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X falls to Carleton in CIS semi-final

A furious second half comeback fell just short and the X-Men fell to the Carleton Ravens by a score of 67-65.  This was a Jeykll and Hyde game for X.  For about the first 25 minutes of the game X really couldn't get anything going on offense and Carleton was shooting the lights out.  At the half, the Ravens led 46-30. For the half, Carleton shot in the high 50s while X shot around 30%. 

The second half did not start any better for X and Carleton build leads of up to 20 points and the large Metro Centre crowd was getting restless. With about 15 minutes to go, something clicked for the X-Men, and they started to exploit the offensive skills of Neil MacDonald, consistently getting the ball to him in a spot he likes.  As well, X started to get some key defensive stops.  The result was a 27-10 run to produce a score of 64-61 with under 3 to play.  MacDonald cut the deficit to 1 point by making 2 free throws with 10 seconds to play.  X subsequently fouled Mike Smart who sank one of two with 7.9 seconds to play making the score 67-65.  On X' last possession Rookie Tyler Richards found a seam and drove the lane and barely missed the tying lay up.  MacDonald had a shot at a tap in, but could not convert and the game was over. 

The X-Men rode the back of player of the game Neil MacDonald.  MacDonald had a tournament high 29 points and 6 rebounds.   Garry Gallimore had 11 points and 9 rebounds.  Manny Jean-Marie led Carleton with 16 points. 

In this paragraph, I was planning to write a bit about how truly horrible the officiating was in this game, but decided against it.

The crowd of 6900 at the Metro Centre was treated to some of the most exciting CIS basketball seen in these parts in a very long time.  The level of play in this game was in stark contrast to the other semi-final between Concordia and Brock.  With both X and Carleton returning the majority of their lineup, look to see these teams playing in the CIS tournament again over the next couple of years. 

Thanks to Coach Konchalski and the X-Men for another great season.   The team finished with a record of 28-8, won two tournaments, beat a Division 1 NCAA team (Harvard) and won their 5th AUS title in 6 years, in addition to reaching the CIS semi-final.

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Carleton
Players Min FG 3P FG FT Reb Ast PF TO Stl Blk Pts M/A % M/A % M/A % O D Tot Ryan Bell 10 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 Aaron Doornekamp 34 5/10 50.0 0/1 0.0 5/6 83.3 2 5 7 2 4 1 1 0 15 Jean-emmanuel Jean-marie 29 7/12 58.3 0/0 0 2/3 66.7 2 3 5 1 2 3 0 0 16 Osvaldo Jeanty 27 1/9 11.1 1/2 50.0 0/2 0.0 0 2 2 1 5 2 0 0 3 Matt Ross 36 2/3 66.7 0/1 0.0 6/6 100.0 1 5 6 1 1 1 0 0 10 Michael Smart 40 2/13 15.4 1/4 25.0 9/10 90.0 1 2 3 6 3 0 1 0 14 Sheldon Stewart 11 3/4 75.0 0/0 0 0/0 0 1 1 2 0 3 0 0 0 6 Stuart Turnbull 13 1/1 100.0 1/1 100.0 0/0 0 0 4 4 1 2 1 1 0 3 Totals 200 21/52 40.4 3/9 33.3 22/27 81.5 9 22 31 13 21 8 3 0 67
StFX
Players Min FG 3P FG FT Reb Ast PF TO Stl Blk Pts M/A % M/A % M/A % O D Tot Alexander Stephen 9 0/2 0.0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 Zach Russell 40 2/9 22.2 0/4 0.0 3/3 100.0 0 4 4 2 4 3 0 0 7 Neil Macdonald 32 9/13 69.2 0/0 0 11/15 73.3 1 5 6 1 3 2 0 0 29 Jonathan Bell 29 1/5 20.0 0/2 0.0 3/3 100.0 1 0 1 2 3 1 1 0 5 Michael Baxter 17 2/4 50.0 1/3 33.3 0/0 0 1 2 3 3 4 1 0 0 5 Tyler Richards 28 3/7 42.9 2/3 66.7 0/0 0 0 2 2 2 3 0 0 0 8 Edwin Reynolds 7 0/3 0.0 0/0 0 0/0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 Garry Gallimore 38 4/8 50.0 2/4 50.0 1/2 50.0 1 8 9 2 3 3 2 0 11 Totals 200 21/51 41.2 5/16 31.2 18/23 78.3 5 21 26 13 24 10 3 0 65