Memorial upsets X-Men 97-85

(St. John's, N.L.) The Memorial Sea-Hawks spoiled the StFX X-Men's first game of the weekend on Saturday with a 97-85 decision in AUS men's basketball at the Field House.

The Sea-Hawks were off to a hot start, making a 6-0 run in the first two minutes of play. StFX started to close the gap and with 1:55 left in the first quarter were up 20-18 over the home team. Memorial guard, Davion Parnsalu (Ajax, O.N.) tied it up with 1:20 left on the clock and fourth year forward Caleb Gould (Aurora, O.N.) put the Sea-Hawks up by five with two layups and a free throw to finish the quarter.

In the second quarter the Sea-Hawks extended their lead to 14 points over the visiting X-Men, highlighted by four three-pointers by Memorial and a dunk from star forward Vasilije Curcic (Kragujevac, SER). Having out-shot the X-Men 24-15 in the second, they went into the half up 49-35.

The X-Men made a push in the second half, outscoring Memorial by one point in the third and fourth quarters respectively. However it wasn't enough to upset the home team who held onto their lead, taking the game by 12 points with a final score of 97-85.

Parnsalu led the Sea-Hawks in the win with 25 points and seven rebounds. He was followed closely by Curcic at 24 points and eight assists, earning him the AUS Subway Player of the Game honours.

Second year guard Julius Antoine (Woodbridge, O.N.) had a team-high 27 points and four rebounds.  Alastair Cole (Pickering, O.N.) and Shane Coupland (Brisbane, AUS) each contributed 15 of their own in the loss.

Memorial improves to 4-9 on the season while StFX is now 4-10. The four-point game now has the two teams tied in the AUS standings.

The X-Men and Sea-Hawks are back for round two tomorrow at 1pm at the Field House. 

Courtesy Memorial Communications