Box Score
MONTREAL -- Senior Simon Bibeau of St. Bruno, Que.,  hit a clutch trey in the dying seconds to force overtime and junior Nathan Joyal of St. Lazare, Que., scored the winning basket late in the extra period as No.8-ranked McGill escaped from UQAM with a thrilling 78-76 victory over the Citadins in men's college hoops at the Centre Sportif, Saturday.
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McGill has now won four consecutive confrontations against the Citadins -- including all three this season -- improving their all-time head-to-head series to 25-21 lifetime.

Bibeau led McGill with 17 points on the strength of a 7-for-16 shooting performance from the floor and a perfect 2-for-2 effort from the charity stripe. The 21-year-old co-captain also added six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
 
In the five-minute overtime session, McGill led 76-74 with under a minute remaining but UQAM's Alexandre Bernard, who ended up with a game-high 24 points, hit a key jumper to tie even the score with 25 seconds left. McGill held on for a last-second shot and Vincent Dufort's jumper was just off the mark but Joyal tapped in the rebound with four seconds remaining to secure the victory. UQAM's Richard Addai had one last heave for a "Hail Mary" shot but came up short.

The Redmen, who have been averaging 17.3 turnovers per game, committed 26 miscues on the night. UQAM was not any better protecting the ball, turning it over 26 times themselves.
 
"I thought we were tired tonight," said a relieved McGill head coach David DeAveiro, whose team defeated UQAM for the second time in three days. "Back-to-back games are a grind. We got off to a slow start and were sloppy with the ball."

UQAM, which still has a chance to qualify for playoffs despite being in the basement of the RSEQ standings with a 2-10 record, came out flying and went punch-for-punch with McGill throughouut the contest.

"We are getting every team's best game. We are the number one team on the road and UQAM is fighting for that last playoff spot," noted DeAveiro on UQAM's effort against his troops. The Citadins only trailed 15-14 after the first quarter and managed to tie the score at 30-30 heading into the locker room.

After the break McGill opened the throttle and established a nine-point advantage in the third quarter before taking a 50-46 lead into a wild and crazy fourth stanza. They hung onto to the lead until Bernard gave UQAM a one-point edge at 69-68 with 29 seconds remaining. Bernard then made it 71-68 after a pair of foul shots with seven seconds left.

DeAveiro then called a timeout to draw up a play, which paid off and resulted in Bibeau draining a three-pointer with five seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score at 71-71.

Bibeau was one of four Redmen to reach double figures in scoring. Dele Ogundokun, a 6-foot-3 freshman guard from Hamilton, Ont., collected 15 points, four rebounds, two steals and one assist. Regis Ivaniukas, a freshman guard from Oakville, Ont., came off the bench and had a break-out performance, going 5-of-6 from the field with three treys for 13 points. Francois Bourque, a rookie forward from Terrebonne, Que., was perfect from the field (5/5) and added two from the line for 12 points before fouling out. The aforementioned Dufort contributed nine points and three steals in a team-high 40 minutes of court time.
 
McGill had another great shooting night hitting 48.4 per cent from the field (30/62), including a 6-for-15 performance from downtown. They drained 12 of 15 from the foul-line. The Citadins meanwhile, shot 42.9 from the floor (27/63) and 7-for-19 from three-point range. They sunk 15 of 21 from the charity stripe.
 
Philippe Tamba, Nicolas Audet and Richard Addai all reach double figures for the Citadins, scoring 16, 11, and 10, respectively. 
 
With four games remaining before post-season play, the Redmen (10-2) now have a healthy lead on the top spot in the RSEQ standings after jockeying with Bishop's (8-4) and Concordia (6-6) for the past few weeks. McGill will host Laval (4-8); a team that appears to be shaping up as their eventual first-round match-up in the playoffs. Tip-off is schedule for 8.p.m on Thursday (Feb. 13) at Love Competition Hall. That same night,  UQAM will travel across town to battle Concordia in a must-win affair to keep their playoff hopes alive.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ryne Bondy and Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012