(ANTIGONISH, NS) The St FX X-Men outlasted the UNB REDS Saturday night, 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.
"I feel like our defense helped us turn the game around in the second half," said Nava. "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 offence 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, thanks to the strong offensive play of Nava. His three-pointer mid-way through the quarter gave X a 26-25 advantage.
UNB's Tyrell Leotaud (Ajax, ON) quickly re-established the REDS lead 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 UNB and Leotaud 10.
The third quarter saw end-to-end action as the X-Men tied it at 48 mid-way through, then went ahead 51-48.
X 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. 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.
Leotaud finished with 23 points to lead the REDS, now 5-6, while Spurrell scored 21 and Burry added 14. Ibrahima Doumbouya (Calgary, AB) was the top rebounder with eight on the night.
The two teams will be back in action on STFX's Coach K Court on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is 4:00pm.
RECAP BY: Krista McKenna/STFX Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Trish Balcom/for STFX Athletics