Victory slips out from Concordia’s grasp

The only team the Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team beat was themselves last Saturday afternoon, having
it all come crashing down in the final minutes of a hard-fought game against the McGill Redmen.
The Stingers could not prevail on their home court against the fifth ranked team in the country, losing by a score of 82-76.
Coming off their first win of the season against the Bishop’s Gaiters last week, the Stingers came out ready to win.
They sure did come close.
The first half was fast paced with both teams charging to the basket at every opportunity, working hard not to let their opponent take more than a five-point lead. Play was rough, but did not get out of hand in those opening 20 minutes.
The Stingers experienced their most successful and exciting runs of the game at the end of the first, out-scoring the Redmen 7-4.
They came at the basket from all angles, netting a three-pointer and executing a cross-court pass that resulted in two points.
Things slowly began to unravel for the home team in the second half, after Concordia came out of the first leading 44-39.
The downward spiral began to get quicker when McGill guard Frederic Bernard was awarded two free throws and netting four points because of a technical foul called against Concordia. The score was now 66-61 favouring the visitors.
Concordia’s last glimmer of hope came with 2:11 left on the clock when guard Gavin Musgrave netted a three pointer to tie the game at 76-76.
The Redmen then beat the Stingers on the foul line, after consecutive fouls were called against the home team.
“With two minutes to go we made some mental mistakes,” Musgrave said of the Stingers loss. “It was our inexperience and our nerves that came down the stretch.”
McGill’s offence was the highlight of the game, with Domenico Marcario leading both teams in points with 25.
The 5’11 guard weaved past the Concordia offence on several occasions to net a few beautiful two point shots.
Stinger guard Phillipe Langlois was impressive, flying down the court a handful of times – alone with the ball – to net some two pointers.
Langlois turned out to be Concordia’s second highest scorer with 19 points at the time the final buzzer sounded. Musgrave was first for the Stingers with 22 points.
Concordia Head Coach John Dore admitted that it was a little late in the year for breakdowns in the second half, although he understands that his team was facing off against a nationally ranked top ten team.
“We’re a decent team, who were facing off with a higher ranked team today,” Dore said. “We started out pretty well but made some silly mistakes that a young team makes and that’s what hurt us in the end.”
However Dore remains optimistic about his team’s playoff chances.
“When you get knocked down you have to get back up. We’ve got to get back up for our next game and we’ll take it from there.”