Antigonish, NS – The StFX X-Men squeezed by the Cape Breton Capers 98-96 in overtime Saturday evening to win the consolation final of the Pizza Delight X-Men Invitational tournament.
Tom Legallais followed up on a Justin Andrew jump shot to grab the rebound and bank it in off the glass as time expired in the overtime frame to give the X-Men the win.
The teams were knotted at 85-85 at the end of regulation, and played a close, back and forth overtime period.
Andrew finished with a game-high 25 points for the X-Men.
Freshman guard Avan Nava scored 19 and Legallais had 11 with nine rebounds. Sidney Okeke contributed 10 points in the X win, while Atik Gilao scored nine and had a game-high 15 rebounds.
For the Capers Izaiah Ugoalah scored 18 points, while Ibrahim Gosselin-Diawara and Chris Hankins each scored 16 and Hankins added six rebounds.
Osman Omar contributed 11 for the Capers who were led in the rebound column by Paul Watson with 12.
The teams were evenly matched throughout the game. They played to an even 14-14 first quarter, then the X-Men held a slight 42-40 halftime advantage. Navan scored 10 for X in the second quarter, including a pair of three-pointers.
The third quarter saw the Capers outscore the X-Men 27-22 but X fought right back in the fourth quarter to even it up again and force the overtime period.
The tournament championship game featured the Dalhousie Tigers winning the 41st annual tournament title with a 70-56 win over the Acadia Axemen.
The tournament all-star team consisted of Justin Andrew and Tom Legallais from StFX, Izaiah Ugualah (Capre Breton), Marcus Upshaw (Acadia), and Xavier Ochu from Dalhousie. Fifth year Tigers forward Jordan Wilson received the tournament most valuable player award.
With the win, the X-Men wrap up pre-season exhibition play with a 2-5 record. AUS regular season play begins on Saturday, November 2nd when the X-Men travel to Halifax for an 8:00 pm game against the Dalhousie Tigers.
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Courtesy StFX Sports Information