Cue the dramatics.

Chris Spurrell (Quispamsis, NB) scored four points to pull UNB within one, and Ibrahima Doumbouya's (Calgary, AB) lay-in, with 4:27 to play, gave the Reds their first lead of the game, at 67-66.

Masters hit a three-point shot with 1:24 to play to put UNB ahead 75-71, but a Capers three with 12.3 seconds to play put Cape Breton up 76-75.

The Reds called time-out.

The ball went to Masters on the in-bound play, and his hopeful shot, somehow, hit its mark.

"The feeling, when it went in, was amazing," said Masters. "The atmosphere too, our crowd was right there, behind us, my teammates were out on the court. To quiet down their fans too, was a really good feeling."

Masters and Spurrell both finished with 20 points, while Doumbouya scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the double-double.

Pitcher, who finished the game with 12 points, found the ending hard to believe.

"I'm still in shock," he said. "From Marcus' shot, the whole game, we were down 20, coming back. It's just playoff basketball, I guess."

Osman Omar (Mississauga, ON) scored a game-high 31 points in a losing cause for the Capers.

"We're just a resilient team. We can come back from any deficit," said Masters. "We play really good defence when we can lock in, talk and communicate, and on the offensive side, there's not many teams that can stop us."

The Reds advance to Saturday's semi-finals, where they'll face the St FX X-Men, who finished just ahead of UNB in the AUS standings. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30pm.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: Nick Pearce/for Atlantic University Sport