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For the second year in a row the X-Men have reached the CIS 'Final Four' . The Blue and White defeated a tenacious Alberta Golden Bears squad by a score of 80-73.  The game was played in front an enthusiastic pro-X crowd.  This was a hard fought contest that had the X-Men behind for a good portion of the game. 

In the first half, the X-Men jumped out to an early 4-point lead which they were unable to sustain.  The teams traded leads for most of the half and Alberta led by 3 at the half. In the second half, Alberta extended its lead to six before X started to chip away.  X took their first lead of the half at the 15 minute mark on a Gallimore 3 pointer.  From this point, the X-men took control of the contest and maintained leads of between 4 and 9 points. 

Those close to the X program know that Zach Russell has a reputation for toughness.  Russell, who led X scorers with 17 points in this game, demonstrated this in the second half when he went down with an apparently game ending shoulder injury.  However, after some medical attention in the locker room, Russell returned and immediately drained a 3 pointer.  For the game, Russell hit on four 3 pointers on 5 attempts.   Garry Gallimore, the newly-minted CIS defensive player of the year, contributed a 15 point, 11 rebound double as well as 4 assists and 4 steals.  Tyler Richards, a rookie according to the program, but not on the court, played with tremendous poise on the big stage of the CIS tourney and contributed 16 points 3 assists and 4 steals.  Jon Bell had 12 points 4 assists and 4 steals. 

X will play tomorrow at 9PM against the defending champion Carleton Ravens who are up big on the Ottawa Gee Gees at the time of this writing.