Antigonish, NS – In a battle for fifth place in the AUS conference, it was the StFX X-Men who came out on top, defeating the Memorial Sea-Hawks 90-66 Saturday night at the StFX Oland Centre.
The X-Men were paced by fifth year veterans Kevin Bercy (Kanata, ON) and Julius Antoine (Vaughan, ON) who scored 22 and 15 points, respectively. Bercy also lead the team in rebounds with eight on the night. Antoine had four rebounds, along with four assists and four steals as he played a well-rounded game.
Another fifth year X-Men, Davonte Provo (East Preston, NS) earned Subway player of the game honours, contributing 14 points, along with a trio of rebounds and assists and two steals.
It was the visiting Sea-Hawks who set the early pace in the game, outscoring the X-Men 21-18 in the first quarter.
The second quarter featured close back-and-forth action and the teams were tied at 29-29 midway through. The close play continued down to the final buzzer until X-Men guard Tristen Ross (Truro, NS) sank a three-pointer to give X the 42-39 edge at halftime.
Bercy scored 14 of his points in the opening half while Antoine netted 10. Nathan Barker Massey Drive, NL) lead the Sea-Hawks in first half scoring with 11, while Greg Manuel (Mineville, NS) had eight.
The X-Men opened up a 12-point lead in the opening four minutes of the third quarter as the Sea-Hawks shooting went cold. StFX continued to hold the lead throughout the remainder of the quarter, outscoring the visitors 26-14 as they took a 68-53 lead after 30 minutes of play.
The home squad carried their strong play into the final quarter, scoring 22 points to the Sea-Hawks 13. The X-Men bench, including Nick Russell (Mississauga, ON) with nine, accounted for 18 of the fourth quarter points as the X-Men cruised to the 90-66 victory.
Manuel received player of the game honours for the Sea-Hawks as he finished with a double-double night of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Barker also netted 16 points while Daniel Gordon (North York, ON) scored 11.
Both teams will be back in action Sunday afternoon on Coach K Court at the StFX Oland Centre. Tip-off is 3:00 pm.
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Courtesy StFX Sports Information