Box Score
MONTREAL -- Simon Bibeau of St. Bruno, Que., scored a team-high 19 points and freshman Francois Bourque of Terrebonne, Que., registered a "double-double" as No.6-ranked McGill held on for a hard-fought 69-67 win over the visiting UQAM Citadins in men's university basketball action at Love Competition Hall, Thursday.

With one game left on their schedule, the division-leading Redmen improved to 13-2 in the RSEQ conference, their highest win total since posting a 13-9 record in 2000-01 and going 13-5 in 1988-89. Only twice in team history have the Redmen collected more wins in league play, going 16-5 in 1971-72 and 14-1 in 1976-77.

The game was a physical affair that featured 40 trips to the foul-line and 100 rebounds, with McGill pulling down a whopping 56 off the glass. McGill led 21-13 after the opening quarter, and 37-31 at the half but the pesky Citadins, fighting for their playoff lives, narrowed the gap to 54-49 after three quarters and took a short-lived 65-64 lead with 2:30 remaining in the contest but McGill regained control at 66-65 with 2:16 remaining and never looked back.

"That team does not reflect its record (3-12)... they've got some very good players and anytime you play a team that's fighting for their playoff lives, you're going to get their best game," said McGill head coach David DeAveiro, who improved his record to 76-54 over his four seasons as bench boss of the Redmen. "So we survived tonight, we did enough to win. We did a lot of good things but missed so may lay-ups early in the first half and should've been up by a lot more at the half than six... We were rebounding well... but had some guys that didn't have any energy tonight. It's a tough time for our guys right now because it's mid-term time. It's a struggle but that's McGill. We know that and just have to get through it.

"It's that time of the year where people are not going to give up easy buckets that you might get earlier in the year. This is coming up on playoff time. teams are trying to get their defence in order. The level of intensity and what this game meant tonight, especially for UQAM, drains you. It's physically exhausting, I mean, I didn't play but I'm physically tired, so I could imagine how our guys are feeling."

Bibeau, a co-captain and 6-foot-2 point-guard, was playing in the final home game of his collegiate career. He shot 7-for-13 from the floor, including 2-for-6 from three-point range and went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. The 22-year-old investment management senior also collected four rebounds, three assists, one steal and a block in 31 minutes of court time.

"He was on fire and when I took him out and he probably lost his rhythm," said DeAveiro. "But with his (often-injured) knee, you got to think about playoffs and long term. We've got to keep his minutes at a certain level. We try to do that as much as possible (to) keep his knee fresh for playoffs... One thing that I've learned about Simon is that in situations like this, he shows up. He's at his best. He loves the stage, loves the spotlight and usually comes through."

Bourque scored 11 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. He was one of four Redmen to reach double figures, a quartet that included rookie Dele Ogundokun (14 pts) and Thomas Lacy (11).

Three members of the Citadins reached double figures in scoring, with Richard Addai collecting a game-high 24 points in a marathon 38 minutes of court-time. Alexandre Bernard posted a "double-double" with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Marvin Pierre added 11.

McGill shot 33.3 per cent from the field (24/72), went 7-for-19 from three-point land and shot 63.6 from the line (14/22). The Citadins shot 34.3, 35.0 and 77.8, respectively.

UQAM, which sits last in the five-team RSEQ conference with a 3-12 record, still has a shot at catching Laval for the fourth and final playoff berth. They must defeat the visiting Rouge et Or by at least 11 points on Friday, then hope that Laval loses their season finale against Bishop's (8-6) on Saturday in Quebec City.

McGill will be looking for their 14th win in 16 games when they play at Concordia on Saturday at 4 p.m. in a game slated to be webcast live on Stingers TV.  The Redmen have taken two of their three meetings: winning 80-62 and 70-49 at home and suffering a last-second collapse in a 69-67 setback at the Loyola campus gym.


FOR MORE INFO CONTACT:

Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
514-398-1956 (Fax)
MOBILE SITE: http://mcgillathletics.ca/mobile/index.aspx
WEBSITE: www.mcgillathletics.ca
E-MAIL: earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca