The Concordia men’s basketball team delivered a strong message to their crosstown rivals McGill in a 81-62 victory, but was unable to keep their record clean through the weekend following a 68-62 loss to Laval.
Playing in the second game of their season-opening three-game road trip, the Stingers looked like they needed to shake off some rust, committing a number of fouls and allowing the smaller Redmen team to get a few points inside the paint.
With the score at 18-15 the Concordia bench came alive and began to make plays. Following a missed three-pointer, backup center Sebastien Martin rose up and grabbed the ball, banging it off the glass to tie the game.
“I thought we got great support from the bench, we ran into a little foul trouble with Jamal [Gallier] and Andre [Johnny] early on and the rest of the guys really stepped up,” said head coach John Dore. “We are really happy with their progress, those guys have had the chance to come in and show what they can do.”
After McGill retook the advantage on two converted free throws, Pierre Thompson took the ball inside and handed in off to Martin, who kicked it out to a wide-open Levi Vann. Vann, who had a great shooting stroke through the match, nailed the three and put Concordia up 21-20 at the end of the first quarter.
“I was definitely feeling it,” said Vann, who finished the game with 15 points and went 4-7 from behind the arc. “I’m usually really nervous before tip-off but today I went out and just played my game.”
The second quarter saw the Concordia defense begin to clamp down on the Redmen attack, allowing McGill only eight total points. Martin and Vann continued their inside/outside offensive pressure, leading all Stingers scorers and helping to engineer scoring runs of seven and nine points. By the time the half closed Concordia enjoyed a 46-34 lead.
“We were able to kick it out and make a few open shots, especially in the second quarter,” said Dore. “We read their defense and adjust to it effectively and that allowed us to get the looks that we did.”
The third quarter showed more of the Stingers defensive gameplan as starting center Jamal Gallier stuffed any effort by McGill to get inside and the rest of the Stingers continued to harass the shooters. Throughout the quarter the Redmen were repeatedly forcing shots and operating their offence without any sense of composure. The result was that McGill was not able to even get a basket until Sean Anthony hit a deep jumpshot to put the score at 54-36.
“This is a team that averages close to thirty three point shots per game, so I thought we did a good job in limiting their chances,” said Dore.
The frame wound down with both teams trading shots, however the Stingers were able to take a twenty-point lead into the fourth.
“We knew that they have a lot of shooters so our plan was to jam them and not allow them to get any open shots,” said Brown.
The fourth quarter saw more of the same, as McGill did not come within a sniff of the Stingers’ lead. Vann hit another three with a McGill defender in his face and Martin continued his strong bench performance by supplying, along with Gallier, a dominating inside presence. Martin finished the game with 18 points and seven rebounds.
“That’s what we need,” said starting point guard Damian Buckley. “This is a team, not bunch of individuals, and any time the bench steps it up the starters embrace it because we know that they can get the job done.”
With an 81-62 victory in their pockets, the Stingers headed to Laval to face the Rouge et Or last Saturday. Concordia managed to tie the game 62-62 with two minutes left, however a late three pointer by Xavier Baribeau helped to put the Stingers away 68-62 and dropped them to 2-1 on the season.
Concordia plays first home game against UQAM Friday at 8 p.m.
Concordia men’s hockey frustrated by Ontario Tech in a tough loss
The Stingers outshot their opponent 37–15, only to suffer their third home loss of the regular season.