StFX hands Axemen 91-86 loss in quarterfinals

(HALIFAX, N.S.) Friday's first men's quarterfinal matchup of the Subway AUS Men's Basketball Championship showcased the fifth-seeded StFX X-Men topping the fourth seeded Acadia Axemen 91-86 in an action packed back-and-forth game.  

StFX's Kevin Bercy (Kanata, Ont.) led the X-Men with 20 points, adding 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals to earn Subway Player of the Game honours.  

StFX began the first quarter strong, getting off to an early 5-0 lead. The Axemen battled back to stay in it, with the X-Men holding a 23-20 lead after the first 10 minutes.   

The second quarter saw back-and-forth action from both sides of the court, with things tied at 44-44 with under a minute remaining in the first half. With just seven seconds on the clock, a jump shot from Acadia's Trevone Grant (Nassau, Bahamas) put the Axemen ahead 46-44 at halftime.  

The back-and-forth action continued in the third quarter, to finish with the teams' tied at 68 apiece. Bercy led the X-Men throughout the third, scoring nine points and adding four rebounds. 

The X-Men began to pull away in the fourth, holding an 83-75 edge with just five minutes remaining on the clock. The Axemen continued to hold on, but a huge three pointer from StFX guard Justin Andrew (Hamilton, Ont.) with the clock ticking down allowed the X-Men to control their lead, and not look back.  

X-Men point guard Davonte Provo finished with 17 points on the night, adding eight rebounds and four assists to be named the Wilson's Security Defensive Player of the Game. Julius Antoine (Vaughan, Ont.) finished with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, with teammate Cameron Walker (Dallas, Texas) adding 17 points on the night, including 13 in the first half alone for the X-Men.  

Erik Nissen, who earned the AUS Defensive Player of the Year Award, led the Axemen with a game-high 25 points, adding nine rebounds and three assists in the loss, while Ben Miller added 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Acadia.  

The StFX X-Men advance to play the Dalhousie Tigers in Saturday evening's first semifinal matchup at 6:30 p.m. at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. 

Contributed by AUS Communications