Axemen lose to No. 5 ranked X-Men

ANTIGONISH, NS – The U SPORTS No. 5 ranked STFX X-Men won their fourth consecutive game with a 116-70 victory over the Acadia Axemen Tuesday night on Coach K Court at the Saputo Centre. The game marked the annual Coach K Challenge, a game played between the X-Men and Axemen in honour of former long-time X-Men head coach and Acadia alumnus Steve Konchalski.    

The X-Men opened up with a 30-19 lead after the first quarter. Team leading scorer Dondre Reddick (Antigonish, NS) scored seven points for X, as did Gatluak James (Windsor, ON), providing a spark off the bench. 

Reddick continued his hot shooting in the second quarter, netting another 11 points to give him 18 in the opening half.  

The X-Men outpaced the Axemen 30-17 in the second frame as they built up a 60-36 halftime lead. 

Bennett Grambach (Toronto, ON) scored 15 points in the first half for STFX, including going 4 for 4 from three-point range.  

Ryan Munro (Timberlea, NS) tallied nine points for the Axemen and Miguel Perez Boskovic (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, ESP) netted eight. 

STFX's three-point shooting was strong in the third quarter as they exploded for 33 points, while holding the Axemen to 14. The home team was up 93-50 after 30 minutes. 

The fourth quarter was a record breaking one for STFX. Bennett Grumbach drained his tenth three-pointer of the game and in doing so broke the STFX record for three-point field goals made in a single game. The previous record of nine was set by Christian 'T-Bear' Upshaw in 2009. 

Grumbach finished with 36 points on the night, garnering Subway player of the game honours in the 116-70 X-Men victory. 

Reddick scored 18 and had four rebounds, while James contributed 14 points and six rebounds. 

Munro had 11 points for Acadia and Gabe Davignon (Whites Lake, NS) added 10. 

Both teams have one game remaining on the AUS regular season schedule. Acadia travels to Fredericton for a game against the UNB Reds on Saturday night. 

The X-Men will host Saint Mary's, also on Saturday night. Tip-off is 8:00 pm at Coach K Court. 

STFX has already locked up first place in the AUS standings, earning them a bye directly to the AUS semifinal game at the AUS championship being played Feb. 24-26 at the Halifax Scotiabank Centre. The X-Men are slated for the 3:00 pm game on Saturday, Feb. 25th.   

Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics