Sea-Hawks score road victory over hometown CAPERS

Sea-Hawks score road victory over hometown CAPERS

by Corey LeBlanc

SYDNEY – The Memorial Sea-Hawks (7-2) defeated the Cape Breton University CAPERS (5-3) 84-71 Friday night in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) men's basketball action at Sullivan Fieldhouse.

The visitors came out firing in the opening minute of the first quarter, jumping to a 6-0 edge on consecutive three-pointers from Flynn Boardman-Raffet (London, ENG) – the leading scorer in the conference – and Norm Burry (Grafton, NB).

The CAPERS battled back, with Aaron Cunningham (Shelburne, ON) canning a three-pointer to knot the contest 13-13.

Liai Tong (St. John's, NL) gave CBU its only lead of the first half – at 16 -15 – but Memorial finished the first quarter with a 9-3 run to take a 24-19 edge.

Keyed by the interior play of Josh Francis (Calgary, AB) – off the bench – the Sea-Hawks took a double-digit lead – at 29-19 – when the big man scored on a slam dunk.

Down 11 points, Tong finished a fast break for the CAPERS with a slam that electrified the hometown crowd. It sparked a 10-2 burst that shaved the Sea-Hawks lead to 35-32.

Memorial led 41-34 at halftime.

In the third quarter, led by Boardman-Raffet and Burry, the Sea-hawks quickly took a 12-point advantage; one that ballooned to 18 points – at 56-38 – after Boardman-Raffet canned a three-pointer.

After Memorial's 15-4 burst to tip off the stanza, CBU whittled the deficit to 56-43 on the strength of a Tyson Cato (St. Catharines, ON) interior hoop and a three-point shot from Justus Peuser (Geisenheim, Germany).

The Sea-Hawks led 60-45 heading to the final 10 minutes.

In the fourth quarter, Memorial extended their lead to as many as 21 points.

Sparked by the tenacity of Cato down the stretch, the CAPERS sliced the margin to nine points, but they could not get any closer.

Along with his game-high 30 points and 16 rebounds – a double-double – Boardman-Raffet chipped in five steals and one assist. Burry added 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal for Memorial.

Jodick Moudiandambu (Hamilton, ON) – off the bench – finished with 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and five steals.

Cato – the Subway player of the game - led the CAPERS with 20 points, while adding five rebounds, two steals and one assist, while Cunningham contributed 13 points, seven rebounds, two steals, two blocked shots and one assist.

The teams will return to the court on Saturday, Nov. 30, at Sullivan Fieldhouse, in a 4 p.m. tip-off.