X-Men squeeze past Axemen for first win of the season
Nick De Palma's timely three point basket with 38 seconds remaining in the game to give Acadia a 92-91 lead, was quickly neutralized with two made three throw by X-Man Kevin Bercy to give StFX their first win of the regular season.
WOLFVILLE, N.S. - Nick De Palma's timely three point basket with 38 seconds remaining in the game to give Acadia a 92-91 lead, was quickly neutralized with two made three throw by X-Man Kevin Bercy to give StFX their first win of the regular season.
Unable to grab a win with 24 seconds remaining and down by one, Acadia conceded a 93-92 loss to the visiting X-Men.
Down by as much as 11 points in the opening four and half minutes, the Axemen worked their way back to 24-21 deficit after one quarter. The comeback was highlighted by several momentum changers including Nick De Palma's three pointer at the 4:42 mark, followed shortly after by an AJ Simmonds three pointer and Erik Nissen's dunk.
Tied at 24 early in the second frame, the Axemen took their first lead of the game at 26-24 on a Mitch Tempro layup. The lead grew on a 15-0 run by Acadia in the opening three minutes of the second quarter.
With a 36-24 Acadia lead three minutes into the second quarter, the first half concluded with a 43-35 Axemen advantage.
In the second half, StFX out-scored Acadia 58-49 to bring the game to within one in the closing seconds. X-Men Subway Player of the Game, Kevin Bersey had 16 of his team high 23 points in the second half.
StFX's dismal 47% from the charity strip was made up by a 60.3% field goal percentage compared to Acadia's 54% from the floor and 71.4% from the free throw line.
Second year Axeman Nick De Palma netted a game high 25 points earning him the Acadia Subway Player of the Game honour. Teammates Erik Nissen, Shaquille Smith, Kyle Arseneault and Ben Miller had 18, 13, 11 and 11 respectively. Nissen pulled the most boards in for Acadia with eight including five defensive rebounds.
Bercy's 23 points highlighted StFX's bench, while teammate Akil Charles added 20 points in the winning effort and Davonte Provo sank 17 points.
The 2-2 Axemen will host the first place and CIS No. 8 ranked Dalhousie Tigers (4-1) this Saturday night, while the 1-3 X-Men will host the Tigers the following Saturday night.