Antigonish, NS – The StFX X-Men (4-4) handled the winless UPEI Panthers (0-8) by a 102-72 score in AUS action Saturday night on Coach K Court at the StFX Oland Centre. The victory was worth four points in the AUS standings.
The X-Men had a well-balanced attack with all 12 players in the game hitting the scoresheet, including a 52-point contribution from the bench.
StFX jumped out to a 27-18 lead in the first quarter. They went on a 12-point run midway through the quarter to go up by 12 as Justin Andrew (Hamilton, ON) and Tristen Ross (Truro, NS) were hot from beyond the arc with a pair of treys each.
The home team increased their lead to 48-32 at half-time. Mark Fernandes (Calgary, AB) off the bench, hit a pair of consecutive three-pointers late in the half to help the X-Men bump up their lead heading into the half.
Fernandes ended with 14 points on the night. Nick Russell (Mississauga, ON) also played well off the X bench contributing 12 points in the win.
The Panthers played their best basketball in the third quarter as the X-Men had a slight 26-25 advantage. Off the bench Samy Mohamed (Scarborough, ON) scored 8 of his 26 points on the night in the third frame, including a pair of treys.
The X-Men out-hustled the Panthers 28-15 in the final quarter en route to the victory. Andrew added two more three-pointers for five on the night in his team-leading 19 points as he received Subway player of the game honors for the X-Men.
Daniel Passley (Mississauga, ON) scored 12 points for the X-Men, while Ross and Kevin Bercy (Kanata, ON) each added nine points and Bercy had five boards.
The X-Men shot 54.5% from field goal range and had only nine turnovers to the Panthers 19.
Mohamed was the Panthers leading scorer with 26, while D'Adrian Allen (Toronto, ON) scored 15 and had six rebounds and Milorad Sedlarevic (Vesenice, Slovenia) added 12 points.
The X-Men will be back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Acadia Axemen in an 8:00 pm game at the Oland Centre.
The Panthers next see action on Friday night when Saint Mary's visits Charlottetown for an 8:00 pm tip-off.
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Courtesy StFX Sports Information