X-Men tough out win over Acadia

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X showed some grit and won a dog fight with the Acadia Axemen at the Oland Centre 77-75 on Saturday.  The Axemen, coming off a huge upset win at CBU on Friday appear to be much improved over last year's edition.  They have arguably the most explosive player in the league in guard Paulo Santana and an upgraded supporting cast.  The Axemen will only get better in the second half of the season when transfer Shawn Berry (no relation to the coach), a noted scorer, becomes eligible to play.

This game was characterized by defensive intensity from both teams.  Acadia got off to a fast start and quickly ran up a 7-0 lead.  The X-Men battled back to draw even, but neither team was able to get more than a couple of point advantage.  X got hot in the latter stages of the half behind the outside game of Christian Upshaw and the post game of Neil Macdonald (12 points apiece at the half) and took a 34-24 lead to the locker room.

The second half started poorly for the X-Men who did not match the Axemen's intensity.  Acadia ripped off a 15-2 run to take a 39-36 lead.  As in the first half the teams stayed close through most of the half.  The turning point of the game came from first year X-Man Remy Simpson who stepped into a passing lane in the defensive end, intercepted the pass and scored bringing the crowd to its feet and giving the X-Men the lead.  From there, X was able to build a 6 point lead.  In the last couple of minutes Acadia coach Les Berry employed a 'hack an X-Man' strategy in an attempt to cut into the lead.  Although it was painful to watch (the last 90 seconds took almost 30 minutes to play) it almost worked as Acadia was able to pull within 1 point. X made enough free throws to win 77-75, and sealed the deal with an offensive rebound on a missed free throw with 4 seconds to play. 

Neil Macdonald, Garry Gallimore and Christian Upshaw led the way for X.  Macdonald had what was perhaps his most complete performance ever at the Oland centre with  21 points and 17 rebounds (6 offensive).  Although Macdonald was not credited with any blocks, he altered a number of Acadia attempts.  Garry Gallimore (20 points, 5 assists) played some exceptional D on Paulo Santana, helping to limit him to 14 points.  Christian Upshaw had one of his best outside shooting game of his young career going 7/11 (3/6 3 pointers) for 18 points and contributed 5 assists.  Tyler Richards (11 points 2/13 shooting) had an off day offensively, but chipped in with some clutch free throws down the stretch and had a game high 4 steals.  Remy Simpson was a key part of the X victory with 7 points and 3 steals.  Acadia was led by Luckern Dieu with 20 points and by the exceptional 3 point shooting of swingman Peter Leighton (18 points, 6/8 3 pointers).

For the game the X-Men shot 41% vs. 43% for Acadia.  Acadia out-rebounded the X-Men by a 36-26 margin.  X heads into the Christmas break with a 4-1 league record.  The team plays next at the Rod Shoveller tournament on Dec 29-31.  This contest was webcast (as was Friday's Dal game).  If you missed the live broadcast, the game will be available for viewing on the web within the next couple of days. 

 

SCORING SUMMARY   1 2 F StFX 34 43 77 Acadia 24 51 75