Wolfville, NS - The Acadia Axemen won their first game of the Stu Aberdeen Tournament 91-76 over the StFX X-Men in front of over 600 fans Saturday evening.

In the first quarter, the X-Men were looking like the better team. They handled the ball for the majority of the quarter, shot 8 for 11, and took a 22-14 lead into the first break.

Momentum on the court shifted during the second quarter, which resulted in a change in the lead. The Axemen rallied on a few scoring runs that threw the X-Men off their game. Acadia had a 25-point quarter to bring the score to a 39-35 Axemen lead at halftime.

The energy the Axemen found in the second was carried over to the third quarter, where they continued to expand on their lead. Acadia was able to convert off several StFX turnovers that proved to be fatal for the X-Men.

Midway through the third quarter, X-Men Nicholas McKee (Newmarket, ON) appeared to hurt his right leg after an Acadia lay-up and he did not return to play.

Later in the third, Thomas Legallais (Cornwall, ON) of the X-Men made a nifty pass to teammate Azaro Roker (Nassau, Bahamas) who threw down a massive dunk, bringing even the home fans to their feet.

After brushing off their sub-par first quarter, Acadia outplayed their opponents for the remainder of the game and took the win 91-76. Ben Miller (Winnipeg, MB) had 18 points to help the Axemen stay on top for the majority of the game and was named the Subway Player of the Game.

Acadia had 20 points off of turnovers and delivered 11 second chance points and 28 points from the bench. Forest Mahoney led the Axemen with eight rebounds while Trevon Grant and Junior Maoku-Matia both added 14 points to Miller's 18.

Tristen Ross led the X-Men with 17 points and Azaro Roker posted a game high 15 rebounds and added 16 points.

The X-Men fall to 0-2 in the tournament play and will next take on Bishop's Sunday at 12:00 pm. Acadia will look for their second win of the tournament against the Ravens Sunday afternoon.

Courtesy Theodore Giesen, Acadia Communications