WOLFVILLE, N.S. - The StFX X-Men were able to fend off the Axemen and come away with a 4 point win after Sunday's close game.
The X-Men played an aggressive first quarter, putting up 25 points on 9-22 shooting from the field including 3 three-pointers. St. FX led 25-18 after 10 minutes.
The Axemen shot 2-13 from three in the first quarter, an area they would definitely need to improve on if they wanted to compete.
Thomas Legallais (Cornwall, Ont.) led all players at half with 21 points and made four of his seven attempted threes. He also made all 5 of his free-throw attempts. His first half performance was simply outstanding.
At halftime, the Axemen were behind 51-37. They would need a big second half in order to come back.
Acadia continued to struggle from beyond the arch in the second quarter, totaling five threes on 24 attempts.
By the end of the third quarter, the Axemen had pulled within 10 points, putting the score at 79-69 for St. FX. As a team, Acadia had 32 points in the third quarter.
Legallais kept up his strong play in the third quarter, bringing his total to 27. He would finish with a game-high 31 points along with 5 assists, earning him the Subway Player of the Game award.
The Axemen hit back-to-back threes to open the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 4 points and putting the pressure on the X-Men.
With seven minutes remaining in the game and a two-point separation, both teams began to get excessively physical, resulting in the ejection of Acadia's Jack Tilly (Quispamsis, N.B.) and St. FX's Michael Utsalo (Brampton, Ont.).
At the four-minute mark, Acadia's Jacques Lukusa (Ottawa, Ont.) hit the deep three-pointer to give the Axemen their first lead of the game. Lukusa's clutch performance in the fourth quarter had him recognized as Acadia's player of the game.
The X-Men kept their foot on the gas and came back with three consecutive baskets of their own and regained the lead. With a minute left the X-Men were up by two.
Down to 8.4 seconds left, the X-Men had possession and a 1-point lead. Acadia gave up a foul and the X-Men would hit one free-throw and go up by two.
With Acadia's last possession, they drove down the court and tried to set up the open shot, but the ball was turned over and the X-Men would hold on for the win.
The final score favoured St. FX 95-93.
After the game, Acadia's head coach Kevin Duffie applauded his team's resilience but recognized their shortcomings in the first half.
"Slow start by us ultimately cost us the game," Duffie said. "Proud of the way our guys stayed together and fought back in the second half. But teams are too good in this league to spot them double digit first half leads. Back to work tomorrow to continue to get better."
Acadia plays their next two games at home next weekend versus UNB, while StFX visits the UPEI Panthers next weekend for a double-header.
Provided by Theodore Giesen, Acadia Athletics Communications