AUS semi-final: StFX 79, Saint Mary's 78

In a game where the term, 'never quit and never die' could be used, the X-Men certainly didn't back down as they defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies by one thanks to a Christian Upshaw foul shot.

With SMU up by one with less than five seconds, StFX put the ball in the hands of the league MVP and he didn't hesitate to produce in the crunch giving X a 79-78 victory in front of 4,000 fans at Sydney's Centre 200.

With time winding down and no timeout, Christian Upshaw took the ball to half court where he was
stopped before turning to the sideline. With no time left on the clock Upshaw heaved a three towards the net and was fouled sending him to the line for three shots with the X-Men down one.

Looking back on Dennie Oliver's foul shots that could have won StFX a national championship
over the Brandon Bobcats in 2000, Upshaw faced a similar situation - hit two or the game and the season would be over.

Stepping up to the line Upshaw missed the first of three but then calmly smiled as if to say, “I've got this.”

After hitting the second to tie the game at 78, the crowd stood in awe as the non-StFX fans screamed as loud as they could, and the X fans stood in silence, hands raised.

Upshaw released the last foul shot, as calm as could be and without any hesitation smiled as the ball reached its peak - hitting nothing but the mesh the ball dropped through and StFX sneaked away with a one point victory.

Upshaw finished with 25 points and 10 assists, but it was much more than just him that won this game, it was a real team effort.

Will Silver, one of the only people in the AUS to average near a triple-double, finished the game with 16 points, 7 assists and 8 rebounds including a pair of big baskets in the fourth quarter to cut a Saint Mary's lead down to five.

The aggressive play of Silver kept the X-Men in the game when times looked tough, and the never back down attitude of the team kept them rolling through Huskies late runs.

Joey Haywood was the leading scorer for Saint Mary's with 16 points, while the sharp shooting Mark McLaughlin finished the game with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Maybe the most underrated player of the game, and easily the, 'X-factor' was Riiny Ngot. Playing in 16 minutesand taking the role of the bench for Terrence Taylor who aggrivated an ankle injury early in the game, Ngot came up big, scoring eight points while blocking four shots.

With the X-Men up by one, Ngot jumped to contest a Joey Haywood three pointer which was successful as the 7'2 centre caused Haywood to travel and turn the ball over.

The game was back and forth for almost all four quarters. With Saint Mary's holding a lead for most of the game, StFX had no choice but to fight from behind.

Dwayne Johnson, a senior player on the team said that the X-Men had no choice but to fight. “There was a ton of heart and character. We battled, and give it up to SMU, they played a tough game, but lady luck was on our side tonight. We had a lot of fight in us, and tonight showed the character of the team. Coach has put us in play situations for the last week and that really helped us played composed and calm in the final stretch of the game.”

Jeremy Dunn and Jordan Clarke played big games for the X-Men, hitting key shots throughout the
game, including a Dunn bank three late in the fourth quarter to put StFX up and give them their first lead in nearly 17 minutes.

Clarke, a freshman out of Ottawa, came up big for X in the first half as he converted a steal into a powerful dunk giving the X-Men some momentum to tie the game up at the half at 36 a piece.

StFX will now head to the AUS championship game to take on Cape Breton, a team that handled
Dalhousie 76-60 earlier in the evening.

Splitting the season series 1-1 with the capers, Johnson admits that it won't be easy for StFX tomorrow, especially in front of the Caper home crowd.

“We have to come out with the same intensity, and pay more attention to details to be successful. If we come out with a defensive mentality we'll set ourselves up to be in a good position. The crowd won't be any factor to us, we're ready to go.”

With one game left to determine the AUS champions, StFX will have to give it their all one more time and prove that they're deserving of everything accolade they've been given this year. Tip-off for the X-Men and Capers is 2:00 pm Sunday afternoon at Centre 200.

Courtesy Mat MacDonald, StFX Sports Information contributor