V-Reds save best for last

The St. Francis Xavier X-Men have served notice: they're back.

In truth, the men's basketball powerhouse from Antigonish, N.S. never really left. True, they're five years removed from their last Atlantic University Sport Men's Basketball Conference championship -- the banner has toured Nova Scotia in the four years since the X-Men rhymed off three in a row from 2004-06, with Acadia, Saint Mary's, Dal and Cape Breton winning the banner since.

But the X-Men look like a team determined to be part of the conversation when the CIS Final 8 basketball championship returns to Halifax next March. They went 3-0 and looked comfortable doing it at the Eric Garland men's basketball tournament on the weekend.

After a 75-72 victory over reigning AUS champion Cape Breton Capers to kick things off Friday, the X-Men cruised to a couple of easy wins, defeating host UNB Varsity Reds 92-68 Saturday night and following up with a 107-89 win over Lakehead Thunderwolves of Thunder Bay, Ont. Sunday morning to run the table at the four-team tourney.

The host V-Reds figured to be in tough against three top teams in the country and they were: they went 1-2 in three games, following their Friday night loss to Lakehead with a game attempt at the X-Men on Saturday. But they saved the best for last: an 80-73 victory over the reigning Atlantic University Sport Men's Basketball Conference champion University of Cape Breton Capers to cap off the tourney Sunday afternoon. Capers went 0-3, also losing to Lakehead 98-86. The Ontario school finished 2-1

V-Reds never trailed in the Sunday matinee, sprinting out to a 30-17 lead after one quarter and going up 52-35, a 17-point bulge at the halftime break.

Alex DesRoches (Dieppe, NB) was a beast for UNB, with 17 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists to nail down tournament all-star status. Australian rookie William McFee (Northbridge, Australia) had 19 points in 17 minutes of floor time. Point guard Andrew Wright (Fredericton, NB) had 13 points and dished five assists. Paris Carter led the Capers with 18 points. Tremaine Fraser added 14.

Preseason or not, it's a big win for the rebuilding V-Reds over the Capers.

The X-Men, bigger, stronger and more experienced than the V-Reds, didn't have much trouble, opening up a 27-21 first quarter lead. But the V-Reds, like a fly in a hot room, kept buzzing and would not go away. X-Men stretched it to 46-37 at the break and built from there. Four players wound up in double figures, led by six-foot-nine inch, 210 pound veteran Alberto Rodriguez, who had 15. Charlie Spurr and William Silver each had a dozen points and Christian Upshaw added 10.

V-Reds had four in double figures on the day too, with sophomore Daniel Quirion (Moncton, NB) connecting for 13 points, DesRoches adding a dozen, Jason Rouse (Fredericton, NB) 11 points and Dustin Anthony (North Bay, ON) 10. DesRoches added eight boards as well. X shot 47 per cent from the field for the game, while UNB shot 31.5 per cent. Outsized in the paint, UNB's outside shooting suffered -- they banked just two of 15 three-pointers on the night. Point guard Andy Wright was 0-for-7 from beyond and canned just one of 12 field goals.

X was pushed by the Thunderwolves until the final quarter, leading by just two at the 10-minute break and up by eight, 56-48 at the break. The T-Wolves put on a third quarter push, outscoring the X-Men 22-15 to get back to within a single point, trailing 71-70, but the X-Men yanked it away in the final quarter, outscoring the T-Wolves 36-19 in the 10 minute track meet that was to follow. Lakehead's Scott Morrison was gone by then, ejected from the match with 2:59 left in the third quarter

Upshaw struck for 34 points when all was said and done and Duane Johnson added 28 and pulled down eight boards. Venzal Russell led the T-Wolves with 22 points. Yoosrie Salhia and Greg Carter each had 15.

Dwayne Johnson of X was named tournament MVP with Desroches, Paris Carter of Cape Breton, Upshaw of X and Lakehead teammates Russell and Salhia named to the all-star team.