Antigonish, NS – The STFX X-Men outlasted the UNB Reds Saturday night at the Saputo Centre, playing to a 94-81 victory.
The X-Men were led by Subway Player of the Game Avan Nava (Mississauga, ON) who scored 23 points as the X squad leveraged a 71-39 second half scoring advantage in the win.
Nava noted that, "I feel like our defense helped us turn the game around in the second half. Coach Vernon really harps on our defense and first half we didn't do a good job, they scored 42 points. We want to keep teams under 70 in the game, which we didn't do today, but I feel like the second half we did better defensively, then the offense followed."
The teams opened the first quarter with back and forth action, keeping the score close. UNB's Norm Burry (Grafton, NB) and STFX's Justin Andrew (Hamilton, ON) exchanged three-pointers to start things off then the teams settled in.
The visiting Reds held a 21-17 lead after the first quarter.
The X-Men stormed back in the second quarter, thanks to the strong offensive play of second year guard Nava. His three-pointer midway through the quarter gave X a 26-25 advantage.
Reds forward Tyrell Leotaud (Ajax, ON) quickly re-established the Reds lead however, with a three-pointer of his own.
The Reds increased their lead to hold a 42-33 advantage over the X-Men at halftime.
Burry had 12 points in the first half for the Reds and Leotaud 10.
Nava netted 13 points for the X-Men, including a trio from three-point range, while David Muenkat (Brampton, ON) scored nine in the opening half.
The third quarter saw end-to-end action as the X-Men tied it up at 48 midway through. A Muenkat slam dunk off a nice feed from Antoine Vernon (Hamilton, ON) got the hometown crowd into the game as the X-Men took a 51-48 lead.
They built up a nine point advantage late in the quarter as they went on a run that included yet another Nava three-pointer and a jumper from veteran forward Jamie White (Saint John, NB).
STFX outscored UNB 32-13 in the quarter to gain a 65-55 advantage after three and never looked back.
The X-Men maintained their lead throughout the fourth quarter. Bennett Grumbach (Toronto, ON) provided a spark off the X bench with a pair of three-pointers. Leotaud and Chris Spurrell (Quispamsis, NB) paced the Reds offensive attack but they were unable to close the gap with the X-Men.
STFX closed out the 94-81 win, their first of 2022 as they improve to 6-6 on the season.
The X-Men had three other players in the double scoring digits including Justin Andrew (Hamilton, ON) and Dondre Reddick (Antigonish, NS) each with 18, and Muenkat with 14. Reddick was the top X rebounder with 13 as he pulled off a double-double night.
Leotaud finished with 23 points to lead the Reds, earning him his team's player of the game nod. Spurrell scored 21 and Burry added 14. Ibrahima Doumbouya (Calgary, AB) was the top rebounder with eight on the night.
UNB guard Thomas LeGallais (Cornwall, ON) was a familiar face in the Saputo Centre crowd, having previously played with the X-Men for two seasons. In his fifth year of eligibility, LeGallais is pursuing his Master of Education degree at UNB.
The same two teams will be back in action on STFX's Coach K Court on Sunday afternoon.
When asked whether the X-Men plan to carry the momentum of the evening win into the following day, Nava commented, "we were on a two-game losing streak and we really would like this win to turn it around to a two-game winning streak."
Tip-off is 4:00 pm Sunday at Coach K Court.
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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Sports Information
Congrats to Avan Nava, Subway Player of the Game with 23 pts in the X-Men's 94-81 win over UNB tonight! #goxgo #subwayfuel pic.twitter.com/XBkYigT4es
— StFX Athletics (@StFXAthletics) February 27, 2022