Concordia basketball teams had an up and down afternoon on Saturday
Women’s Basketball
Last time the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team played the Université de Québec a Montréal Citadins, the Citadins won thanks to guard Quételine Célestin. On Jan. 7 however, the Stingers were able to shut Célestin down with a 69-55 victory.
The win snapped the Stingers’ four-game losing streak.
“I guess we can say that it is a benchmark [game],” said Stingers head coach Tenicha Gittens. “We did some things really well defensively so we want to build on that.”
The Stingers held the Citadins to nine points in the first quarter and 20 in the first half. The Citadins were pressured by the Stingers defence all game and had trouble getting shots off. In the first half, the Citadins made eight out of thirty shots from the field.
Midway through the second quarter, the Stingers extended their lead by going on a 9-0 run in the span of a minute, thanks to three three-pointers.
The second half was also dominant for the Stingers as they continued to play tight and physical. Rookie Caroline Task was also a big factor in the win as she put up a game-high of 20 points.
“All the credit kind of goes to my team,” Task said. “They find me for open shots and they trust me to make it.”
Overall, the Stingers were intense on both sides of the court and UQAM was never able to match their level of play.
The Stingers will take on the McGill Martlets on Jan. 19 at 6 p.m.
Men’s Basketball
All the Stingers men’s basketball team needed was a defensive stop to secure a win against the UQAM Citadins, however, a last-second buzzer-beater by the Citadins put a dash in the Stingers plans. The Citadins won the game 68-67.
“Sometimes in basketball the ball just bounces right up to a guy’s hand,” said Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic. “We got them to take a very difficult shot. We shouldn’t put ourselves in that situation.”
The game started off well for both teams as they went back and forth on offence. The Stingers and the Citadins exchanged points, with the Stingers coming out of the first quarter with a 22-20 lead.
The Stingers started strong in the second quarter and built themselves a 31-21 lead thanks to some key plays by Stingers guard Ken Beaulieu.
After the Stingers extended their lead, the Citadins made their way back in the game thanks to guard Ibrahim Sylla. Sylla scored a game-high of 22 points and led his team to a 39-35 lead at halftime.
The Citadins came out in the third quarter with confidence and were all over the Stingers. After being dominated for most of the quarter, the Stingers called a timeout with four minutes left in the third quarter which gave the team a boost.
Down by seven, the Stingers battled back and tied the game going into the fourth quarter. The Stingers were in a position to win at the end of the game, but the buzzer-beater handed them their third loss of the season.
The Stingers play their next game on Jan. 19 at 8 p.m. against the McGill Redmen.
