Concordia’s basketball teams kicked off the Shoot for the Cure weekend with a bang
Women’s Basketball
The Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team played a high-energy game on Jan. 19, defeating the McGill Martlets 69-65.
The Stingers started off slow as McGill took the lead for the first few minutes of the first quarter. That was until the Stingers scored two consecutive three-point shots. Both teams stayed close all quarter, ending the first quarter with a tie at 20-20.
In the second quarter, the Martlets regained the lead but the Stingers struck back with some strong offensive play. Stingers guard Richelle Grégoire scored 12 points in the first half and helped give the team their 34-32 lead at halftime.
At the start of the third quarter, the game got heated when the Martlets tied the game at 34-34. Grégoire continued her offensive play and struck back with a three-pointer. The game continued to go back and forth until Stingers guard Aurélie d’Anjou Drouin scored two free throws and Grégoire added a lay-up. The Stingers jumped out to a 46-40 lead at this point and kept scoring.
The third quarter ended with a score of 51-42 for the Stingers.
The Stingers started off strong in the fourth quarter. However, halfway through, the Martlets caught up and scored some key baskets to bring the score to 56-52 in favour of the Stingers. With only three minutes left in the game, Stingers guard Marilyse Roy-Viau scored, increasing the Stingers’ lead. The last few minutes of this heated game were the most intense.
With only 40 seconds left in the game, McGill scored two free throws, leaving only one point of difference between both teams. However, Grégoire and Stingers guard Caroline Task scored free throws which solidified the Stingers win. The Stingers won 69-65.
According to Stingers head coach Tenicha Gittens, the key to the team’s offense was aggressiveness.
“In the past games, we weren’t aggressive enough, we couldn’t close our games,” said Gittens. “We got to defend and attack. It’s all about execution, having patience and creating something out of nothing.”
For the next games, Gittens is expecting the team to do a better job when it comes to rebounds and defense.
“We’ve got to regain position,” she said. “We have to match with the opponent’s size and be physical.”
Men’s Basketball
This was an intense game for the Stingers as they played their biggest rivals, the McGill Redmen. Starting off the game with high-powered energy, the Stingers scored two consecutive three-pointers.
The Redmen scored their first basket seconds later and came back until the score was tied at 7-7. The Stingers struggled to make shots and the Redmen led at the end of the first quarter by a score of 18-14.
In the second quarter, the Redmen scored the first basket. The second quarter was a back-and-forth, quarrelsome game with both teams showing strong offense and defense. With only a few minutes left in the second quarter, Stingers centre Michael Fosu scored and gave the Stingers a 27-25 lead. The Stingers kept scoring until the last few seconds of the half, finishing the second quarter with a 32-28 lead.
The third quarter saw both teams up their energy levels. McGill started off strong and once again took the lead at 33-32. Halfway through the third quarter, the Stingers caught up when guard Henderson Charles and forward Ahmadu-Tijani Umar joined forces to score and tie up the game at 36-36.
For the rest of the quarter, the Stingers went on a scoring binge as Umar and guard Cedrick Bryan Coriolan scored, giving the Stingers a 47-41 lead. The third quarter ended with a seven-point lead for the Stingers at 48-41.
The Stingers had great offense in the last quarter, as the team extended their lead thanks to point guard Ricardo Monge and guard Ken Beaulieu. With two minutes left in the game, the score was 60-51 for the Stingers. In the last few minutes, the Stingers made free-throws and kept on scoring, winning the game by 10 points, 66-56.
According to Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic, the team did a great job on defense.
“We had a good week of practice, we got TJ Umar back in the game after his concussion and I thought he was fantastic tonight. The whole defense was great and, with our aggressiveness and intensity, we were able to recover from our mistakes,” said Popovic. “It was an important win for us. I told the guys to celebrate tonight, have a bit of fun but be ready, preparation starts Saturday.”