Antigonish, NS – The STFX X-Men won the 42nd annual STFX Coach K Invitational tournament with an 82-71 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers Sunday evening at the STFX Saputo Centre on Coach K Court.
The StFX Coach K Invitational, presented by Pizza Delight, is an annual four-team exhibition tournament hosted by the StFX X-Men every October. The tournament was re-named this year to honour long-time veteran X-Men head coach Steve Konchalski who recently retired after a 46-year coaching career with the X-Men.
The tournament win marked the 21st time the X-Men have claimed top honours in the annual event.
The X-Men got out to an early 16-2 midway through the first quarter and increased that lead to 20-10 at the conclusion of the opening frame.
The Tigers started to claw their way back as Keevan Veinot hit a three-pointer four minutes in to pull them to 25-17. The X-Men continue their sharp shooting however, and started to pull away again, leading 32-23 midway through the quarter.
David Muenkat was strong on both sides of the ball for X as he racked up 15 points and nine rebounds in the opening half.
The X-Men lead 41-25 at halftime as they shot 44.1% from the field. The Tigers were 9-45 at only 20.0%.
STFX maintained their lead throughout the third quarter. They were up by 15 points six minutes in at 51-36.
A Justin Andrew three-pointer late in the quarter helped build the X-Men lead to 58-43 after 30 minutes.
STFX continued their strong play in the final quarter but the Tigers mounted a late comeback. A pair of back-to-back three-pointers by Nginyu Ngala resulted in an eight-point swing that saw the Tigers trail by only six points, 71-65 with four minutes left in the game.
Despite the late Dalhousie surge, the X-Men were able to hold them off and wrap up the game with the 82-71 victory.
Muenkat finished with a game-high 28 points and 20 rebounds. His superb two-night performance earned him Tournament Most Valuable Player honours.
Gatluak James scored 10 points of the STFX bench as the X-Men had a balanced scoring contribution from the entire line-up.
Ngala was the top scorer for the Tigers with 26 points on the night, while Keevan Veinot netted 16 and had six rebounds.
Both Ngala and Veinot were named to the tournament all-star team, along with STFX's Avan Nava, Chris Spurrell (UNB) and Ozzy Omar (CBU).
The tournament games wrap up pre-season exhibition competition for both squads as the X-Men finish with a 6-2 pre-season record.
AUS regular season competition begins on Friday, October 29th. The Tigers will travel to Sydney to take on Cape Breton, while the X-Men will be in Fredericton to tip-off against UNB.
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Courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Sports Information
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| Coach K & Tournament All-Star Avan Nava | Coach K & Tournament MVP David Muenkat | Coach K presents captain Jamie White with the Tournament Champions plaque |
STFX X-Men Basketball - 2021 STFX Coach K Invitational Tournament Champions