X Men Win Rod Shoveller Memorial Tournament.

Courtesy of Chronicle Herald

Christian Upshaw made a successful return to the St. Francis Xavier X-Men lineup on Sunday, leading his squad to the championship of the Rod Shoveller Memorial men’s basketball tournament.

Upshaw, the two-time Atlantic university conference MVP who was benched for Saturday’s semifinal, collected a game-high 21 points in pacing the X-Men to an 85-69 victory over the host Dalhousie Tigers in the tournament final at Dalplex.

It was the first Shoveller title for St. F.X. in three years. The X-Men lost last year’s Shoveller final to Saint Mary’s and lost to Carleton the year before, ending a three-year championship run for Steve Konchalski’s squad.

Tournament MVP Will Silver and Charlie Spurr each had 14 points for the CIS fifth-ranked X-Men. Dwayne Johnson added a dozen points and 14 rebounds.

Simon Farine answered with 30 points for Dalhousie.

The Tigers held a 37-36 lead at the half. But the X-Men outscored the hosts 25-17 in the third quarter and 24-15 in the fourth to blow the game open.

In the third-place game, Owen Klassen scored 32 points for Acadia but it wasn’t enough as the Axemen dropped a 75-55 decision to the Concordia Stingers. Kyle Desmarias led the Stingers with 15 points.

In the fifth-place consolation, Miguel Pink potted 31 points as the Saint Mary’s Huskies dumped the Laval Rouge et Or 93-65.

The Queen’s Golden Gaels edged the Laurentian Voyageurs 71-68 in the seventh-place game.

• Tournament all-stars were Spurr, Farine, Klassen, Desmarais and Joey Haywood of the Huskies.