X-Men shut down Sea-Hawks in exhibition game

Antigonish, NS – After trailing by 10 points at halftime, the X-Men turned the game around to defeat the Memorial Sea-Hawks 98-71 Thursday night in pre-season exhibition action on Coach K Court.

STFX was led offensively by David Muenkat who scored 21 points and Avan Nava who netted 20, including five from three-point range.

The first quarter got off to a slow start in the opening two minutes as both squads settled in. Nicolas Tuff hit a three-pointer three minutes in to give Memorial an early 5-2 lead, but the X-Men stormed back with consecutive baskets.

Midway through the opening quarter the Sea-Hawks extended their lead to 15-8. After an X-Men timeout the home squad regrouped and pulled to within four points 18-14 with a minute to play.

The Sea-Hawks held a 22-16 lead after the first quarter.

Flynn Boardman-Raffet sunk a three pointer a couple minutes into the second quarter to give Memorial a 27-20 lead. Justin Andrew replied with a three-point dish for the X-Men, but Sea-Hawks kept up their offensive attack and were up by eight points midway through the second frame, 38-30.

They widened the lead to 48-38 at halftime.

Tuff scored 17 points in the opening half for the Sea-Hawks and Boardman-Raffet had 14.

Andrew and Avan Nava each netted nine points apiece for the X-Men first half.

The X-Men came out a changed squad in the second half.

An early spark was provided by Jamie White as he hit a three-pointer on their first possession.

David Muenkat made some key baskets for the X-Men and Avan Nava was hot from beyond the three-point arc as they overtook the Sea-Hawks and opened up a 56-52 lead midway through the third quarter.

Muenkat continued his strong play, helped along by Antoine Vernon and White as STFX turned the game around and went up 73-55 at the end of the quarter, outscoring Memorial by a lopsided 35-7 in the third frame.

White continued his strong play in the fourth quarter and the X-Men had contributions from all fronts as they maintained a comfortable lead.

The home squad was up 84-67 midway through the quarter and did not let the Sea-Hawks back in the game as they played to the 98-71 victory.

Muenkat had a big double-double game for the X-Men with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Nava scored 20, White had 14 and Andrew contributed 13.

Handy Disanka pulled in 11 rebounds for X.

Leading the Sea-Hawks was Tuff with 25 points on the night, along with seven rebounds.

Boardman-Raffet scored 14 and Jason Thompson added 11.  

The Sea-Hawks will be back in action Friday night when they head back to Halifax to tip-off against the Saint Mary's Huskies and complete their three-game Nova Scotia pre-season tour.

The X-Men will travel to Wolfville on Saturday for an 8:00 pm exhibition game against Acadia.

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Courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Sports Information