St. FX transfer, Bol Kong exploded for 20 first-half points and finished with a career-high 32 as the ST. FX X-men silenced the red hot Cape Breton Capers 87-69, in a highly anticipated AUS match-up that failed to live-up to its expectations at Sullivan Fieldhouse in Sydney.
The X-men held the Capers scoreless for the last five minutes of the opening quarter while manufacturing a game changing 17-0 run and a 28-11 lead on the strength of swarming defense and extremely hot shooting.
X’s All-Canadian Sophomore Terry Thomas got the crowd jumping with two thunderous dunks, a hard one-hand crammer on the fast-break and Lobcity like alley-oop courtesy of Tyrell Vernon.
The combination of Kong, Thomas, Jeremy Dunn and newly inserted into the starting line-up, Jordan Clarke scored all of St. FX’s second quarter points and put the game out reach with a 55-28 lead at the break.
The lead reached a game-high 33-points midway through the third-quarter as the X-Men claimed first place in the AUS standings and improved their record to 13-4.
In only his third start of the season Kong went 11-of-18 from the floor, 2-of-3 from downtown and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line, while adding a game-high eight rebounds.
The X-Men defense held the Capers All-Canadian Guard Jimmy Dorsey to only 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting while forcing 21 capers turnovers.
The Capers shot a poor 37.3% from the floor and just 29.6% from three-point line. X finished was much better with a 44% average.
Steve Konchalski and his troops have fired off four straight victories after struggling out the gates at the start of 2012, and barring any major upsets, X is amongst the two favorite teams to represent the AUS at the 2012 CIS Men’s Basketball Final 8.
For Kong, it was only a matter of time before had a breakout game, the former Gonzaga Bulldog has been used sparingly as Coach K slowly integrates his prized recruit into his system after missing much of the first-half.
He’s averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds over his last four games and should continue to see a bigger role in as the X-Men make their drive for a National championship.
