Halifax, NS – The Saint Mary's Huskies held off an impressive fourth quarter surge by the STFX X-Men to edge the visitors 96-93 Wednesday night at the Homburg Centre.
Jace Colley (East Preston, NS) dominated again on Wednesday night, as Saint Mary's built an impressive 17-point lead early in the game.
As their lead fell apart in the fourth quarter with the combined offensive attack of X-Men's Avan Nava (Mississauga, ON), David Muenkat (Brampton, ON) and bench player Justin Andrew (Hamilton, ON), Quemah Gibson scored a game-winning lay-up in the final minute to hand the Huskies their 5-0 AUS start.
The last time Saint Mary's started their season 5-0 was in 2018-19, when they finished first in the AUS regular season at 19-1, losing to the Dalhousie Tigers in the finals. Nikita Kasongo (Chateauguay, QC) was the only player from that season in Wednesday's starting lineup.
An explosive first quarter saw the Huskies with seven different scorers combining to lead 28-13, going on a 26-7 run after the first two minutes. Colley paced each side in the first with nine points, combining with seven points from the Huskies bench.
The X-Men staggered their starters, playing six off their bench in the first and second quarters, as they looked to keep their key-scorers out of foul trouble and save them for a run down the stretch.
Saint Mary's built a substantial lead in the second quarter, with a 24-point lead high in the first half with four minutes remaining, the score 41-17. The Huskies offense was driven by Kasongo and Shae Brown (Vaughan, ON), combining for 15 points, nine boards, five assists and five steals in the first half. Brown was back in the starting lineup for Saint Mary's after missing the last two games.
Colley paced his side with 14 points and 2 boards after 20 minutes. A catch-and-shoot three-pointer, he ended the half with SMU ahead 51-32.
Muenkat paced the first half for both sides with 17 points and five rebounds, and was a problem for the Saint Mary's defense in the paint.
With Muenkat held to just two points in the third quarter, Saint Mary's continued to pull away. They reached a game-high 25-point lead off a show stopping dunk by Colley after his own defensive block, the score 74-49 with under two minutes left in the quarter.
The Huskies would be grateful for their 78-53 lead heading into the fourth, as the X-Men ran an aggressive 26-6 run down the stretch to tie it up 93-93 with one minute remaining.
Veteran guard Justin Andrew (Hamilton, ON) scored all 16 of his game points in the fourth, and the X-Men outshot the Huskies 40-18. Qyemah Gibson, who was on the court for 39 of 40 minutes, dropped a clutch lay-up with 37 seconds on the clock, giving the Huskies a moment to breathe.
After an exchange of missed free-throws, save for one from Kasongo, had the game ending 96-93, coming down to the wire with a missed last ditch three off X-Men's Antoine Vernon (Hamilton, ON).
Saint Mary's rookie starter, Jayrell Diggs (East Preston, NS), grabbed eight points and four rebounds, including two well-made three-pointers. He is a top-ten scorer in the AUS, with 72 overall points. He has company on that list as Gibson, Kasonga and Colley are top ten scorers both per-game and overall. Brown's return landed him 12 points and nine rebounds.
StFX's Justin Andrew sits sixth for points-per game at 17.2, and fourth overall with 86. Andrew finished the game with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists and currently leads the AUS in points-per-minute with 30.4. The X-Men's top scorer, David Muenkat, finished with an impressive 24-point, nine-rebound night, and Avan Nava finished with 21 points and two rebounds. Muenkat and Nava are both top-ten scorers in the AUS.
Both teams dipped into their benches, with 25 points for StFX and 11 for the Huskies. The Huskies shot above 40 percent from the field all night.
The Subway player of the game, Jace Colley, finished with 27 points, four rebounds, three assists and four blocks. He is the top scorer in the league with 101 points.
The Huskies remain undefeated with a 5-0 start to their season, while the X-Men drop to 2-3.
Both teams head back to action on Saturday to complete their home-and-home series in Antigonish, on November 13th. Tip-off is set for 8 pm.
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Courtesy Lauren Phillips, SMU Sports Information