X-Men nab 88-85 victory over Panthers

Antigonish, N.S. - The StFX X-Men (2-12) scored a thrilling 88-85 victory over the UPEI Panthers (10-5) in AUS basketball action Friday night at the Oland Centre. 

After the teams went scoreless in the first two minutes of the game, the visitors reeled off seven straight points in less than one minute, including a soaring fast-break dunk from Brad States (Bathurst, NB).

With the Panthers leading 9-0 midway through the first quarter, the X-Men scored their first points, on a pair of free throws from Julius Antoine (Woodbridge, ON).

After Dut Dut (Ottawa, ON) blocked an X-Men shot, he drained a three-pointer to give the Panthers an early 12-3 advantage.

UPEI led 20-10 after the first quarter.

Highlighted by another dunk from States, the Panthers started the second quarter with a 9-2 spurt to take a 31-12 lead - their largest of the game.

On the strength of a 20-7 burst, the X-Men trimmed the Panther advantage to 38-32 at halftime.

The blue-and-white run was sparked by tight defense, along with the foul shooting of Antoine, and the offensive rebounding and scoring of big men Cameron Walker (Dallas, TX) and Kevin Bercy (Kanata, ON). Off the bench, guard Cameron Crieghtney (Toronto, ON) also sparked the X-Men with seven points, including a key steal and left-handed lay-up.

In the third quarter, the X-Men rode a 24-10 wave in the opening seven minutes to take a 56-48 lead, when Davonte Provo (East Preston, NS) hooped a three-pointer. Bercy dominated the offensive boards during the run, including a highlight reel tip-in with the left hand, while Crieghtney tied the game for StFX with an acrobatic drive to the basket. 

With a 12-5 run in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, StFX extended to a 74-63 edge. Tristen Ross (Truro, NS) and Antoine hit the target from beyond the arc, while Bercy completed an old-fashioned three-point play - the hoop and the harm - during the X-Men push to a double-digit lead.

After all-Canadian guard Tyler Scott (Halifax, NS) swished a pair of deep three-pointers during a Panther reply, the X-Men led 74-70. They replied with an off-balance lay-up and free throw from Antoine to make it 77-70.

With four minutes remaining in regulation, Scott connected again from long range to cut the StFX lead to 80-76. Bercy answered with a fade-away jumper from the baseline to regain the six-point edge for the blue and white.

After Dut hit a three-pointer for the Panthers to slice the lead to 84-83, Antoine replied again with a circus-style lay-in to stretch it back to a three-point X-Men edge. 

First-year guard Akil Charles (Glenn Dale, MD) hit key free throws in the final seconds to help secure the victory for the home team.

The Panthers had a final possession, but they could not get a game-tying three-point attempt away before the buzzer, and the X-Men rally from a 19-point deficit was complete.

Bercy, the Subway player of the game, led the X-Men with a monster double-double - 21 points and a game-high 16 rebounds - while adding four assists and two steals. 

Antoine also collected a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while chipping in three assists and two steals.

Bercy and Antoine, with eight and six respectively, led the X-Men to a 21-11 advantage on the offensive glass.

Charles, who contributed five rebounds, two assists and one steal, also hit double figures in scoring with 10 points.

Provo posted a game-high eight assists, while adding seven points and four rebounds.

For the Panthers, Scott led the way with 24 points, while Dut and States finished with 20 and 18 points, respectively. 

States added 10 rebounds for a double-double, along with two steals, two blocks and one assist, while Dut added eight rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot. Scott chipped in four assists and three rebounds.

The teams will wrap-up the back-to-back weekend series Saturday, with tip-off set for 4 p.m. at Oland Centre.

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