Reds Rally Falls Short

(HALIFAX, NS) There was no Friday night magic on Saturday.

Another fourth quarter come-back fell short for the UNB Reds, who dropped an 84-77 decision to the St FX X-Men in Saturday's Atlantic University Sport semi-final.

"You can't spot somebody 20 points and hope to win in this barn," said Reds head coach Brent Baker. "I don't think we could finish a sentence, let alone a lay-up in the third quarter. We didn't help ourselves."

First year guard Marcus Masters (Kitchener, ON), the hero of Friday's quarter-final win over Cape Breton, led the Reds with 20 points.

Chris Spurrell (Quispamsis, NB) added 18, and Ibrahima Doumbouya (Calgary, AB) scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

After the X-Men built a 6-0 lead to start, Masters slashed along the baseline and laid in UNB's first two points of the game.

3:15 in, he sunk a three-point shot that drew the Reds even, 8-8.

In a back-and-forth and entertaining first quarter, the teams were tied 22-22 after 10 minutes.

In the second, the X-Men again pulled ahead early.

The Reds tried to limit their opportunities, but X continued to add to their lead.

A 16-0 run pushed the X lead 46-27.

Cue the first Reds rally.

Tyrell Leotaud (Ajax, ON) scored on a lay-up with about 30 seconds left in the half. It was UNB's first bucket in almost six minutes, and pulled the Reds to within 17.

Spurrell hit a pair of free throws and then the Reds forced an X turnover. Leotaud capitalized, scoring a basket and earning a foul shot and the X lead shrunk to a dozen, 46-34 at the half.

St FX began third quarter by outscoring the Reds 9-2 over the first 3:12, prompting a UNB time-out.

With 6:15 to play in the quarter, the X-Men were up by 20, 56-36, and at the end of the third, X led 65-49.

In the fourth, the Reds mounted their second rally.

They trailed 67-56 with about 7:30 to play.

Matur Maluach (Sydney, Australia) and Spurrell hit back-to-back three point shots, to pull UNB within nine, at 75-66.

With just under three minutes to play, a Doumbouya lay-up trimmed the X lead to 76-70.

Following an X turnover, Daniel Pitcher (Sydney, Australia) scored on a put-back to cut the X-Men lead to 76-72.

After an X-Men basket, Spurrell hit another three and UNB trailed 78-75 with under a minute to play.

Masters scored on a lay-up with 25 seconds to play, but that basket would be the final score for UNB.

The X-Men hit a number of free throws down the stretch to seal their seven-point victory.

"We missed some freebies," said Leotaud. "We can't start the game as bad as we did. As much of a second half team as we are, it's much harder to come back from 20 down than 10 down."

Azaro Roker (Nassau, Bahamas) and Avan Nava (Mississauga, ON) each scored 20 points to led the X-Men effort.

The loss came 24 hours after UNB's dramatic 77-76 quarter-final win over the Capers, and Baker admits, the hangover from that win might've been a factor.

"The hardest thing in sport is to get your team up after a big loss, or get your team up after a big win, that's the challenge in coaching," said Baker.

St FX will face the Dal Tigers in Sunday's Atlantic University Sport championship game.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: Nick Pearce/for Atlantic University Sport