X-Men rebound to defeat Panthers

The St. Francis Xavier X-Men survived another scare at the Rod Shoveller Memorial university men’s basketball tournament.
 
The undefeated X-Men, ranked No. 2 in the CIS, trailed midway through the fourth quarter but staged another late rally to defeat the UPEI Panthers 78-69 in semifinal play Friday at Dalplex.
 
St. F.X. went on an 18-6 run with under five minutes to go to pull ahead of Tim Kendrick’s Panthers. The X-Men came from 13 points behind in the second half to beat the Ottawa Gee-Gees in Thursday’s quarter-final.
 
On Friday, Jeremy Dunn paced all scorers with 25 points while Will Donkoh added 11 for the X-Men, who improved to 15-0 overall this season. St. F.X. advances to today’s final and will seek its record eight Shoveller title.
 
They will face the winner of the late semifinal played Friday night between the host Dalhousie Tigers and Concordia Stingers.
 
UPEI held a 44-39 advantage at the half and led by six with 3:09 remaining in the third before St. F.X. reeled off eight straight points to take a two-point lead into the fourth quarter.
 
Jonathan Cooper collected 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers, who are also unbeaten in regular-season play. Manock Lual added 16 points and eight boards.
 
The start times for today’s championship final and third-place game will accommodate Concordia in order to allow the team to travel back to Montreal this evening.
 
Whether it’s in the final or playing for third place, the Stingers will play at 1 p.m.
 
• In consolation play:
 
Huskies 96, Paladins 45: Jerome Smith finished two assists shy of a triple-double in Saint Mary’s romp of the Royal Military College.
 
Smith scored 11 points, added 10 rebounds and collected eight assists for the Huskies. Warren Liang led SMU with 17 points.

Gee-Gees 76, Axemen 73: Warren Ward netted the game-winning three-pointer from just inside half court at the buzzer to lift Ottawa to a dramatic win over Acadia.
 
Ward finished with a game-high 20 points.
 
Owen Klassen answered with 18 points and nine boards for the Axemen.
 
Acadia has lost two key players for the rest of the season. Forward Justin Boutilier, slowed by knee troubles, will no longer play, but remain with the team in another capacity, while guard Alex McLaughlin of Dartmouth has left the program.