The X-Men used their transition game, sizzling three-point shooting, primarily from 6'0" Algonquin transfer Charlie Spurr, who had 8 3's (one shy of the school record) and effective penetration by 5'9" Will Silver and 5'10" Christian "T-Bear" Upshaw in the quarter-court to break open a tight game midway through the third quarter and defeat the Tigers, handing Dal their third consecutive loss in AUS play. With the Tigers leading 52-49 after some solid work inside from 6'9" Joe Schow and on the perimeter from 6'2" Simon Farine, X's 6'3" freshman Jordan Clarke hit a nice mid-range jumper, starting a 9-0 X run highlighted by a pair of threes from Upshaw. The Tigers closed the gap to 2 on a Farine runner however the X-Men then clinch the contest using a 21-7 run to build their largest lead at 79-63 with about 2 minutes remaining. Highlighting the run was a highlight-reel putback slam by 6'5" Chad Warren, who also knocked down a big three on the prior possession that had given X their largest lead to that point at 71-62. Upshaw was also instrumental in the run as he was a blur in transition off Dal misses, either getting to the rim or dishing out to Spurr, who finally is fulfilling the promise of making big 3's. Silver, who X supporters have tagged with the handle "The Chemist" likely for his intelligent, clever creativity and tough, hard-nosed play, had 5 consecutive points including a three at the end of the run as the X-Men made at least 15 3's in the game. 6'7" Alberto Rodriquez was steady inside for X, the recipient of several nice looks for lay-ups before going to the bench with his 4th foul with 5 1/2 minutes remaining and X up only 6. But an 11-1 run that included Warren's dunk and Silver's five consecutive points put the final nails in any Dal comeback attempt.
The X-Men put on a three-point shooting display in the first half as Spurr and T-Bear Upshaw were on fire and Rodriquez, after a slow start, began converting around the rim to give X leads as large as 8. However, the Tigers were generally able to deal with X's pressure and got the ball inside consistently to Schow, both in the high and low posts, while Farine was his steady self to bring Dal back as close as 1 late in the second before Upshaw's three with about 20 seconds remaining gave X the 4 point lead into halftime.
Stay tuned for stats shortly.
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