Concordia’s will be playing UQÀM in the first round of the RSEQ playoffs
The Concordia men’s basketball team will be playing the Citadins from UQÀM on Mar. 11. The game will be played at McGill, as McGill is hosting the RSEQ Final Four. Concordia finished second in the RSEQ while the Citadins finished fourth.
The Stingers finished the year with an 18-11 record including the pre-season, but they finished with an overall regular season record of 10-6. The Stingers swept all four games against the Citadins this season. The closest game between these two teams was in Concordia’s last game of the season on Mar. 3, where the Stingers won by a slim margin of 76-74.
The Citadins placed second in the RSEQ in terms of offense as they averaged 73.7 points per game this season. Despite their torrid offense, the Citadins were dead last in scoring defense as their opponents scored an average of 75.7 points per game on them. The team was first in the RSEQ in regards to offensive rebounds, with 664 rebounds in 15 games this year, which averaged 44.3 rebounds per a game.
The Citadins are led by their Batman and Robin duo: third-year forward Kewyn Blain and second-year point guard Greishe Clerjuste. Blain took the league by storm this year, scoring 253 points and averaging 16.9 points per game in 15 games this season. He finished second in the conference in scoring. Blain led the RSEQ in assists with 85 and he also led in steals with 41. Blain was tied for first in defensive rebounds with 88 this season. He is likely the front-runner for the RSEQ MVP this year.
Clerjuste was right behind his teammate in conference scoring as he scored 251 points and averaged 16.7 points per game. In the last game between the Stingers and the Citadins, Blain dropped 24 points and Clerjuste added 17 points in the game. The Stingers will need to find a way to defend these two players if they want to win against UQÀM.
Photo by Marie-Pierre Savard.
The Stingers led the conference in scoring defense as they held their opponents to just 65 points per game. The Stingers were also efficient at defending shots as they led the conference in defending field goal shots. Opposing teams took 1,077 shots on them this season but made just 384 of those shots.
The Stingers will be relying on their third-year forward Ken Beaulieu to create scoring chances against UQÀM. Beaulieu was fifth in RSEQ scoring this season with 214 points and an average of 14.3 points per game.
The Stingers will also need to attack the boards with rookie centre Ahmadu-Tijani Umar and fourth-year forward Michael Fosu. Umar had 95 rebounds this season and was sensational in the last meeting against the Citadins as he came off the bench to record a double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds.
The X-factor for the Stingers will be potential RSEQ rookie of the year forward Schneiders Suffrard. Suffrard has really come into his own during the second half of the year. He scored 164 points and averaged 10.3 points per game this season.
The Stingers have not won an RSEQ title since 2012 and with a win against the Citadins, they could potentially be playing against either Laval or McGill for basketball supremacy in Quebec.
