ANTIGONISH, NS – StFX X-Men basketball forward Kevin Bercy recently wrapped up competition at the Summer Universiade in Chinese Taipei with national Canadian squad of U SPORTS all-stars.
The team placed 10th overall out of 24 teams with a 5-3 record. The Canadian squad was in Pool B with five other teams and came out with a 3-2 record after preliminary pool play.
They had wins over Norway (85-54), Hong Kong, China (125-55) and Japan (84-71) and lost to Finland (79-71) and Germany (85-73).
Bercy, a 6'7, 225 pound forward from Kanata, Ont. saw action in all games and lead the Canadian team in rebounding in the games against Finland and Japan. He scored 17 points and had 5 rebounds in the win over Hong Kong.
In the playoff round, the Canadians defeated the host Chinese Taipei 98-61 and the Czech Republic 97-79. Bercy scored 18 points and lead the team with 8 rebounds in the win over the Czechs.
In the ninth place game against Australia, Canada fell 101-96. Bercy had a big double-double game, going second in team scoring with 22 points and again leading the team with 15 rebounds.
His 53 rebounds in the tournament were tops for the Canadian squad.
Lithuania ended up winning the gold medal as they played to an 85-74 win over the USA. Latvia took the bronze medal, 81-74 over Serbia.
Bercy is heading into his fifth season with the X-Men, after enjoying his most successful campaign to date last year. The 2017 AUS most valuable player, he averaged a double-double with a team-high 19.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Kevin led the nation in defensive rebounding with an average of 8.3 per game and finished second in the country in overall rebounding with 11.3 per game. In addition, his field goal percentage of 59.4 was the best in the AUS and he received the prestigious honor of being named a U SPORTS first team all-Canadian.
The Summer Universiade is a 12-day multi-sport event hosted by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). An international sporting and cultural event, and the only summer multi-sport event in the world that connects students at both academic and athletic levels, it is staged every two years in a different city, second only is size to the Olympic Games. Participation is open to any competitor between the ages of 17 and 28 in the year of the Games, who is a full-time post-secondary student or has graduated from a post-secondary institution within the previous year of the event. More than 9,000 student-athletes and officials from over 170 countries will compete in 14 compulsory sports and up to three optional sports.
