Elijah Miller’s career night sends Panthers to semifinals

By Thomas Becker

In a matchup featuring two elite guards, Elijah Miller and the UPEI Panthers got the better of Osman Omar and the Cape Breton Capers, as they advanced to the semifinals following a convincing 95-80 win. 

When the lights shined brightest, Miller put together his best performance in the green and white, scoring a career-high 37 points on 9-of-13 shooting. He also added five assists and five rebounds in the victory. Teammate Glen Cox added 17 points, while Jonas Kessler recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. 

"I thought Elijah was special tonight, especially in the first half where he set the table for us offensively," said Panthers head coach Darrell Glenn. "When he gets it going, it makes it easier for everyone else because the defence is so focused on him." 

Going into the season, Miller had his sights set on the AUS MVP award, but came up short to Omar who took home the honours. When the awards were announced earlier this week, Miller was admittedly upset. 

"I took it to heart," he said. "I thought I was just as deserving."

On Friday, Miller turned that slight against him into an electric performance, as he took control of the game in the second quarter and put the Capers in a massive hole they could never climb out of. By halftime, the Panthers led 55-28 behind Miller's 19 points.

"When the game started, I just wanted to prove them wrong."

On the defensive end, UPEI's game plan was to lock in on the MVP and they did exactly that. Omar shot just 5-of-17 from the field and finished with a team-high 17 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. 

Other Capers had to step up including Chris Ruta, who finished with 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting, six rebounds and three steals. Ibrahim Gosselin-Dia recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. 

"The game plan on him (Omar) was to make his shots difficult," Glenn said. "And any time he was involved with another player, we wanted to trap him, and I thought we did a good job of that tonight."

Cape Breton's defence was better out of the break which helped them get to within 22, but Miller once again delivered for UPEI with a contested three-pointer before finding Cox on a backdoor cut for the easy layup to make it 64-39. 

Even though the Capers were more competitive in the third quarter, the Panthers nearly matched them basket for basket as they still maintained a healthy lead and went into the fourth up 73-50. 

Glenn said his team let off the gas a bit in the fourth quarter and it showed, as Cape Breton opened the quarter on a 12-2 run to trim the deficit to 75-62. They would whittle it down to 13 one last time before UPEI came closed out the 95-80 win.

The win was especially important to veteran guard Dakelle Brooks, who's never competed in the playoffs since joining the Panthers in 2017.

"We worked hard in previous years to get here, but we couldn't get the job done," Brooks said. "It was unreal playing in front of all those fans. We had P.E.I. fans coming from all over to watch us play and I was just happy to get the win for them."

The Panthers will take on the St. FX X-Men Saturday night looking to book their ticket to the finals.

Photo Credit: Nick Pearce