Antigonish, NS - The StFX X-Men (7-3) are in first place, after extending their winning streak to five games, with a 96-80 victory over the visiting Cape Breton University Capers (0-9) Tuesday night in Atlantic University Sport basketball action at Oland Centre.
Subway player of the game Kevin Bercy (Kanata, ON) scored a team-high 23 points, while adding nine rebounds and two assists to lead the home side.
With the X-Men going scoreless for the first four minutes of the game, the Capers jumped to a 10-2 advantage, led by Kenny Jean-Louis (Montreal, QC) with seven of his game-high 29 points.
After six minutes, the X-Men cut the deficit to four - 12-8 - with Bercy netting all his team's points.
With seven consecutive points from Akil Charles (Glenn Dale, MD), the X-Men took their first lead at 15-14.
StFX led 20-18 after the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Justin Andrew (Hamilton, ON) drained a deep three-pointer to give the X-Men a 26-20 advantage.
After a basket from veteran guard Julius Antoine (Woodbridge, ON), StFX was up 34-24. Back-to-back threes from Tristen Ross (Truro, NS) gave StFX a 49-33 lead.
After outscoring the Capers 32-12 in the second quarter, the X-Men led 52-30 at halftime.
Early in the third quarter, after a three-point shot from Jack MacAulay (Charlottetown, PEI) and a Jean-Louis lay-up, the Capers trailed 56-44. The X-Men responded, with a Daniel Passley (Mississauga, ON) lay-up making it 64-47.
After an Antoine three-pointer, the StFX margin ballooned to 20 points. The X-Men led 80-59 after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, freshman forward Azaro Roker (Nassau, Bahamas) brought the home crowd to its feet with a thunderous put-back slam dunk to make it 89-66.
In the closing minutes, the Capers made a mini run, but could get no closer than 16 points.
For the X-Men, Charles, with 16 points, Antoine and Andrew, both with 11, also hit double digits. Provo and Ross chipped in seven and five assists, respectively, each scoring six points.
Off the bench, Christian Affolter (Bern, SUI) collected 17 points for the Capers, along with seven rebounds, three steals and one assist.
The Capers will return to action Friday, Jan. 13, when they host the UPEI Panthers in Sydney.
The X-Men will be back on the court Saturday, Jan. 14, when they welcome the Panthers to Antigonish.
Tip-off for both match-ups is 8 p.m.
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