X-Men win UNB Invitational tourney

The X-Men basketball team began pre-season exhibition play on a winning note, taking home tournament honors at the UNB Eric Garland Invitational this past weekend in Fredericton. The X-Men defeated Lakehead University 107-89 in the championship game and also had wins over UNB and Cape Breton earlier in the weekend.

Dwayne Johnson, returning to the X-Men line-up after a missing last season due to injury, was named the tournament MVP and played a strong weekend for the X-Men. Teammate Christian ‘T-bear’ Upshaw was named to the tournament all-star team.

In their championship game victory over Lakehead, Upshaw scored a game-high 34 points for the X-Men and was named Player of the Game. Johnson scored 28 points and had 8 rebounds for the blue and white, who held a 56-48 lead at half-time. Jordan Clarke added 11 points for StFX.

Despite being outscored 22-15 in the third quarter, the X-Men were able to come back with a strong final quarter and outplayed the Thunderwolves by a 36-19 margin en route to the 107-89 win.

Venzal Russell was the leading scorer and Player of the Game for Lakehead with 22 points, while Yoosrie Salhia and Greg Cater each contributed 15 points a piece.

In earlier tournament action, the X-Men defeated the UNB Varsity Reds by a convincing 92-68 score on Saturday evening. Four X-Men were in double scoring figures, including Player of the Game Alberto Rodriguez who led StFX with 15 points in the game. Charlie Spurr and Will Silver each contributed 12 points and Upshaw scored 10. All 12 X-Men on the roster saw action in the game.

StFX held a 27-21 lead after the first quarter of play and built that up to 45-37 at half-time. They continued their strong play in the second half, outscoring the Varsity Reds 47-31 over the final 30 minutes of play. The Varsity Reds spread out their scoring in the game as Daniel Quirion scored 13 points, Alex DesRoches had 12 and Jason Rouse contributed 11 points.

The X-Men’s opening tournament game on Friday proved to be much closer as they met the Cape Breton for the first time since falling to the Capers in last year’s AUS final. This time the X-Men came out on top of a 75-72 win.

Johnson was the Player of the Game for StFX, posting a 21 point effort in the win. Rodriguez had a double-double night for the X-Men scoring 11 points and adding 10 rebounds. Upshaw had 10 points and 6 rebounds, while Chad Warren contributed 10 points and Silver had nine.

StFX established a quick 29-12 lead after the first quarter of play then held a 48-33 half-time edge. The Capers closed the 15 point gap in the third quarter and outscored the X-Men 39-27 in the second half but came short of gaining the lead as the X-Men were able to hang on for the 75-72 win over their AUS rivals.

Scott Jaspers-Fayer led the Capers with 16 points and 7 rebounds while Al Alilovic scored 14 and Paris Carter added 12.  

The X-Men were the only team to go 3-0 in the tournament. Lakehead placed second with a 2-1 record, followed by the host Varsity Reds (1-2) and the Capers (0-3). Next on the exhibition schedule for the X-Men is the Jack Donahue Invitational tournament in Ottawa Oct. 22-24th where they will face out-of-conference opponents UQAM, Ottawa and Toronto, followed by an exhibition game in Halifax on Oct. 28th against Guelph University.