Both Stingers teams lost to the higher ranked Martlets and Redman
The Stingers women’s basketball team and the men’s basketball team fell to the McGill Martlets and the McGill Redman respectively on Nov. 19. The Martlets who are ranked second in the CIS narrowly beat the women’s team 59-54 and the Redmen who are ranked third in the CIS blew out the men 75-53.
In the first game of the night, which saw the women’s team take on the Martlets, the Stingers came out rocking and took an early 5-2 lead after a three pointer by shooting guard, Marie-Eve Martin. Despite being down early, the Martlets picked up their game and came out of the first quarter with a 14-7 lead.
The Stingers started the second quarter with a few baskets, which cut the Martlets lead down to three points. After failing to score in the first three minutes of the quarter, the Martlets racked up back-to-back three pointers by forward Stephanie Blais and guard Dianna Ros. The Martlets took a commanding 31-17 lead into the locker room at half-time.
The Stingers came hot out in the third quarter as they started with a 12-0 run. Stingers forward Richelle Gregoire scored five points during the streak. Late in the third quarter, the Martlets lead was down to three points. The score was 41-38 heading into the final quarter.
“We did a much better job sticking with it in the second half,” Stingers coach Tenicha Gittens said. “Our girls fought. Usually they succumb to being down to a big deficit.”
The Martlets started the fourth quarter with a bang as Martlet forward Gabriela Hebert hit a three pointer. McGill continued to hit shots and free throws and the Martlets were able to give themselves a 12 point lead in the quarter. The game then got close with 34 seconds left when the Stingers came storming back and scored three straight three pointers to cut the Martlets margin of victory down to five.
Stingers forward, Marilyse Roy-Viau had 16 points and seven rebounds in the lost.
“We are building something here and getting better each game but we did not come out with the win,” Viau said. “We should have made our free throws and kept our temper at some points but overall we did a good job.”
On the Men’s side, the third ranked Redmen were the dominant side in the opening quarter due to their consistent three point shooting. The Redmen scored three times on three pointers including their first which opened the scoring. The three pointer was scored by Redman forward François Bourque, which helped the Redman create their 15-11 lead after the first quarter.
The Redman started the second quarter with a bang as shooting forward Michael Peterkin went airborne for a slam dunk. The Stingers led by forward Xander Jean, cut the Redmen lead to 17-16 after he scored on a free throw and a jump shot. The Redmen then took full control in the quarter as guard Dele Ogundokun scored two free throws which gave the Redman a six point lead. The Redmen led the Stingers 34-26 at half-time.
The Redmen got the first basket of the third quarter as guard Jenning Leung hit a three pointer. The Redmen halfway through the quarter took an 11-point lead but the Stingers crawled back and cut their lead to seven. To end the quarter, the Redman increased their lead to 12 points and led 54-42.
Redmen guard Tychon Carter-Newman scored six straight points to open the fourth quarter. The Stingers could not muster any points for the first five minutes of the quarter which saw the Redmen score eleven points. The Stingers were not able to find their footing late in the quarter and lost by 22 points.
“We just did not play for 40 minutes,” Stingers coach Rastko Popovic said. “[The Redman] did play a full game and that’s why they are the number three team in the country.”
