X-Men recover from poor start to edge Huskies

By CHAD LUCAS Sports Reporter

November 7, 2008

The St. Francis Xavier X-Men could hardly have gotten off to a worse start. But they finished strong enough to leave The Tower with a season-opening win.

Tyler Richards scored 21 points as the X-Men climbed out of a 16-point hole to defeat the Saint Mary’s Huskies 63-59 as the AUS basketball season tipped off Thursday night.

The nationally sixth-ranked X-Men stumbled out of the gate, scoring just four points in the opening quarter and making nearly as many turnovers — eight — as shot attempts (10).

"We’ve got a pretty young team … so I wasn’t surprised when we got off to a slow start, but I wanted to see how we responded to it," said Richards, the lone fifth-year player on St. F.X. "The character of our team really showed tonight. We came up with big plays down the stretch. We really had to battle back."

Down 51-42 entering the fourth quarter, St. F.X. opened the frame on a 7-0 run and outscored Saint Mary’s 21-8 in the final 10 minutes. The X-Men took their first lead of the game when Will Silver sank a three-pointer with 1:55 remaining to put St. F.X. ahead 60-58.

Silver’s defence helped spark a comeback after the X-Men fell behind 43-27 in the third quarter. The third-year guard finished with 10 points, four rebounds and three steals.

"We talked at halftime and we thought our intensity was really lacking," said the St. Patrick’s grad. "When you play harder, you’re going to get some breaks, and I think that really helped us out."

The Huskies thought the X-Men received a few breaks from the officials as well down the stretch, particularly on a charging call on Mark McLaughlin and a pair of lane violation whistles.

"I can’t talk right now because I’m going to say something that’s going to get me in trouble," Saint Mary’s coach Ross Quackenbush said after the game. "Quite frankly, it’s very, very difficult to win a game under those circumstances.

"There were certain things we needed to do ourselves, like be stronger with the basketball, but some things are really hard to overcome."

The Huskies’ Ikeobi Uchegbu had a chance to tie the game with 1:07 remaining, but after he split a pair of free throws Terrence Taylor scored in the post at the other end and then came up with a big offensive rebound with 10 seconds remaining to seal the win for St. F.X.

Taylor finished with 12 points for the X-Men while Christian Upshaw had 10.

McLaughlin led Saint Mary’s with 15 points, while Uchegbu had 13 points and 15 rebounds. Peter Gilfoy grabbed 12 rebounds for the Huskies.

X-WOMEN 82, HUSKIES 53
At The Tower, Sheryl Chisholm scored 21 points to help St. F.X. win a contest between two coaches making their AUS debuts.

Trailing 14-12 after the opening frame, the X-Women outscored Saint Mary’s 28-12 in the second quarter and never looked back.

"I’m really happy with the intensity we came out with," said rookie coach Matt Skinn, a former Cape Breton Caper. "Things weren’t dropping for us early on, but we stuck with it."

Ashley Stephen had 12 points, 10 rebounds and six steals for the X-Women.

First-year point guard Stephanie Hiltz added 17 points for St. F.X., but she had to be helped off the court after injuring her left leg with 5:44 left in the game.

"Steph Hiltz was great, but I’m just cringing right now because I don’t know what’s wrong with her (leg)," Skinn said.

Newcomer Dhanmite Slappey — niece of Halifax Rainmen owner Andre Levingston — had a game-high 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Huskies, led by former King’s College coach Scott Munro. Angela Fifield added 13 points.

Saint Mary’s and St. F.X. now have the weekend off while Dalhousie visits Memorial, Cape Breton hosts UPEI and Acadia visits UNB as the season launches in earnest on Saturday.

( clucas@herald.ca)