Stingers blowout Gaiters in Thursday’s doubleheader

The men’s team played great defence in the win.

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams were impressive against Bishop’s

The Concordia Stingers women’s and men’s basketball teams were victorious on Thursday night. Both teams took on the Bishop’s Gaiters, with the women’s team winning 57-42 and the men winning 76-55.

Women’s Basketball

On a night when the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team struggled to find an offensive groove, they were able to prevail with a strong defensive effort.

The women’s team bounced back after a big loss to McGill. Photos by Ana Hernandez.

“We picked it up on defense. That’s one thing that we emphasized at half-time. We weren’t doing well defensively [up to that point],” said Stingers head coach Tenicha Gittens. “I thought we were forcing them to take bad shots but then we allowed them to get to the glass. They were very aggressive in that first quarter, but we definitely have to clean that up.”

The Stingers came out sloppy, committing 18 turnovers and attempting bad shots throughout the game. However, it started pretty well for the Stingers as they went on a 9-2 run in the first three minutes of the game. The Stingers only managed to make one field goal for the remainder of the quarter and were only up 11-9 by the end of the quarter.

The second quarter was more productive and saw the Stingers outscore Bishop’s by 21-14. Stingers guard Jazlin Barker scored seven of the team’s  last nine points of the quarter. The Stingers were up 32-23 at halftime.

The Stingers were finally able to pull away from the Gaiters in the third quarter when Stingers guard Richelle Grégoire took matters into her own hands and scored 13 of her game-high 15 points. It is an effort she attributes to the hard work of her teammates.

“My teammates try to help me when I am struggling, and they tell me to keep my head up and eventually it’s going to drop,” Grégoire said.

With six minutes left in the game, Grégoire buried one of her two three-pointers, which gave the Stingers their biggest lead up to that point. The Stingers never looked back, cruising to a 57-42 win.

Despite the 15-point win, Gittens felt there was room for improvement from her team.

“As a player, as an athlete, you should be up to play,” Gittens said. “It doesn’t matter who is in front you.”

Men’s Basketball

Thanks to the strong play of Stingers guards Ken Beaulieu and Adrian Armstrong, as well as forward Michael Fosu, the men’s team was able to cruise to a 76-55 blowout win against Bishop’s.

The first quarter starred a red-hot performance from Armstrong. With the score 12-10 in the Stingers’ favour, the second-year guard from London, Ont. scored 14 consecutive points for his team to end the first quarter.

Armstrong did most of his damage from behind the three-point line. The whole gym erupted in response to his spectacular play. Armstrong, who came off the bench in the first quarter, finished the game with 17 points.

Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic was impressed with his bench’s play in the game.

“It’s good when you can get in different guys,” Popovic said. “That was the whole point this year. Having a good recruiting class. Having depth to come in and play.”

The Stingers started the second quarter the same way they ended the first. With six minutes left in the half, Fosu scored a nice basket after some great passing plays by Stingers forward Schneiders Suffrard and Beaulieu. Fosu’s basket put the Stingers up 30-19. Soon after, with just under three minutes to go, Beaulieu finished off a nice effort by grabbing his own rebound and scoring. The Stingers took a 17-point lead into halftime, with the score at 40-23.

The Gaiters never managed to be a threat to the Stingers in the second half. With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Stingers guard Nicholas Noble made a three-point shot after some nice ball movement that buried any chance of a comeback from the Gaiters. The three-pointer put the Stingers up 63-46.

“Definitely this week we did focus on playing a little bit faster,” Popovic said. “I thought our starters did a better job [in that aspect], and I think we need our bench to come in with energy and push the ball more.”

Both Stingers teams will take on the Bishop’s Gaiters again on Jan. 28 in Sherbrooke.

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