The men’s basketball team could not complete the comeback on Thursday night’s game
The men’s basketball team hosted the Bishop’s Gaiters on Thursday, Nov.13. For the second straight week, the Stingers rallied in the second half and scored 44 points. However, their comeback fell short on Thursday as the Gaiters prevailed with a 76-69 victory.
The Gaiters came out firing; Bishop’s had a 7-0 run to start the game and their first basket came on a three-pointer by guard Karim Sy-Morrisette. The Stingers would score their first basket of the game with only 6:44 left in the first quarter on field goal by guard, Mukiya Post.
Concordia later went on a roll of their own scoring six unanswered points to bring the game to within one, but the Gaiters would answer and score 11 unanswered points to regain a commanding lead.
Trailing 20-12 heading into the second quarter, things would not get better for the Stingers.
The Gaiters scored first in the quarter on a basket by Desmarais and later increased their lead thanks to a three-pointer by Majid Naji. It was all Bishop’s the first half. The Stingers would get a string of free throws by Frank Mpeck, Aamir Gyles and Jean-Louis Wanya late in the quarter but by the time the buzzer sounded for half, the Stingers were down by 18 points and losing 43-25.
The crowd saw a different Stingers team in the third quarter. A quick three-pointer by Ken Beaulieu gave the home side some signs of life. Although the Gaiters would score nine points in response to maintain their big lead, this game was far from over.
Stingers forward, Mike Fosu would hit a three-pointer which would start a Stingers run. Beaulieu then had a steal and would go end-to-end for a slam dunk, firing up the crowd. The Gaiters did not score a basket for four minutes which allowed the Stingers to get back into it.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair and the Gaiters would strike first on a basket by center, Mike Andrews. Stingers responded on two baskets by Fosu and Beaulieu, but Desmarais would add to Bishop’s lead with a three-pointer. Not to be outdone however, Post would answer with a three of his own to keep it a ten point game.
The Stingers would score 10 unanswered points late in the game and were down four points after a basket by Beaulieu. The four points is the closest they would get, due to mistakes late in the game. The Gaiters were perfect on free throws during the game.
After the final whistle, Stingers head coach John Dore praised his team for not giving up until the end, but realized that they put themselves in a bad spot.
“This team has a lot of heart and character but we cannot fall behind like that again,” said Dore.