On Saturday afternoon, the Concordia Stingers played host to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, but lost their sixth game in a row 109-68.
The game started off on the wrong foot, as the league did not schedule any referees for the game. However, the game was able to be played as two people with experience in refereeing were pulled out of the stands.
The Varsity Blues won tip-off but the ball ended up in the Stingers’ hands. After great defence and rebounding by both teams, the Stingers scored first with a two-pointer by centre Zach Brisebois. Brisebois was fouled on the play and scored on the foul shot.
The Varsity Blues responded with a couple of three pointers by forward Manny Sahota. Forward Mukiya Post helped the Stingers respond with a three pointer from the perimeter. After another two pointer by the Varsity Blues, Stingers forward Zander Jean got a three pointer and then guard Inti Salinas came off the bench and shot another three-point ball for the Stingers. The score at the end of the quarter was 25-19 for the Varsity Blues.
In the second quarter, Stingers scored first on a basket by Fosu. After the Varsity Blues got a couple of two pointers, Stingers responded with a three pointer by guard Adam Chmielewski. The Varsity Blues struck back with a couple of two pointers. However, the Stingers responded with two three-pointers of their own, one from Post and the other from guard Jean-Andre Moussignac. The Varsity Blues then dominated the rest of the quarter. The Stingers did end the second quarter on a high note as Salinas had a three-pointer as time was expiring. The score was 54-39 for the Varsity Blues at the end of the half.
The Stingers started the second half with the ball but weren’t able capitalize as the Blues scored the first points of the quarter. Brisebois got Concordia’s first points of the quarter and Fosu then got another two points. However, this was the only bright spot for the Stingers as the Varsity Blues kept on shooting well and driving to the basket with a couple of easy layups. Salinas once again came off the bench to shoot his third three-pointer of the night. The score after the third quarter was 83-54 for the Varsity Blues.
The Varsity Blues got the first points of the fourth quarter. They then went on 10-0 run. Post got a two pointer and then on the next drive he was fouled after he got another basket. Toronto forward Denis Ankrah had a three-pointer, which extended the Blues’ lead. Brisebois near the end of the game had a block shot that stopped the Varsity Blues from getting more baskets. The final score was 109-68.
“It was ugly… I think we hit the bottom today because you can’t get any worse,” said Stingers head coach John Dore.
Note: Stingers forward Josue-Smith Telfort left the game in the first half with an ankle injury. He did not return. He will have X-rays this week according to Dore. Five University of Toronto players had double-digit points. The most was by Manny Sahota who was their best player with 19 points. The Stingers best player was Mukiya Post, who had 16 points in the loss. Stingers shot 33.3 per cent in Field Goal (FG) percentage and in three-point percentage they had 30.0 per cent.
The Stingers next game is next Saturday against the University of New Brunswick, at home.
