X-Men earn second win at Acadia tourney
The StFX X-Men earned their second win in as many days at the Acadia Stu Aberdeen pre-season tournament with an 82-66 victory over Laval Saturday evening.
WOLFVILLE, N.S. - The StFX X-Men remain undefeated in the Stu Aberdeen Challenge after Friday night's edging of the host Acadia Axemen, 92-90, and Saturday's convincing 82-66 win over the Laval Rouge et Or.
The Rouge et Or went out to quick start, pulling ahead 13-5 in the opening six minutes, but Nicholas McKee's (Newmarket, Ont.) jumper at 5:33 in the first quarter started 12-3 run that pushed StFX into a 17-16 advantage. The lead eventually blossomed into 23-16 end of the first quarter lead on the back of Subway Player of the Game Tristen Ross' (Truro, N.S.) two three-pointers and layup, along with Kevin Bercy's (Kanata, Ont.) four free throws.
The X-Men hung onto a lead for the remainder of the game, posting a 40-34 advantage after one half of play. The largest lead of 23 points came at 5:42 of the final frame.
While there was a 10% difference in both team's shooting from the floor, with StFX's 50% compared to Laval's 40.7%, the noticeable difference was the X-Men's 60% from the three-point line. Ross was four for four from the distant arc while his teammates added five more to the nine team total.
Ross led the X-Men with 18 points off the bench, while teammates Kevin Bercy and Julius Antoine (Woodbridge, Ont.) had 16 and 15 respectively.
Laval's Vladimir Thomas (Montreal, Que.), named the Rouge et Or's Player of the Game, had 17 points. Marc-Andre Fortin (Quebec, Que.) led Laval with eight rebounds and StFX's Bercy pulled down 13 including 12 defensive rebounds for a double-double evening.
StFX will take on undefeated Carleton Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. with the winner being crowned the Stu Aberdeen Challenge champion. Laval will play the 3:00 p.m. game against Acadia. Both teams are winless after Acadia's 112-62 loss to Carleton.
Courtesy Acadia Sports Information