Antigonish, NS – The STFX X-Men defeated the Calgary Dinos 82-73 in exciting pre-season exhibition play in Game 2 of the Coach K Invitational.
The teams got off to a high scoring first quarter as the Dinos held a 24-21 advantage. Noah Wharton scored seven points for Calgary in the opening frame.
He added another six points in the second quarter to lead the Dinos with 13 points in the opening half as the visitors were up 44-38 at halftime.
Dinos player of the game Jackson Bayles scored 12 in the first half while STFX guard Avan Nava had nine as Calgary outscored the X-Men 20-17 in the second quarter.
In a high flying third quarter the X-Men stormed back and outpaced the Dinos 25-14. The blue and white led by five points, 63-58 after the third.
In lots of back and forth action, the X-Men held onto their lead and won the fourth quarter 19-15 on route to the win.
Player of the game David Muenkat scored 12 points and added 14 rebounds, 5 assists, a block and two steals for the X-Men.
Nava finished with a team-high 15 points, while Dondre Reddick netted 14 points and had five rebounds. Antoine Vernon and Deon Ejim scored 10 points apiece for the blue and white.
Bayles led the Dinos with 18 points on the night and hauled in five rebounds.
Jeffrey Tezo scored 15 and Wharton had 13. Spencer Roberts was the top rebounder with eight.
The game marked the second 4AM Night in memory of Andrew Milner, former Dinos basketball player and Antigonish, NS native who passed away in April, 2019 after a boating accident. Milner's father Billy MacIntosh was on hand for the ceremonial tip-off.
Both teams will be back in tournament action on Saturday. Calgary plays Cape Breton at 6:00 pm, while the X-Men will host Memorial at 8:00 pm
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STFX Coach K Invitational
Friday, October 21
6:00 pm: Memorial 98 vs Cape Breton 84
8:00 pm: Calgary 73 vs STFX 82
Saturday, October 22
6:00 pm: Cape Breton vs Calgary
8:00 pm: Memorial vs STFX
Sunday, October 23
2:00 pm: Calgary vs Memorial
4:00 pm: Cape Breton vs STFX
Billy MacIntosh - father of the late Andrew Milner - performs the ceremonial tip-off on 4AM Night as STFX and Calgary fans shared in the memory of the former Dinos basketball student-athlete and native of Antigonish, NS