Huskies top X-Men 105-76 in Saint Mary's home opener

(HALIFAX, N.S.)—The CIS No. 8-ranked Saint Mary's Huskies opened up their home AUS conference play with a fast first quarter and never looked back on the night, as they picked up the 105-76 win over the visiting St. Francis Xavier X-Men.

The Huskies shot 48 per cent from the field in the first quarter and built a 26-16 lead.

Saint Mary's guard Jeremy McAvoy had 10 points in the quarter and the Huskies started the second just like the first, outscoring the X-Men 28-13 for a 54-29 halftime lead.

McAvoy finished as Subway Player of the Game with 18 points, three assists and was four-for-five from three-point range in only 11 minutes of action.

The third quarter saw Saint Mary's hit two quick buckets for a 60-31 lead. Then the Huskies drained back to back three pointers for a 66-35 lead. The Huskies finished the third quarter ahead 85-51.

StFX came roaring back in the fourth and scored 25 points in the frame. Julius Antoine had 11 points to lead the X-Men on the night.

Saint Mary's was 12-of-23 (52 per cent) shooting three pointers while StFX was one-for-eight (12 per cent) for the game. Rebounds were 38-34 for Saint Mary's while the Huskies defence was stingy, totalling 12 steals and five blocked shots.

Saint Mary's Theon Reefer led all scorers with 22 points, five rebounds and was a perfect four-for-four from three-point land.

Also scoring for the Huskies on the night: Marquis Clayton with 16 points, Kadeem Scott 11 points, Terrence Taylor 10 points, Riley Halpin seven points and Brian Rouse had five points. Both Leonard Riley and Travis Adams chipped in four points each while Mitch Harrison and Ryan Augustine had three points apiece. Harry Ezenibe had two points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots on the night.

Head coach Jonah Taussig was happy offensively with the way the team played. "We had a lot of bright spots, a lot of guys played well on the offensive end. We just have to do a better job of playing team defence."

The Huskies improve to 3-0 in AUS play and return to court action Saturday Nov. 16 versus StFX in Antigonish. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.

Source: Saint Mary's Sports Information