X-Men open up 2026 with dominant win over Sea-Hawks

ANTIGONISH, NS - A full 40-minute effort powered the STFX X-Men to a dominant 98-69 win over the visiting Memorial Sea-Hawks on Friday night on Coach K Court.

The X-Men hit at least 23 points in each quarter, while collecting 47 rebounds. Gabriel Pizza Player of the Game Koat Thomas had 22 points and six rebounds for the X-Men, while Jodick Moudiandambu had 21 for the visitors.  

Memorial pulled into an early lead in the first quarter before STFX drew even in the first few minutes. From there, it was back and forth as the teams traded scores. Tariq Armstrong hit a jumper from the free-throw line to put STFX up by one, and the home side held a 24-23 advantage at the buzzer.  

The X-Men opened the second quarter with a 9-2 run in the first five minutes and kept the pressure on. Memorial cut the lead to seven with a short run of their own, but STFX roared back, with a DJ Jackson pass to Thomas for an alley-oop dunk extending the lead to double digits. Cameron Stanford hit a late three from the visitors, and STFX was up 48-40 at halftime.  

The teams traded threes to open the third, before STFX went on a 13-3 run to make it a 17-point game before Memorial took a time out with three minutes left in the stanza. The X-Men continued scoring while limiting the visitors to 10 points in the quarter, which ended with the home side up 71-50.  

It was more of the same in the final quarter, as the X-Men continued to extend their lead. A Matt Lucas three pointer made it a 28-point game with three minutes to go, and the X-Men held on for the victory.  

The teams return to action Saturday afternoon for a rematch at 3 p.m.