TORONTO – Four McGill players reached double figures in scoring but it was inconsequential as Guelph eked out a 72-70 victory over the No.5-ranked Redmen basketball team in the bronze medal match of the Ryerson University National Invitational Tournament at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Maple Leaf Gardens, Sunday.

The lead changed hands a dozen times but Guelph led 19-18 after the opening stanza, 34-29 at the half and 50-47 after three quarters. McGill had a 65-64 edge with 3:18 remaining but were done in by three consecutive treys, which gave the Gryphons a 70-65 lead with 1:50 left in regulation.

Michel Clarke paced the Gryphons with 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting. Teammates Zachary Angus and Dan McCarthy added 13 points apiece.

Vincent Dufort and Winn Clark each netted 15 points for McGill, which was without injured point-guard Adrian Hynes-Guery for the third straight contest. Aleksander Mitrovic and Christian McCue added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Dufort, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound shooting guard from Smiths Falls, Ont., also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, shot 5-for-10 from the field and went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. The 20-year-old physical education sophomore was named to the all-tournament team. Over the three games, he tallied 34 points and a tourney-leading 28 rebounds, in addition to seven assists, four blocks and three steals. He shot 47.6 per cent from the floor (10/21), went 2-for-5 from three-point range and was a perfect 12-for-12 from the charity stripe.

McGill had a 29-26 edge in rebounds, a 7-4 advantage in steals and a 4-2 difference in blocked shots. They shot a stellar 50.9 per cent from the field (29/57) and 41.7 from beyond the arc (5/12) but a less-than-spectacular 58.3 from the free-throw line (7/12). Guelph replied on 44.8 from the field, made 12 of 24 treys and went 72.7 from the line.

The Redmen, who dropped to 11-4 against CIS opponents, lead the RSEQ conference with a 3-1 record and will resume conference play after New Year's when they host second-place Concordia (3-2) on Thursday, Jan. 10.


RYERSON UNIVERSITY NATIONAL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Friday, Dec. 28
McMaster 76, Humber 66 
Guelph 85, Centennial 74 
Ryerson 79, China U-19  65
McGill 73, UPEI 68 (OT)

Saturday, Dec. 29
China U-19  84, Centennial 71 
Humber 80, UPEI 62
McMaster 77, McGill 48
Ryerson 84, Guelph 67

Sunday, Dec. 30
Centennial 96, UPEI 91 (OT) (SEVENTH PLACE GAME)
China U-19  78, Humber 78 (*FIFTH PLACE GAME*)
Guelph 72, McGill 70 (BRONZE MEDAL GAME)
Ryerson 71, McMaster 66 (GOLD MEDAL GAME)

*NOTE: This game ended in a tie as the China U-19 team suffered a number of injuries and were unable to continue
 

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Centennial - Jameel Williamson
UPEI - Jermaine Duke
China U19 - Zhao Jiwei
Humber - Brett Neumann
McGill - Vincent Dufort
Guelph - Zach Angus
McMaster - Scott Laws
Ryerson - Aaron Best

Tournament MVP - Jahmal Jones (Ryerson)


SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca