Kelowna, BC – The STFX X-Men played to a 110-80 victory over the Mount Royal Cougars in their first game of the UBCO Heat Fall Classic exhibition tournament on Friday evening.
The five-team tournament features STFX, Mount Royal, Ottawa, Trinity Western and the host UBCO squad in pre-season tournament play over four days at the UBCO Gymnasium in Kelowna.
The X-Men were lead by Bennett Grumbach who scored 26 points off the bench, going 7-10 from three point range and adding in six rebounds.
STFX got out to a 27-18 lead after the first quarter and went on to outscore the Cougars 29-25 in the second quarter to build up a 56-43 halftime lead.
Grumbach had 18 points in the first half, all coming from the three-point line, while Deon Ejim contributed 13 points.
The X-Men held onto their lead through three quarters, 81-64. They went on to outpace the Cougars 29-16 in the final frame on route to the win.
Five more X-Men finished in the double scoring digits including Kye Kotapski-Tinga with 17 points and Ejim with 14. Antoine Vernon scored 13 points and had 7 rebounds, Dondre Reddick netted 12 points and Matt Pennell added 10.
Holt Tomie and Keivonte Watts each scored 17 points to lead the Cougars.
The X-Men will be back in action on Saturday when they face the Ottawa Gee Gees at 4:00 pm PDT.
-30-
Recap courtesy STFX Athletics