Halifax, NS – The AUS first place and U SPORTS No. 5 ranked STFX X-Men defeated the fourth place Cape Breton Capers 94-68 Saturday afternoon in the first AUS semi-final game at Scotiabank Centre, punching their ticket to the championship game tomorrow afternoon.
The X-Men were led by Subway player of the game and AUS second team all-star Dondre Reddick (Antigonish, NS) who scored 25 points and added seven rebounds. Reddick noted, "I think it was a statement win, we played great defensively and that's our culture, defense, once we play defense like that then the points are going to start to come."
The points did come and baskets were falling early for both Reddick and AUS defensive player of the year and first team all-star David Muenkat. Avan Nava (Mississauga, ON) dropped a couple three-pointers as the X-Men were up 13-5 midway through the quarter.
X-Men head coach and AUS coach of the year Tyrell Vernon stated, "we did a great job with our energy, it was our first game and I knew our nerves were going to get the best of us for the first five minutes. I just didn't know there was going to be that many fouls in the first five minutes, but we weathered the storm in the first half and stayed out of foul trouble in the second half. We did a good job settling in as the game went on."
Several fouls were called on both sides that disrupted the flow of the game and the Capers struggled to find the net from the perimeter.
The X-Men held a 13-point lead, 30-17, after the first quarter. Muenkat and Nava each scored eight points apiece, while AUS first team all-star Osman Omar (Mississauga, ON) netted seven for the Capers.
STFX doubled their lead and were up 41-19 four minutes into the second quarter. The first place X-Men were strong on both sides of the ball, playing stingy defense to keep the Capers at bay.
Cape Breton mounted a late surge but STFX built up a 60-37 lead at halftime.
Reddick scored 15 points for the X-Men in the opening half, while Muenkat had 13 and Nava 11. Omar lead the Capers with 13 points and Paul Watson (Mississauga, ON) added seven.
The third quarter was evenly scored with STFX having a slight 21-20 edge as the blue and white maintained their 20+ lead. Reddick scored eight in the quarter to add to his point tally as his X-Men were up 81-57 after 30 minutes of play.
The X-Men called upon their bench to ride out the fourth quarter as they outscored the Capers 13-11 on route to the 94-68 win.
Muenkat finished with a double-double game for STFX, scoring 21 and hauling in 14 rebounds. Nava scored 11, as did Bennett Grumbach (Toronto, ON) off the bench.
Omar was the Capers leading scorer with 20 points and six rebounds, while Tyson Cato (Ajax, ON) scored 10 and had five boards.
The X-Men will now await the winner of the other semi-final game between the second place UPEI Panthers and third place Dalhousie Tigers.
When asked which opponent they preferred, Reddick commented, "Everyone wants to win and the hardest workers are going to come out on top."
Likewise Coach Vernon acknowledged that "both will be tough games for us."
"We just have to prepare, we'll get the guys back to the hotel and get them some rest. Tonight the staff will scout the other semi-final and we'll put a game plan together."
The AUS championship game is slated for Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm at Halifax Scotiabank Centre.
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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics
Dondre Reddick was named Subway Player of the Game with 25 points & 7 rebounds, shooting 11/14 in today's @AUS_SUA semifinal victory! The X-Men earned a 94-68 win over Cape Breton and will now move on to the championship game tomorrow! #goxgo #SubwayFuel pic.twitter.com/5PzPmm8BxH
— StFX Athletics (@StFXAthletics) February 25, 2023