WOLFVILLE, NS - The CIS #2 ranked Acadia Axemen (6-0) head into the holiday break undefeated and tied for first place in the AUS standings with Cape Breton (5-0) after playing catch-up ball in an 84-71 win over the StFX X-Men Wednesday evening. StFX falls to 4-3 in third place in dropping the four-point game.
Despite injuries to Anthony Sears, Tom Filgiano, Sean Stoqua and Rhys Larry, the Axemen's deep bench picked up win over the X-Men. Acadia's Owen Klassen grabbed the Subway player of the game honours with 19 points and 13 rebounds, 12 of which were defensive.
Local Wolfville native Jeremy Dunn and Rodrigo Madera scored a team high 15 points for the StFX X-Men. Madera also added 7 rebounds and a block in the losing effort.
The X-Men played an energetic and fast paced first quarter, showing full court presses that pushed their first quarter lead to 20-11 after four minutes of play. Acadia fought back to a first quarter 26-21 deficit and grabbed a one point lead with just over two minutes remaining in the first half off of a Jonathan Tull basket to give the Axemen a one point edge. The home team closed out the first half with a 44-42 halftime advantage over the X-Men.
The Axemen held the lead for the remainder of the game, pushing out to a game high 18 point cushion with just over a minute remaining in the final frame.
Thomas Filgiano started the game but left with a leg injury. Tyler Scott added 10 points off-the-bench for the Axemen, while Tull and Anthony Ashe netted 23 and 19 points respectively.
StFX's Tyrell Vernon contributed 11 points and Terry Thomas scored 9 points and had 9 rebounds, while Will Donkoh and Shane Coupland each scored eight points. The X-Men were a dismal 15% from the charity strip and 35% from the floor.
The game marked the final AUS regular season game for the first term for both teams. The X-Men will be in exhibition action December 29-31 at the Dalhousie Rod Shoveller Invitational tournament. Regular season play resumes on Saturday, January 5th when StFX meets Dalhousie for an 8:00 pm game in Halifax. They follow up with a Jan. 8th match against Cape Breton at the StFX Oland Centre.