X-Men lose overtime heartbreaker in AUS final

Halifax, NS – The 7100 fans in attendance at Scotiabank Centre got their money's worth as the X-Men and Tigers went down to the wire in the AUS championship game, needing overtime to decide the result. At the final buzzer it was the Dalhousie Tigers who came away with the 77-67 win over the STFX X-Men.

AUS first team all-star Dondre Reddick ignited his STFX team with an electrifying three-pointer at the buzzer at the end of regulation to tie the game, but it was Tigers guard Samuel Maillet who was clutch for his team in the overtime period, scoring six points to lead them to victory and earning player of the game honours.

The Tigers stopped the X-Men from repeating as AUS champions and earned their third conference title in the past four seasons, having also won in 2022, 2020 and 2019.

AUS rookie of the year Koat Thomas opened the scoring in the game then the X-Men went on a 7-0 run to set the momentum early on.

The teams then settled into a defensive battle in a low scoring quarter.

Nginyu Ngala sank a three-pointer for the Tigers with just over two minutes to play tied the game at 9-9. The X-Men continued to struggle on offense and the opening quarter closed out 14-9 in favour of the Tigers.

An early three by STFX guard Antoine Vernon got them back into the game in the second quarter.

DAL's Jayden Parkers and STFX's Thomas exchanged dunks to bring the crowd to their feet and the back and forth action continued as the game was locked at 18-18 midway through the second.

A three by X's Marcus Upshaw was matched at the other end by DAL's Spencer Riar as the X-Men hung onto a one point lead, 29-28 with two minutes to play.

The X-Men outpaced the Tigers 24-16 to hold a 33-30 halftime lead.

Thomas netted 12 points in the opening half for STFX while AUS MVP Malcolm Christie scored 11 for Dalhousie.

A three-pointer from AUS all-rookie Riar tied game up to start the third quarter.

The third quarter brought fast paced action and high emotions. Consecutive three-pointers by Reddick gave the X-Men a 43-40 edge midway through the quarter.

STFX held a 52-45 lead after 30 minutes as the outscored DAL 52-45 in the third quarter.

The Tigers stormed back early in the fourth quarter as Samuel Maillet and Riar dropped three's to bring the score to 54-51 for X. Emotions continued to intensify as both squads fought tooth and nail on every possession.

The score was locked at 54-54 midway through the fourth frame until Maillet drained a three as the shot clock expired to give the Tigers their first lead since the first quarter.

Dalhousie added to their lead and slowed down the pace of the game as they were up by four points, 61-57, with just under three minutes to play.

The four point lead held up with 1:10 left on the clock as the X-Men pressed to close the gap.

With a two-possession lead, the Tigers ran the clock late in the game and were up 63-59 with 28 seconds left to play.

Reddick drained a three with 20 seconds left to make it a one-point game.

The Tigers had possession on an inbound with 9.5 seconds left and an ensuing STFX foul sent Christie to the charity stripe where he made both shots to give his squad a three-point edge, 65-62.

With only 7.5 seconds to make a play, the X-Men missed on an initial three-point attempt, then Reddick pulled out a miraculous shot at the buzzer to tie the game at 65-65 and send the game to overtime.

Neither team could find mesh in the opening two minutes of overtime aside from a Maillet free throw. He then converted a hoop and harm to give the Tigers a 69-65 lead.

Maillet continued his clutch play in OT with a jumper to go up by six points with 1:39 to play.

Time was not on the X-Men's side as they could not overcome the deficit and the Tigers held on for the win.

Christie finished with 21 points and had eight rebounds for DAL, while Maillet netted 19 and had eight rebounds. Ngala finished with 14 points and eight boards.

For the X-Men, Reddick was the top scorer with 19 points on the day. Gatluak James had a double-double game with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Thomas scored 14. Bennett Grumbach led the X-Men with 13 rebounds.

Both Bennett and Reddick earned AUS tournament all-star status, as did Ngala and Christie for DAL. Christie also took home tournament MVP honours.

With the win the Tigers will advance to represent the AUS conference at the U SPORTS national championship March 8-10 at Universite de Laval.

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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics