by Chris Kallan

(Ottawa, ON) Another day, another blowout loss for the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.

At the CIS men’s basketball championship in Ottawa, the hometown and fifth-seeded Gee-Gees throttled the eighth-seeded X-Men by an 85-63 count in consolation round action at Scotiabank Place. Approximately 1,500 spectators were in the building, considerably smaller than the announced crowd of 5,000-plus.

Ottawa jumped out to an 18-12 advantage after one quarter by holding StFX to a pair of field goals on 18.2 per cent shooting. A three-pointer and a runner in the lane by Chad Warren enabled the X-Men to claw to within 23-18 with 7:29 left in the second quarter, but the Gee-Gees went on a 20-9 run to lead 43-28 at halftime.

StFX closed to the gap to 11 at 65-51 following a layup by Christian Upshaw with 6:21 remaining, but could get no closer.

Upshaw, a first team all-Canadian pick, led the X-Men offence with 22 points on eight-of-17 shooting, but committed nine of the team’s 20 turnovers. StFX’s Will Silver had eight points, while Dwayne Johnson, Sean Nickel and Warren scored six apiece.

Dax Dessureault registered a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Gee-Gees. Overall, StFX was 0-12 from three-point range and shot just 41.2 per cent from the floor.

The X-Men lost 94-57 to top-seeded Carleton in Friday’s quarterfinal.

“These were not the results we wanted this weekend, but at least we have a measuring stick of what it takes to get back here,” said StFX head coach Steve Konchalski. “I was quite disappointed with our first half against Ottawa. We have to be a lot more competitive than that.”

The X-Men were outrebounded 38-27, including 15-5 on the offensive glass. Carleton held a resounding 38-18 rebounding edge on Friday.

“I doubt very much X played its best basketball this weekend,” said Dessureault. “Nobody should want to come out and lose two in a row.”

StFX finishes the season with a 28-10 record. The X-Men only lose fifth-year guard Tyler Richards to graduation for next year’s team. Richards, a four-time, first team all-star and the third-leading scorer in school history behind two-time Olympian John Hatch and two-time Atlantic MVP Fred Perry, was not in uniform this weekend.

“We certainly missed Tyler’s leadership,” said Konchalski. “But he’s had a fabulous career for the X-Men.”

TIP INS: Upshaw made a sensational reverse layup at the buzzer to end the third quarter ... StFX lost both its games at the national tournament for the fourth time out of 14 total appearances. The X-Men are 18-18 all-time at the Canadian championship, including 10-6 versus the Ontario conference ... StFX is 1-1 versus Ottawa at nationals. The X-Men knocked off the Gee-Gee’s 64-54 in the 1993 national semifinal en route to the first of their three Canadian championships.