Antigonish, NS – The defending AUS champion X-Men basketball team kicked off their pre-season competition with a 77-62 victory over the Mount Saint Vincent Mystics. The Mystics compete out of Halifax in the CCAA conference.

The X-Men opened up a 24-12 lead after the first quarter of play. Veteran guard Dondre Reddick netted nine points in the quarter for X.

MSVU outscored the X-Men 23-20 in the second quarter to trail 44-35 at halftime.

The Mystics went on a 9-2 run to start the third quarter to close the gap to two points, 46-44. The X-Men held them off and built back a 10 point lead at halftime, 57-47.

The Mystics pulled to within three points early in the fourth quarter but the X-Men were physical in the paint and pushed back.

The blue and white outpaced the Mystics 20-15 in the final quarter to close out the 77-62 victory.

Reddick finished with a game-high 21 points and had 8 rebounds. Jeremiah Usiosefe had a double-double game with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman guard Koat Thomas scored 10 off the X bench.

Gatluak James had a game-high 20 rebounds for the X-Men.

Chase Tynes led the Mystics with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Adam Callaghan scored 13 and Jaydan Smith netted 11.

The X-Men are back in action Sunday afternoon when they host the University of King's College in another exhibition game. Tip-off is 4:00 pm at the STFX Saputo Centre.

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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics