Two Wild Nights In AUS Men's Basketball

Jim Charters and his defending champion Capers won a classic over the X-Men on Wednesday night.

by Bill McLean

One game was highlighted by a brilliant individual performance that will become a thing of legend at the Tower in Halifax. The other game a double overtime thriller between bitter rivals that had a jam packed Oland Centre on it's feet for over an hour.

It was midweek madness in AUS men's basketball fans and it will likely be remembered as the two most exciting days of the regular season. Joey Haywood of Saint Mary's, the nation's leading scorer, racking up 37 points in the second half of a Huskies victory over their Halifax rivals, the Dalhousie Tigers; and the defending champion Cape Breton Capers marching into Antigonish and getting a huge win over Saint Francis Xavier in a game that could have been the best in the country so far this season.

On Tuesday night, Haywood added to his legacy with his second mind boggling performance at the Tower in as many games. Coming off his CIS Player of the week performance versus UPEI in which he scored 46 points, Haywood hit six three pointers, and nine of ten foul shots all in the second half to lead his Huskies (5-7, 16 pts) to victory over the second place and nationally ranked Tigers (6-3, 20 pts).

Haywood was held scoreless in the first quarter and had only four points at the break. Newcomer Tory Fassett kept the Huskies in the game with 13 points in the opening half and finished the game with a very respectable 21. But as the third quarter entered it's middle stages, the game became the property of Joey Haywood.

Defended by athletic Tigers Juleous Grant and Stephen Lopez all night, Haywood exploded and put on a show that may have never been seen before at the Tower. After missing his first six shots of the game, Haywood would make 13 of 19 the rest of the way, many combined with a dazzling array of crossovers and step backs that had the Huskies faithful gasping in disbelief and cheering wildly.

In the end it was just another day at the office for the country's leading scorer and a confidence boosting win for a Huskies team that is trying to develop cohesiveness and stability as the stretch drive approaches.

Not to be outdone, the X-Men and Capers put on a show that was watched from coast to coast and will have CIS basketball enthusiasts buzzing as the weekend approaches.

In a jam packed Oland Centre that featured a “white out” by hundreds of X faithful and the “Orange Army” from Cape Breton who never sat down the entire game, the Capers and X-Men played a classic that cemented their rivalry as the greatest in the country.

The teams exchanged leads from start to finish, and just when it looked like one team had seized control, the other would come storming back. The X-Men staging an improbable comeback at the end of regulation, and the Capers pushing the game to double overtime with a comeback of their own in the first extra session.

There was the bruising Philip Nkruma having a battle of words with X-Men football players on the baseline; Steve Konchalski and Jim Charters waving their arms frantically and marching up and down the sidelines; Christian Upshaw and Will Silver with steals and three point shots that brought the crowd to a frenzy; and of course the dancing Capers fans banging on drums throughout the entire game.

It was a game that both teams deserved to win, but only the Capers did, reminding all of us once again that the champs still own the AUS, and that they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Now that Cape Breton has walked into Oland Centre and beaten the conference's darlings of the national rankings, just maybe the coaches across the country will finally see fit to put the Capers in there as well.

Bill McLean hosts Bill McLean Sports Show every tuesday morning on ckdu.ca/88.1 FM in Halifax. Follow Bill on twitter @haligoniasports and email him at haligoniasports@gmail.com.