The UPEI Panthers outscored the St. F.X. X-Men 31-13 in the fourth quarter for a comeback victory Friday in Atlantic University Sport men’s basketball.
The Panthers trailed 50-47 at the half and 78-67 going to the third, but went on a run in the fourth for a 98-91 victory.
Forward Geoff Doane led UPEI with 27 points and 14 rebounds and Deontay (D.J.) Smith added 25.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM THE GAME.
Mandrez Downey who was been dealing with ankle injuries was scoreless in nine minutes. Lorenzo Parker picked up the slack with 21 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Joe Kendrick had nine points, eight assists, three rebounds and two steals in the win.
Tyrell Vernon led X with 26 points while Jeremy Dunn and Will Donkoh each chipped in 18.
The Panthers improved to 10-7 while St. F.X. fell to 7-10. The two teams play again today at 6 p.m.
Women
The UPEI Panthers were outscored by nine points in the fourth quarter Friday, losing 72-68 to the St. F.X. X-Women in Atlantic University Sport women’s basketball action.
“We started standing around too much,” coach Greg Gould said after the “disappointing” loss. “We didn’t get a lot of ball movement, didn’t get a lot of player movement.”
He said the team would be ready today when the teams meet again at 4 p.m.
“It’s really easy to correct because our kids know what to do, they just didn’t execute it.”
The Panthers held a 31-30 lead at the half and entered the fourth quarter up 56-51.
“It was tough,” forward Emily MacEachern said. “We came into this game really confident. It would have a big win for us and at home, it would have been nice.”
The Charlottetown resident had nine points in the first half to lead the Panthers. She was unable to keep it going in the second half.
“St. F.X. is a big team,” she said. “But we battled hard against them and it was great to have that success in the first half.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM THE GAME.
The Panthers turned the ball over 18 times, but held X to 30 per cent shooting from the field during the first half.
“Early in the game I thought we turned the ball over way too much,” Gould said. “We were lucky to get out of the half ahead, I felt. The only reason we did was we defended pretty well and rebounded pretty well.”
Amy Gough had 14 points to lead the Panthers while Danielle MacDonald had 13. Nakita Newman added a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards.
Lia St. Pierre led the X-Women with 24 points while Vanessa Pickard added 16.
There were people coming and going between the gym and the rink where the men’s hockey team was playing X in a playoff game. The increased traffic created a strong atmosphere in the gym.
“With UPEI being so busy today with the hockey game and everything it was great to see people in and out,” MacEachern said. “It was great to have that support.”
Today will be the senior’s last home game as a Panther.
“I am trying not to think about it,” MacEachern admitted. “It’s going to be emotional, but we have to prepare ourselves for the game and we’ll think about that after the game is over.”
The Panthers close out the regular season with a pair of four-point games in St. John’s next weekend against Memorial. The games will determine which team makes the playoffs, but the Panthers are concentrating on today’s matchup.
“We’re really confident for tomorrow to finish off the weekend strong and go into Memorial with one win against X,” MacEachern said.
