X-Men capture DAL Shoveller tournament title

Led by a 24 point, 13 rebound effort by tournament MVP Terry Thomas, and a 22 point performance by Will Donkoh, the CIS ranked No. 2 StFX X-Men defeated the Concordia Stingers 94-78 Saturday afternoon in Halifax to win the 21st annual Subway Dalhousie Rod Shoveller tournament.

The win marked the X-Men’s second consecutive Shoveller tournament title and sixth in the past 11 years. They have won the holiday exhibition a total of eight times. With a 3-0 tournament record, the X-Men extend their unbeaten streak to 16-0 on the 2011-12 season. They own an 11-0 exhibition record and are 6-0 in AUS regular season play as they sit atop the AUS conference.

Veteran X-Men head coach Steve Konchalski racked up career wins #796, 797 and 798 over the weekend as he quickly approaches the 800 win milestone, a mark he could hit next weekend at home as the X-Men host UNB for a pair of AUS games on January 6th and 7th.

In the championship game at the annual Shoveller tournament, StFX built up a 51-35 lead at half-time and never looked back, as they held the lead for the remainder of the game over the CIS No. 10 Stingers. The X-Men shot 54.0% from field goal range and were 70.0% from the free throw line.

Tournament MVP Terry Thomas led the blue and white attack scoring 24 points and posting 13 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Will Donkoh played a strong weekend for the X-Men and earned a spot on the tournament all-star team. Named Player of the Game in the final match, he scored 22 points and added four steals.

Shane Coupland stepped up his game and contributed 19 points and 4 rebounds, while Bol Kong had 9 points and 7 rebounds. Tyrell Vernon dished 12 assists and had three steals.

Kyle Demarais led the Stingers with 21 points while Evens Laroche scored 15 points and had 13 rebounds. Player of the Game Frank Viola contributed 11 points in the losing effort.

The Stingers had advanced to the final by virtue of a 79-75 semi-final win over the host Dalhousie Tigers. The X-Men defeated UPEI 78-69 to earn a berth in the final, and had a come-from-behind 74-71 overtime victory over Ottawa in the quarterfinals.

Dalhousie won the bronze medal with a 74-66 decision over UPEI.

In addition to StFX’s Donkoh, also named to the tournament all-star team were Warren Ward (Ottawa), Kyle Desmarais (Concordia), Manok Lual (UPEI)and Ritchie Kanza Mata (Dalhousie).

Complete tournament results are as below.

Thursday, December 29
UPEI 78 vs. ACA 64
StFX 74 vs. Ottawa 71 (OT)
DAL 114 vs. RMC 50
Concordia 90 vs. SMU 87

Friday, December 30
Ottawa 76 vs. ACA 73
SMU 96 vs. RMC 45
StFX 78 vs. UPEI 69
Concordia 79 vs. DAL 75

Saturday, December 31
ACA 115 vs. RMC 27
Ottawa 92 vs. SMU 80
StFX 94 vs. Concordia 74 (Championship game)
DAL 74 vs. UPEI 66 (Bronze medal game)