Halifax, NS – In the game to decide fifth place in the Rod and Joan Memorial Basketball Tournament, the Laval Rouge et Or took on the StFX X-Men. The long range shooting for the Rouge et Or made the difference in this one, as they came away with the 85-54 win.
The Rouge et Or came out firing on offense, with Alexandre Leclerc (Quebec, QC) and Nicolas Bégin (Quebec, QC) slashing to the rim to open a 12-2 run to start the game.
The X-Men settled back in however, thanks to Tristen Ross (Truro, NS) getting his outside shot going with a quick five points.
The threes were flying from both sides early, with Laval getting the better of the opportunities, knocking down 6-9 in the first quarter, but the long rebounds helped the X-Men to pick up second chance points.
Going into the second quarter, the Rouge et Or held a 26-15 lead.
The X-Men made a point of feeding the ball inside for Daniel Passley (Mississauga, ON) to make moves in the paint, and earn trips to the line. The newly found interior presence opened up the perimeter once again for Ross to knock down another shot from deep.
The Rouge et Or continued to live by the three-ball, shooting at a 50% rate in the half with Bégin adding another two to their total in the quarter.
At the end of a tight second quarter, the Rouge et Or still held the advantage at 41-31.
The deep ball continued to rain for the Rouge et Or, opening the quarter with five straight threes, four of which coming from Vladimir Thomas (Quebec, QC). The 15-2 run helped push the lead up to 56-33 midway through the quarter.
At the five minute mark of the third, the Rouge et Or had made six more shots from deep than inside the arc on the game, shooting an extremely hot 54% as a team.
The X-Men were struggling from the field in the quarter shooting just 5-18 in the quarter, till Jamie White (Saint John, NB) finished a tough play at the rim through contact to earn the three-point play to spark the offense.
Heading into the fourth, the Rouge et Or held a commanding lead at 69-44.
Turnovers against a pressure defence were trouble for the X-Men in the fourth quarter, and when the ball was moved up the court, there wasn't much time to run a half court set. They instead had to rely on their transition game for scoring, where Dawson Bungay (Alder Point, NS) could throw down a big dunk.
The lead was too much for the X-Men to work back from in this one, with two minutes to go, Laval was up 81-54.
As the Rouge et Or dribbled the clock out, they were able to secure the 85-54 victory to take fifth place in the tournament.
The scoring for the X-Men was spread throughout the lineup, with Daniel Passley leading them with 9 points and 9 rebounds. For the Rouge et Or, Nicolas Bégin had a phenomenal game from the field, with 25 points on 7-10 shooting from deep.
The X-Men return to action when AUS regular season play resumes on Friday, January 4th. StFX will be back in Halifax for an 8:00 pm game at Saint Mary's University.
-30-
Courtesy Kirk Jessome, Dalhousie Sports Information