Sydney, NS – The X-Men basketball team opened play at the Cape Breton Fall Classic pre-season tournament with an exciting 86-84 victory over the Calgary Dinos in the quarterfinals at Centre 200.

The game came down to the final seconds of play with first year guard Tyrel Edwards making the game-tying basket and then the game-winning basket at the buzzer for the X-Men.

Edwards finished the night with a team-high 21 points.

The X-Men got out to a 29-21 lead after the first quarter. They went on an 18-0 run at the end of the first quarter and through to the opening minute and a half of the second quarter to lead by as much as 14 points.

Both teams traded points throughout the quarter with the Dinos outscoring the X-Men 13-3 in the final two minutes of the opening half to knot the game at 44-44 at halftime.

The second half remained close as neither team held more than a six point lead. Calgary led 63-59 after the third quarter and were up 84-78 with 1:20 to play before the X-Men outscored the Canada West squad 8-0 down the stretch to take the win.

Davonte Provo scored 14 points for the X-Men and had five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Cameron Walker and Tristen Ross each scored 10 points apiece and Walker had four boards.

Leading the Dinos in scoring was Thomas Cooper with 22 points, along with five rebounds. Lars Schlueter scored 15 and David Kapinga netted 13.

With the win the X-Men advance to the tournament semi-finals. They will meet the Western Mustangs at 8:00 pm on Friday night. The Mustangs advanced with a 71-62 victory over the host Cape Breton Capers.

UPEI and Nipissing will meet in the other semi-final at 6:00 pm.

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