X-Men win one-point nail biter over REDS

ANTIGONISH, NS - Clutch shooting from Gabriel Pizza Player of the Game DJ Jackson sealed a hard fought 81-80 STFX X-Men win over the UNB REDS on Coach K Court Saturday evening.

Jackson went two-for-two at the free throw line to put his team up with 2.7 seconds to go in the game.  

UNB went on a 5-0 run to start the game, but STFX responded with a seven-point run of their own, kicked off by a triple from Gatluak James. The teams then traded scores, with X able to tie it late with a layup from Keyonte Beals. The X-Men offence continued to put up points, pulling head by seven at the end of the quarter.  

UNB again started off quick, erasing the STFX lead with an 9-2 run early in the second. The three-ball continued to fall for the REDS, with Reese Zorogole hitting one from deep to cut the X advantage to three, followed by Marcus Barnes splashing another for the tie with under two minutes left before half, which ended with teams even at 40-40.  

The back-and-forth action continued in the second half, with the teams trading the lead in the first six minutes. STFX pulled ahead by seven with 90 seconds left, but Zorogole and Barnes again striking from distance in the next minute cut the lead to 1.    

DJ Jackson went two-for-two from the free throw line to cap off a 6-0 run for the X-Men in three first three minutes. He hit a layup and the foul shot moments later, but a big run from the REDS, including a pair of triples from Matthais Muscroft pulled UNB ahead with five minutes to go. Jackson cut the lead to one with 30 seconds to go, before hitting the game winning shot from the stripe. 

Jackson finished with 35 points, while going 16-17 from the line. Jeff Ngandu added 11 points and eight boards for the X-Men, while James finished with 11 points and five rebounds. 

Barnes led the way for the REDS with 17 points while Muscroft went 5-9 from beyond the arc for 15 points, and Conner Landell had 12 points and 9 boards.  

The AUS leading X-Men wrap up their regular season with a trip to Newfoundland next weekend to face the Memorial Sea-Hawks. The first game of the weekend will go Friday, February 21, at 8 p.m. 

UNB has one game left to go, a matchup next Friday in Fredericton against the Acadia Axemen at 8 p.m.

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics