Halifax, NS – In the consolation final at the 24th annual Dalhousie Rod Shoveller tournament, the StFX X-Men fell 76-57 to the McGill Redmen, settling for fourth place.
The teams played a close first half and were tied at 32 at halftime.
The Redmen pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the X-Men 23-16 and did not relinquish the lead en route to the victory.
StFX finished the event with a 1-2 record after posting an 84-82 quarterfinal win over UPEI and falling 89-71 to eventual tournament champion Ottawa in the semi-finals.
Ottawa defeated the host Dalhousie squad 83-62 in the championship game.
The X-Men had 21 turnovers in the game against the Redmen which proved costly.
Dele Oqundoun led the McGill attack with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Tournament all-star Vincent Dufort scored 13 and had 10 boards and 7 assists, while Noah Daoust scored 11 off the bench.
Francois Bourque added 10 points and 9 rebounds for the Redmen.
X-Men guard Julius Antoine earned tournament all-star honors. He led StFX in scoring against McGill with 16 points. Tayo Shittu scored 11 off the bench and added 5 rebounds, while Cameron Walker netted 10 and had 9 boards.
Alastair Cole chipped in 8 points for the X-Men.
Also receiving tournament all-star recognition were Ritchie Kanza Mata and Jarred Reid from Dalhousie and Michael L'Africain from Ottawa. His Gee Gee's teammate Caleb Agada was named tournament MVP.
The X-Men are quickly back in action as AUS regular season play resumes on Tuesday, January 6th. StFX (2-5) will host Cape Breton (3-4) at 8:00 pm at the Oland Centre in a game worth four points in the standings.