Women take sole possession of second while men remain in first place
The Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team were defeated 70-59 by the McGill Redmen, while the women’s team defeated the Martlets 63-51 Thursday night at the Concordia Gym. It was also senior’s night for the graduating Stingers on both teams.
Women’s Game
McGill built an early lead in the first quarter when Concordia struggled offensively to start the game. However, Stingers guard Caroline Task registered nine points in the quarter to keep her team in the game.
The Stingers then took control when their defence stood out and helped bring their game to another level. The team dominated from the paint and the perimeter, while forcing many turnovers and shot clock violations from McGill.
Task continued to dominate in the second quarter, even hitting the 1000-point mark in her career. Her performance helped the Stingers finish the first half ahead, 31-27.
🐝🏀 WBB – Caroline Task got her 1,000th career point in style. Here’s the shot that got her to the milestone. #CUstingers #CUbasketball #Montreal pic.twitter.com/jiYCzfTkxy
— Concordia Stingers (@The_Stingers) February 15, 2019
Things continued to work well for the Stingers in the third quarter. The team converted a lot of three-point shots and capitalized on offensive rebounds. The Martlets scored less than 10 points for a second straight quarter, allowing the Stingers to lead by 19 points approaching the last quarter of the game.
While the Stingers entered the fourth quarter with a 55-36 lead, poor shot selection and turnovers gave Mcgill energy. The visitors dominated a good part of the last 15 minutes of action and managed to get back in the game. However, the lead established by the Stingers earlier was too difficult to overcome.
With the win, the Stingers improve to 9-5 this season. Task finished the game with 28 points, a game-high.
Before the game, the Stingers honoured graduating students Elise Roy, Aurélie d’Anjou Drouin, and Ladonna Lamonth with framed jerseys.
Men’s Game
Both teams battled for the majority of the first quarter. Stingers guard Ricardo Monge helped his team close the gap early in the game, but McGill still finished the first quarter ahead, 18-17.
Monge continued to produce offensively in the second quarter. His successful three-point shots in the first half allowed the Stingers to stay in the game and even take a brief lead in the second quarter. McGill replied and headed to the locker room ahead 29-28 at the intermission.
The third quarter was McGill’s affair. The visitors put the Stingers in a difficult situation in the third quarter, and entered the fourth with a seven-point lead. However, the Singers continued to fight and cut the deficit with back-to-back successful three-point shots from Sami Ghandour and Adrian Armstrong.
McGill came back to extend their lead with less than two minutes left. The Stingers continued to show resilience at the end of the game, as the team created scoring opportunities and received free throws.
Despite the loss, the Stingers remain first in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec ranking with a record of 10-4.
Both teams play the Bishop’s University Gaiters on Feb. 16 at the Mitchell Gym.
Main photo by Gabe Chevalier.
