Fredericton, NB- The St. Thomas University Tommies outlasted the Cegep Sainte Foy Dynamiques 63-46 in their first game of the 10th annual Ken Gould Invitational.
The Tommies were led on offence by Almin Dervisevic (Ottawa, ON) who scored a game high 23 points, while Ted Braden (Ottawa, ON) filled the box score with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks.
Les Dynamiques were paced by Ivan Tsafack who had 14 points and Lucas Labbee-Nadeau, who chipped in with 13.
The game got off to an energetic start with Gayo Isaya took the opening possession in for an uncontested dunk, and that would set the pace for the Tommies in the quarter as they would hold a 13-12 lead.
Labbee-Nadeau wasn't about to back down as he would knock down back-to-back three pointers to spark his team, but not to be outdone Dervisevic would answer back with a pair of three pointers of his own, but CSF would lead going into the half, 33-29.
"Our pace was much better than last week," was all head coach, John Hickey, could say about his team's first half performance.
Whatever Hickey said to his team at halftime worked, as they came out in the second half with a brand-new energy, scoring on fast breaks, second chances and flat out out-hustling les Dynamiques.
"The game changed when our defensive intensity changed and we started pressuring the ball for a full 90 feet," said Hickey about his team's turnaround. "We rebounded the ball much better in the second half. We are a team that wants to play with pace, always."
The Tommies took a 46-37 lead into the fourth quarter and they would not look back, cruising to a 63-46 victory.
STU will be back at "The Pit" closing out Saturday's action at 6:00pm against the Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics.