X-Men hold on to an 86-81 win over host Axemen

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – ­The visiting StFX X-Men (9-6) slipped past the host Axemen 86-81 at Acadia's (1-14) Stu Aberdeen Court in the last regular-season home game of the 2021-22 season.

Subway Player of the Game David Muenkat posted a team-high 22 points and dominated the boards with 13 rebounds in the X-Men win.

The opening quarter showcased a close contest with the score-see-sawing back and fourth until X-Man Jamie White's layup gave StFX a 15-13 lead and an eventual 29-19 first-quarter lead.

A Rowan Power's three-point bucket narrowed the X-Men lead to 38-37, but StFX would not relinquish the cushion and held on to the lead until the 43-39 halftime score. StFX's largest lead of 12 points came at 9:36 of the second quarter.

Justin Andrew lead the X-Men at the half with 13 points, while Muenkat only recorded two points. Acadia's Eli Kraushar posted 18 points at the half.

Muenkat went to work in the second half, netting 20 points over two quarters.

Acadia narrowed the lead to 60-57 after three quarters on the back of Rowan Power's six points and Jack Tilley's five.

But the X-Men would continue to hold the lead throughout the final frame. Muenkat's 12 points and six rebounds assured that StFX would hold out for the win.

StFX's Justin Andrew and Dondre Reddick each added 14 points to the win, while Reddick added 9 rebounds.

Eli Kraushar led the Axemen with 25 points and five rebounds. Acadia's Player of the Game, Rowan Power, added 21 points and six rebounds. Graduating Axemen Alex Muise and Jack Tilley recorded 13 and 8 points respectively.

While most team statistics were relatively close, turnovers made the difference in the Axemen loss. Acadia had 18 turnovers, compared to the X-Men's eight.  The X-Men had 22 points off turnovers and dominated the paint with 48 points.

The Axemen travel to Antigonish this Saturday to match up against the X-Men again in the last regular-season game of the 2021-2022 season - game time 8:00 pm.