The men’s basketball team lost more than just their second straight game on Saturday as co-captain Philippe Langlois suffered a concussion five minutes into the Stingers’ 82-59 loss to the McGill Redmen.
Langlois lay on the court for several minutes before he slowly got up and headed to the dressing room with the Stingers trailing by a narrow 11-9 margin.
From there, McGill quickly got down to the business of pulling away from the Stingers. They took advantage of early rebounding problems and used a fast-paced transition game to build an early lead.
While Concordia’s two best players of the day, co-captain Gavin Musgrave and guard Jonathan Dresner, did their best to keep their team in the game, the surging Redmen offence was too much as they walked out of the first half with a 46-27 lead.
“Losing Phil set us back up a bit,” head coach John Dore said after the game. “We needed people to respond and they didn’t.”
Things looked bleak for the Stingers going into the second half but they came out fired up. Concordia didn’t just look better. They looked like a different team.
The Stingers stormed into the half and took control early by nailing open shots, making up for all the rebounds which they gave up earlier in the game and going hard to the basket.
In the first eight minutes, the Stingers outscored McGill 17-7 and cut the lead down to nine points.
It seemed that this youthful team would show their ability to overcome adversity and step-up while missing one of their top players. And for several minutes they did, until reality set in.
Paced by the duo of Kirk and Denberg Reid, who each had 20 points, McGill once again pulled away, this time for good.
The still evolving Stingers slipped into taking desperate, low-percentage shot attempts and seemed to get worn-out from the high-intensity Redmen.
“We have two different teams,” Dresner said. “We played good to start the second half and then we just slipped away.”
In an inconsistent performance by the Stingers, it was evident how much they missed Langlois, who is credited as being one of the teams best players on and off the court.
“We weren’t able to recover after losing Phil,” said Musgrave who led his team with 20 points. “It’s hard for younger players to step-up and fill in the hole.”
Langlois will be reassessed to determine whether or not he will be available in Concordia’s next game against Laval on Saturday.
Langlois lay on the court for several minutes before he slowly got up and headed to the dressing room with the Stingers trailing by a narrow 11-9 margin.
From there, McGill quickly got down to the business of pulling away from the Stingers. They took advantage of early rebounding problems and used a fast-paced transition game to build an early lead.
While Concordia’s two best players of the day, co-captain Gavin Musgrave and guard Jonathan Dresner, did their best to keep their team in the game, the surging Redmen offence was too much as they walked out of the first half with a 46-27 lead.
“Losing Phil set us back up a bit,” head coach John Dore said after the game. “We needed people to respond and they didn’t.”
Things looked bleak for the Stingers going into the second half but they came out fired up. Concordia didn’t just look better. They looked like a different team.
The Stingers stormed into the half and took control early by nailing open shots, making up for all the rebounds which they gave up earlier in the game and going hard to the basket.
In the first eight minutes, the Stingers outscored McGill 17-7 and cut the lead down to nine points.
It seemed that this youthful team would show their ability to overcome adversity and step-up while missing one of their top players. And for several minutes they did, until reality set in.
Paced by the duo of Kirk and Denberg Reid, who each had 20 points, McGill once again pulled away, this time for good.
The still evolving Stingers slipped into taking desperate, low-percentage shot attempts and seemed to get worn-out from the high-intensity Redmen.
“We have two different teams,” Dresner said. “We played good to start the second half and then we just slipped away.”
In an inconsistent performance by the Stingers, it was evident how much they missed Langlois, who is credited as being one of the teams best players on and off the court.
“We weren’t able to recover after losing Phil,” said Musgrave who led his team with 20 points. “It’s hard for younger players to step-up and fill in the hole.”
Langlois will be reassessed to determine whether or not he will be available in Concordia’s next game against Laval on Saturday.
