(ANTIGONISH, NS) The STFX X-Men completed a weekend sweep of the UNB REDS with an 82-69 victory on Sunday afternoon.
The X-Men defense came ready to play, holding the REDS to only eight points in the first quarter.
X held a 15-6 lead midway through the opening frame thanks to back-to-back three pointers from Bennett Grumbach (Toronto, ON) and Avan Nava (Mississauga, ON). The home squad closed out the quarter with a 23-8 lead.
The X-Men kept up their strong defensive efforts and the REDS were held off the scoreboard for the opening two minutes of the second quarter as the hosts extended their lead to 28-11.
UNB closed the gap and trailed by 10 points, 35-25, with two minutes left in the half.
The 10-point lead held up at halftime as STFX was up 37-27. Dondre Reddick (Antigonish, NS) led the X-Men with 11 points in the opening half, including a pair from three-point range.
Brandon Laryea (Crawley, UK) and Norm Burry (Grafton, NB) each scored seven for UNB.
The REDS slowly chipped away at the X lead in the third quarter, closing the gap to three points, 52-49 with three minutes to play on the strength of a Burry three-pointer.
Nava and Reddick replied with threes for the X-Men, and they held onto a 62-52 lead after three quarters as each squad scored 25 points in the frame.
In a physical fourth quarter, the REDS were unable to gain ground on the X-Men who held onto their advantage for the remainder of the game, on route to the win.
Subway Player of the Game Reddick scored a game-high 26 points for X. Nava scored 19.
Burry led UNB, netting a team-high 25 points. Tyrell Leotaud (Ajax, ON) and Ibrahima Doumbouya (Calgary, AB) each had double-double afternoons for the REDS. Leotaud scored 11 and had 10 rebounds, while Doumbouya netted 11 and pulled down 12 boards.
With the win, the X-Men improve to 7-6 and now sit in a four-way tie for second place in the Atlantic University Sport standings with 18 points, along with UPEI, Memorial and Cape Breton.
UNB drops to 5-7 and are in sixth place. They next see action on Friday, when they host Cape Breton. Game time is 8:00pm. The X-Men travel to Charlottetown on Sunday, to take on UPEI.
RECAP BY: Krista McKenna/STFX Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Trish Balcom/for STFX Athletics