The Concordia Stingers remain undefeated in conference play after beating McGill 67-59 Saturday night in a game that was much closer than the final score indicates.
The win came after a close victory against Laval the night before, and solidified the Stingers’ first place position in the Quebec university league with a 7-0 record.
“We’re taking it one day at a time,” said head coach John Dore of the winning streak. This particular game was a test, he explained, because the Stingers were missing one of their starters.
Concordia played without point guard Damian Buckley, who was sidelined due to “academic reasons,” Dore said. Dore was unsure as to when Buckley would return to the line-up.
Buckley, a sophomore, leads Concordia in assists so far this season, and is an invaluable member of the team.
“When you take the quarterback out of your offence, your offence sputters,” Dore said. “And we sputtered [Saturday].”
Dore explained that fatigue may also have been a factor. The team returned home from Quebec City at 2 a.m. only to play against McGill at 4 p.m. that same day.
Fatigue could indeed have been the reason for Concordia’s slow start against McGill, and their seemingly out of sync offence. The Stingers were also unable to get to the rebounds early, giving the Redmen many fast-break opportunities.
Concordia shot for a mere 26.5 per cent from the floor in the first half, but were able to stay in the game thanks to consistent free throw shooting and missed McGill chances.
Still, the game’s stand-out performance belongs to Concordia’s Dwayne Buckley, who scored 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The third-year forward was 10 for 18 from the floor, including two 3-pointers, and played 38 of 40 minutes. Forwards Andre Johnny and Patrick Perrotte scored 12 points respectively.
“We had some offensive breakdowns,” said Dore, adding that he was satisfied by the way his players stepped up and contributed.
“[Damian Buckley] is our lead ball handler, but we all did a good job filling in,” said guard Pierre Thompson.
Thompson explained that his biggest challenge was to keep pushing and playing hard; two things the team must do – and do consistently – if they want to keep winning.
