Friday, October 30, 2009
A boisterous Halloween-weekend crowd in the Mitchell Gym saw the Gaiters led as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, but withstood a late charge by the Panthers to hold on to the win.
The first half was evenly matched, with ten lead changes and two ties in the first 20 minutes. The Gaiters trailed 20-16 after the first quarter, but outscored UPEI 32-21 in the second period to take a 48-43 halftime lead. The Gaiters continued to roll in the third quarter, behind seven points from rookie Jamil Abiad (Ottawa, Ont.) and six from Blackwood to take their largest lead of the night at 73-58.
The fourth quarter saw the Panthers start to creep back into the game, and Calvin Leblanc put the Panthers to within two points with less than 30 seconds to go as he scored two of his 11 points. The Panthers had the ball in the Gaiters' frontcourt with 20 seconds left and a chance to tie, but were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
Five Gaiters finished in double figures, led by Blackwood's 18. Fifth-year forward Hermon Tesfaghebriel recorded his second straight double-double, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Tim Hunter and Abiad each finished with 13 points, while Tim McAleenan scored ten. UPEI's Manock Lual led all scorers with 22 points to go with his game-high 11 rebounds, while Terrence Brown added 18 points, with Matt Fennell scoring 14, Nick Toews 12 and Calvin LeBlanc 11.
The Gaiters shot 50.8% from the field, while holding UPEI to 44.4%. Both teams went 8-for-17 from three-point territory. The teams combined for 44 fouls, and 57 free throws, as UPEI went 24-for-33 from the line.
Department of Athletics