The
X-Men overcame a torid start by the SMU Huskies to take the X
Invitational crown with a 82-71 victory. After Alberto
Rodriguez scored the first bucket of the game with a nifty inside move,
SMU, led by their outstanding backcourt of Mark McLaughlin and Joey
Haywood, scored 13 straight points and X fans at the OC thought they
might be in for along night. X started to execute on the
offensive end and closed the gap to 22-16 at the quarter. X owned
the second quarter (26-13) and took a 42-35 halftime lead. In the
third quarter, SMU fed the ball to Ike Uchegbu in the post and were
able to cut into X lead (X led 55-53 after 3). X came alive in
the 4th led by Charlie Spurr and Alberto Rodriguez and pulled away in
the closing minutes. A big story in the game was X' pressure D
which was effective against the Huskies in the second half.
Tournament
MVP Christian Upshaw led the way for X with 19 points and 7 assists.
All Star Alberto Rodriguez chipped in 14 points (7 of 11
shooting) and 5 rebounds (4 on the offensive end). Charlie Spurr
added 10 points, most of which came at a critical point in the 4th
quarter. Jeremy Dunn had a strong game with 9 points and 9
rebounds. Riiny Ngot's offensive game looks to be turning the
corner - he was 3-3 from the field and had 2 blocks. Joey Haywood
had 19 points for SMU and Mark McLaughlin had 13. X outrebounded
the Huskies by a 34-26 margin. Rodriguez was joined on the
tournament All Star team by Haywood and McLaughlin of SMU and Coton
Wilson (UNB) and Mike Helsby (MUN).
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