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Panthers bounce back with 81-64 win over Huskies
Posted: Jan 11, 2025

Panthers bounce back with 81-64 win over Huskies

Tickets Photos Results Box Score
Game Leaders
UPEI
Pts: Kamari Scott - 22
Reb: Daniel Gonzalez Longarela - 14
Ast: 2 Players (#0, #25) - 3
Saint Mary's
Pts: Jasha'jaun Downey - 28
Reb: Eliel Nsoseme - 10
Ast: Marc-Denault Gabriel - 6
Team Stats
Full stats

HALIFAX, NS – The UPEI Panthers defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 81-64 Atlantic University Sport men's basketball action on Saturday night at the Homburg Centre.

Huskies guard Jasha'jaun Downey (North Preston, NS) opened the scoring with a three-point play, but the Panthers responded on a 10-0 run, including a pair of lay-ins from forwards Daniel Gonzalez Longarela (Madrid, Spain) and Sam Dyck (Almonte, ON). The Huskies snapped the Panthers run with a historic basket, as guard Jayrell Diggs (East Preston, NS) hit a three-pointer – the 159th of his AUS career, breaking the Huskies all-time record for three-pointers made.

But the Panthers continued to grow their lead, with a three-pointer from guard Hugo Bermejo (Madrid, Spain) and a buzzer-beating shot by guard Kamari Scott (Mississauga, ON), as they took a 19-14 lead after 10 minutes of action.

Scott continued his momentum into the second quarter, draining a three-pointer to open the frame, on his way to 11 second quarter points. The second quarter turned into a scoring duel as Scott and Panthers guard Kyree Thompson (North Preston, NS) combined to drop 20 points, but Jasha'jaun Downey kept the Huskies within striking distance with 13 second quarter points of his own. Despite Downey's prolific scoring, it was the visitors who took a 44-38 lead into halftime.

The defensive battle continued in the third quarter, with both teams struggling to score early. Panthers forward Sam Dyck broke the drought with a lay-in, and the Huskies responded with Jayrell Diggs finding Tjark Lademacher (Luneburg, Germany) for an alley-oop lay-up, but a Kyree Thompson three-pointer pushed the Panthers lead to 53-40.

Once again, Jasha'jaun Downey lifted the Huskies offence with eight points in the quarter, but that was matched by Kyree Thompson, and a last-second shot by Panthers wing Owen Smith (Harvey York, NB) gave them their largest lead of the night, as they took a 64-50 advantage into the final quarter.

The Panthers continued to add on to their lead in the fourth, opening up a 77-57 lead following back-to-back buckets from Kamari Scott and guard Tarrance Booker (New Westminster, BC). The Huskies responded with back-to-back threes from Lademacher and Downey to cut the lead to 77-63, but that was as close as the Huskies would get, as the Panthers held them to just one point over the final 3:30, and held on for a 81-64 bounce back victory.

Panthers guard Kyree Thompson was named Player of the Game, scoring 17 points on 3/4 three-point shooting, and adding four rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocked shot. Kamari Scott led the Panthers with 22 points, while forward Daniel Gonzalez Longarela corralled a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Huskies were led by guard Jasha'jaun Downey who poured in 28 points on an efficient 8/14 from the field and 4/8 from beyond the arc. Marc-Denault Gabriel stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, six assists and five rebounds, while Eliel Nsoseme controlled the paint with eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.

The Panthers win improves their record to 5-6 on the campaign. They'll be back on home court next week, hosting the Dalhousie Tigers (3-8) on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. in Charlottetown, PEI.

With the loss, the Huskies drop to 4-7 on the season. Saint Mary's will be on the road next week, visiting the UNB REDS (4-7) on Friday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. in Fredericton, NB.

Recap by Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics
Photos by Eduardo Ibarra / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics