Antigonish, NS – The U SPORTS No. 7 ranked STFX X-Men picked up where they left off in November – on a winning note – as they defeated the Cape Breton Capers 106-82 Friday night on Coach K Court at the STFX Saputo Centre.
STFX Athletics celebrated the 90th birthday of superfan and fan favorite Father Stan MacDonald prior to tip-off.
The first quarter saw the home team get out to a 27-21 lead.
The second quarter was even with both squads scoring 25 points apiece. The X-Men had a six-point lead, 52-46 at halftime.
Dondre Redick (Antigonish, NS) and Antoine Vernon (Hamilton, ON) each scored eight points for the X-Men in the opening half.
Chris Ruta (Calgary, AB) had 11 for the Capers.
The X-Men came out firing on all cylinders for the third quarter as they had a 15-2 start to the frame in the opening three and a half minutes of play.
They continued to outpace the Capers as they outscored the visiting rivals 35-17 in the quarter to take an 87-63 lead after three.
The fourth quarter was even at 19-19 but the X-Men had already built up their lead and hung on for the win.
Reddick finished with a game-high 21 points for the X-Men and picked up six rebounds and three steals as he was honoured as the Subway player of the game.
David Muenkat (Brampton, ON) scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds for a double-double night, along with coming up big on defense with three blocks.
Deon Ejim (Brampton, ON) contributed 15 points and six rebounds for X, while Keyonte Beals (North Preston, NS) netted 14 off the X-Men bench.
For the Capers, Ruta was their high scorer with 19 points on the night and also hauled in nine rebounds.
Tyson Cato (Ajax, ON) added 11 points and eight rebounds and Jason Callaghan (Sydney, NS) scored 10 and had five boards.
The Capers were outrebounded 46-33 by the X-Men.
With the win STFX improves to 10-1 on the season as they sit in first place in the AUS standings. The Capers drop to 2-7.
The same two teams will play a rematch game on Sunday afternoon in Sydney. Tip-off is 4:00 pm.
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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna
Dondre Reddick earns Subway Player of the Game honours with 21 points & 6 rebounds in the X-Men's 106-82 victory over Cape Breton! #goxgo #SubwayFuel pic.twitter.com/oDLoGL3Crt
— StFX Athletics (@StFXAthletics) January 7, 2023