First place Tigers defeat X-Men
The visiting first place Dalhousie Tigers (11-2) scored a 95-80 victory over the StFX X-Men (5-8) in AUS basketball action Tuesday night on Coach K Court at Oland Centre.
ANTIGONISH, NS - The visiting first place Dalhousie Tigers (11-2) scored a 95-80 victory over the StFX X-Men (5-8) in AUS basketball action Tuesday night on Coach K Court at Oland Centre.
Keyed by seven points from Cedric Sanogo (Montreal, QC), including a three-pointer, the Tigers led 13-3 after the opening five minutes.
After a fast break three-pointer from Alex Carson (Lower Sackville, NS), Dal was up 18-5. Sparked by a Tristen Ross (Truro, NS) shot from beyond the arc, the X-Men reeled off six straight points to slice the deficit to 18-11.
On the strength of a pair of lay-ups from Jordan Aquino-Serjue (Montreal, QC), the Tigers led 27-15 after the first 10 minutes.
Keevan Venoit (Port Williams, NS) and Sanogo started the second quarter with back-to-back threes to make it 33-15. Midway through the second, after an X-Men put-back for Kevin Bercy (Kanata, ON), the Tigers led 40-23. After a Ryan Harnett (Cornerbrook, NL) second-chance three-pointer, Dal was ahead 45-25 with three minutes remaining before halftime.
The Tigers scored their final nine points of the half on old-fashioned three-point plays from Sanogo, Carson and Harnett. Bercy wrapped up the offense with a buzzer-beating lay-up to make it 54-33 for the Tigers headed to the locker room.
In the third quarter, the Tigers extended to a 25-point edge, but the X-Men - on the strength of outside shooting from Ross and the interior moves of guard Julius Antoine (Vaughan, ON) - sliced the deficit to 75-58 after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, the X-Men could pull no closer than 14 points. Venoit sealed the deal with a slam dunk late in the shot clock to make it 89-73 with less than two minutes left in the game.
Sanogo, the Subway player of the game, finished with a game-high 24 points, while chipping in seven rebounds, two assists and one steal. Aquino-Serjue, with 16 points, along with Carson (13) and Venoit (12) notched double figures, while Harnett, off the bench, added 10.
Bercy led the X-Men with 16 points, while adding nine rebounds. StFX player of the game Antoine finished with 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ross and Justin Andrew (Hamilton, ON) collected 15 and 12 points, respectively.
The teams will be back in action Friday, Jan. 26th in a re-match, at Dalplex in Halifax. Tip-off is 8 p.m.
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