Wolfville, NS - The StFX X-Men closed out the Stu Aberdeen tournament with an 87-76 win over the Bishop's Gaiters.
Play was tight throughout the first three quarters. Despite Joany Castor-Thadal's (Montréal, Que.) 15-point opening quarter, StFX lead the first quarter in scoring at 22-20.
Each team added 22 points in the second quarter, bringing the score to 44-22 in favour of the X-Men at halftime. Castor-Thadal kept up his scoring pace and went into the break with a game-leading 25 points.
Both teams were benefiting from a multitude of three-point baskets, each of them making seven, but the Gaiters would require nine more attempts to get their 21 points.
The score remained close throughout the third quarter, with the scoring differential never exceeding five points. The X-Men started rotating players off their bench and continued to shoot consistently and successfully.
After 30 minutes of play, the score was 67-64 for StFX. The X-Men saw plenty of their points coming off the hands of Justin Andrew (Hamilton, ON), who tallied 25 in the game and was named the Subway Player of the Game.
The X-Men finally broke out during the fourth quarter and started to separate themselves from the Gaiters. Over the last 10 minutes, the Gaiters slowly watched the scoring gap increase until the final buzzer.
The Gaiters did not appear to be the same team they were in the first half, as they only made three more three-pointers after halftime; shooting a three-point field goal percent of 23.8.
Tristen Ross and Daniel Passley posted 15 and 14 points respectively for the X-Men. Gaiters' Joany Castor-Thadal and Kevin Davis delivered 26 and 20 points.
The X-Men next see action at their own StFX Invitational tournament on October 5th and 6th in Antigonish. They will host Cape Breton on Friday night at 8:00 pm.
-30-
Courtesy Acadia Sports Information