Men’s Panthers sweep Capers for first wins of season

The UPEI Panthers are in the win column.

The men’s basketball team swept the Cape Breton Capers for the first two wins of Darrell Glenn’s Panther coaching career during weekend Atlantic University Sport (AUS) play in Charlottetown.

“I’m really happy for the guys because they’ve worked really hard,” Glenn said Sunday. “The first one is behind us and then we got the second one so our focus again, like it was (Saturday) night, is how can we get better?”

The Panthers held quarter leads of 21-16, 34-32 and 57-47 en route to a 77-71 win on Sunday. Both teams are 2-12, having earned their two wins against each other.

“I love winning,” said Panthers guard Logan MacDonald, who had 11 points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal in the victory. “It feels good to get our first two of the season. Now it feels like the floodgates are kind of opening and I’m looking forward to games in the future.”

D’Adrian Allen led the Panthers with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Amin Suleman, Milorad Sedlarevic and Bryce Corless each chipped in 10.

Indiana Rotondo and Aaron Hayles each had 14 points for Cape Breton while Paul Watson had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

With six games remaining, including four four-point games at home, the Panthers are still in the hunt for a playoff spot. They host Memorial (4-10), one of the teams they are chasing, for a pair of four-point games this weekend.

“If we win those two, anything can happen,” MacDonald said. “We can go on a run and take it right into the playoffs.”

Sedlarevic led the way in Saturday’s 71-63 victory, while Moshe Wadley and Allen each had 12.

UPEI led 15-13 and 32-30 through the first two quarters, but went to the fourth trailing 45-44. They outscored the Capers 27-18 for the win.

Women’s basketball

The Capers outscored the Panthers 33-19 in the second quarter Sunday en route to an 88-78 win and a weekend split in Charlottetown.

Alison Keough had gamehighs of 34 points and 19 rebounds to lead the way while Hannah Brown chipped in 18 points and Toni Bianchini added 16.

Keough became the AUS’s career rebounding leader on Sunday, surpassing Julie Galipeau’s 926 hauled in from 1999-2000 to 2003-04 at Saint Mary’s.

Jenna Mae Ellsworth led the Panthers with 21 points while Carolina Del Santo had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Kiera Rigby had 18 points.

UPEI led 16-14 after the first quarter, but trailed 47-35 at the half and 67-54 heading to the fourth.

The loss snapped the Panthers three-game winning streak.

UPEI defeated the Capers 76-65 Saturday to defeat the only team the Panthers have played that they hadn’t beaten. UPEI meets Memorial for the first time this weekend.

Rigby had 31 points and seven rebounds in Saturday’s win while Ellsworth had 16 and Del Santo 11 rebounds, eight blocks, five points, four assists and a steal. Keough had 19 points while Brown had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Women’s hockey

Chantal Beauchamp set up two goals Saturday to lead Moncton to a 3-1 win over the Panthers in women’s hockey.

Marie-Pier Corriveau, Katherine Dubuc and Katryne Villeneuve scored in the win while Caroline Daoust from Alisha MacDonald responded for UPEI with 46 seconds to play.

Gabrielle Forget made 22 saves in the win while Megan Sullivan stopped 22 shots in the loss.

Moncton opened the scoring in the second period and took a 1-0 lead to the third.

Moncton improved to 9-10-2 while UPEI is 4-10-7, but has clinched the final playoff berth in the conference.

Men’s hockey

The Panthers men’s hockey team is going to the playoffs.

The team clinched a playoff spot when Moncton lost 7-4 to UNB on Saturday. UPEI (8-17-1) is nine points up on last-place Moncton with each team having four games remaining.

Dalhousie defeated Acadia on Saturday to move within two points of UPEI for fifth place.