Antigonish, NS – After trailing by 10 points at halftime, the X-Men turned the game around to defeat the Memorial Sea-Hawks 98-71 Thursday night in pre-season exhibition action on Coach K Court.
STFX was led offensively by David Muenkat who scored 21 points and Avan Nava who netted 20, including five from three-point range.
The first quarter got off to a slow start in the opening two minutes as both squads settled in. Nicolas Tuff hit a three-pointer three minutes in to give Memorial an early 5-2 lead, but the X-Men stormed back with consecutive baskets.
Midway through the opening quarter the Sea-Hawks extended their lead to 15-8. After an X-Men timeout the home squad regrouped and pulled to within four points 18-14 with a minute to play.
The Sea-Hawks held a 22-16 lead after the first quarter.
Flynn Boardman-Raffet sunk a three pointer a couple minutes into the second quarter to give Memorial a 27-20 lead. Justin Andrew replied with a three-point dish for the X-Men, but Sea-Hawks kept up their offensive attack and were up by eight points midway through the second frame, 38-30.
They widened the lead to 48-38 at halftime.
Tuff scored 17 points in the opening half for the Sea-Hawks and Boardman-Raffet had 14.
Andrew and Avan Nava each netted nine points apiece for the X-Men first half.
The X-Men came out a changed squad in the second half.
An early spark was provided by Jamie White as he hit a three-pointer on their first possession.
David Muenkat made some key baskets for the X-Men and Avan Nava was hot from beyond the three-point arc as they overtook the Sea-Hawks and opened up a 56-52 lead midway through the third quarter.
Muenkat continued his strong play, helped along by Antoine Vernon and White as STFX turned the game around and went up 73-55 at the end of the quarter, outscoring Memorial by a lopsided 35-7 in the third frame.
White continued his strong play in the fourth quarter and the X-Men had contributions from all fronts as they maintained a comfortable lead.
The home squad was up 84-67 midway through the quarter and did not let the Sea-Hawks back in the game as they played to the 98-71 victory.
Muenkat had a big double-double game for the X-Men with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Nava scored 20, White had 14 and Andrew contributed 13.
Handy Disanka pulled in 11 rebounds for X.
Leading the Sea-Hawks was Tuff with 25 points on the night, along with seven rebounds.
Boardman-Raffet scored 14 and Jason Thompson added 11.
The Sea-Hawks will be back in action Friday night when they head back to Halifax to tip-off against the Saint Mary's Huskies and complete their three-game Nova Scotia pre-season tour.
The X-Men will travel to Wolfville on Saturday for an 8:00 pm exhibition game against Acadia.
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Courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Sports Information