Sea-Hawks and X-Men split weekend games

Antigonish, NS - The Memorial Sea-Hawks (3-1) earned a split on their weekend road trip to Oland Centre with a 93-79 victory over the StFX X-Men (2-2) Sunday afternoon in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) basketball action.

The visitors jumped to an 11-2 edge, in the first quarter, which was keyed by eight points from Davion Parnsalu (Ajax, ON), including two three-pointers.

Led by five consecutive points from shooting guard Julius Antoine (Woodbridge, ON), including an old-fashioned three-point play, the X-Men sliced the Sea-Hawk lead to 15-13.

After a low-scoring first quarter, Memorial led 18-15.

Sparked by two three-point shots from Daniel Gordon (Scarborough, ON), the Sea-Hawks started the second quarter on a 12-2 burst to take a 30-17 advantage.

Midway through the quarter, StFX trailed 40-22.

Akil Charles (Glenn Dale, MD), ignited a 7-0 X-Men response, with a hoop-and-harm three-point play, to make it 40-29.

Off the bench, StFX player of the game Daniel Passley (Mississauga, ON) gave his team a huge lift, including four offensive rebounds. The sophomore finished with six points, 10 rebounds and one assist.

The Sea-Hawks led 48-34 heading into the locker room.

Early in the third quarter, led by senior forward Kevin Bercy (Kanata, ON), the home side battled back, but the Sea-Hawks held their ground. After a steal and lay-up from Parnsalu, who finished with a game-high 26 points, the visitors led 57-41. He also contributed seven rebounds, six assists and three steals to the winning effort.

Later in the quarter, Austin Chambers (Ajax, ON) came off the bench, with seven straight points, to help Memorial take a 76-53 lead to the fourth quarter. He finished with 20 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Early in the final period, the X-Men cut the deficit to 78-61, with first-year player Gavin Pearce (Scarborough, ON) providing a defensive lift and hard work on the offensive glass.

By the midway point of the fourth quarter, after a 5-0 run sparked by Parnsalu, Memorial was ahead 83-61.

Led by their pressure defense, the X-Men made one more comeback push, but they could not shrink the Sea-Hawk lead below double digits, before running out of time.

Bercy finished with 19 points, six rebounds, two steals, one assist and one blocked shot, while Antoine added 13 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists. Charles also scored in double figures, with 12 points, along with two rebounds and two assists.

Cameron Walker (Dallas, TX), a senior X-Men forward, collected a game-high 11 rebounds, while completing a double-double with 12 points.

Playing in his home province, Greg Manuel (Mineville, NS) earned Subway player of the game honours. He scored 16 points and chipped in six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot. 

Gordon, who was deadly from beyond the arc, contributed 17 points and five assists to the Memorial attack.

The X-Men will be back on the court Thursday, Nov. 17, when they face the Dalhousie Tigers in Halifax. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

The Sea-Hawks will host the Cape Breton University Capers Saturday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m. NST in Saint John's.

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