Fresh off a comeback win against the McGill Redmen two weeks ago, the Men’s Bishop Gaiter’s basketball team came to the Loyola gym and out hustled the men’s Concordia Stinger Basketball team for a 75-67 victory, extending the Stinger’s losing streak to three games.
Head Coach John Dore was the first to give credit to Bishops after the loss. “Bishops played a better game than we did,” he said. “They played better on defense, on the foul line and on the three point line. We were also beaten badly on their boards. They set the tone of the game from the onset.”
Dore was referring to the 32 defensive rebounds, including 11 by Gaiter forward Phillippe Miguel who also lead his team with 26 points. “We had a hard time defending against them,” said Dore, who spent 33 minutes in the Concordia locker room after the game.
“Our team had some things to talk about,” he said, not being specific, but the question remains: why does the Concordia men’s basketball team lose focus in the second half? Why do they stall?
Like the two losses before the answer was not clear in this game.
This was a hard fought game with much of the struggle under the boards. The Stingers seemed to have won the battle as they gained momentum cutting a 12 point deficit to four as the half ended 36-32.
“The mood at half time was positive,” said starting guard Phillippe Langlois. “We felt like we had jumped over the hurdle and could keep it going.”
But it was a faster and more physical Bishops team that returned to the court for the second half. Lead by spark plug guard and team leader David Suzuki, the Bishop squad went hard to the boards and took more visits to the line. Suzuki went 10 for 10 on free throws and Miguel backed that up by hitting 12 of 15.
The closest Stinger to match the Bishop duo was Guard Rastko Popovic contributing eight of 10, and ending the game with the Stinger high of 19.
There was a period of three minutes left in the second half when it looked like the Stingers would find a way to get over that hurdle.
Patrick Perrotte stole the ball with 1:34 remaining and went in for an easy lay-up to come within six, 71-65. Dore called a time out and talked about shot selection and protecting the ball.
“We also talked about matching up size for size and tightening our defense,” said Dore.
The Stingers came out with a half-court press that was expertly defended by the Gaiters.
Bishop Center Jeffrey Szita also came to the rescue scoring four quick ones and clearing out the Stingers from under the boards, dragging in 4 defensive rebounds. The Stingers could not reply.
“Our problem the whole game was that we did not take advantage of their turnovers or gather in the rebounds on their boards,” said Dore. “John Dresner had five steals in the game but we did not convert and Bishops just came back up court and scored.”
The talk around the Loyola gym in the last two weeks–and in the weeks to come–was why the men’s team cannot remain focused for the full 40 minutes. Exactly what the problem is has fans shaking their heads. Langlois may have the answer.
“We have to take care of the ball and that comes with maturity,” he said. “Players also have to start taking things personally. The Nike victory and exhibition season was fun, but this is league play and this is a tough league to play in. Players like Dilip Nayar will have to start battling opponents inside. We have to be like the Detroit Pistons of old and go inside and beat up people.”
As Gaiter fans began singing the “Good-bye” song Stinger fans began leaving and the game quickly wound down. A dejected Stingers team walked quickly off the court. It was rookie Dan Lacasse’s positive attitude that sparks optimism for the New Year.
“We know that we have to keep working and we know that we have what it takes to play in this league.”
“We look good on paper” said Langlois, who was shaking his head after the game. “We’ll get there.”
