MONTREAL -- Jenning Leung scored a game-high 15 points leading No.3-ranked McGill to a 75-53 victory over visiting Concordia in CIS men's hoops, Thursday.

It was the seventh straight victory against a CIS opponent for the Redmen who played in front of a raucous 608 fans, in addition to the McGill fight band and the Red Thunder fan club, on a piercing "Pots 'n Pans" promotion at Love Competition Hall.

"The crowd was a big part of our success," said McGill head coach David DeAveiro, who improved his overall CIS record to 315-206, including a 105-79 mark in six seasons behind the Redmen bench. "I know this was a special event tonight but we need this type of crowd regularly so our players can feed off it to better succeed."

McGill has now claimed eight wins in the last 11 confrontations with the Stingers. The Redmen led 15-11 after the opening quarter, then extended that to 34-26 at halftime and 54-42 after three. They saved their best for the final quarter, outscoring the Singers 21-11.

"It was a total team effort and our depth really made the difference," added DeAveiro. "Today was a good challenge for us because it was a close game throughout and in the fourth quarter, I just thought that we were mentally tougher. We imposed our will on them and that was the difference."

Leung, a 6-foot-1 junior guard who has been like a breath of fresh air for the Redmen this season, had the hot hand, shooting 6-for-12 from the floor, including a 3-for-7 effort from three-point range. A native of the Phillipines, he saw 30 minutes of court time and contributed three assists, one steal and a rebound.

Joining him in double figures was Francois Bourque (13 points) and McGill team captain Vincent Dufort (12). Teammate Jawara Pedican, who registered a team-high 32-minutes of playing time, contributed nine points, four rebounds and a pair of steals. Dele Ogundokun, McGill's other starter, collected seven points with a team-high nine rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.

Schneider Suffrard led Concordia with a dozen points. It was the first loss of the season for new Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic, whoese record dropped to 2-1 in league play. Concordia will host Bishop's (0-2) on Nov. 28.

McGill, which had a 31-28 rebounding advantage, won the turnover battle 22-13, posting an impressive 13-5 edge in steals. The Redmen tallied 22 points off miscues, compared to only nine by the Stingers.

The Redmen shot a stellar 45.6 per cent from the field (31/68), went 7-for-22 from beyond the arc and dropped six of 12 free-throws. Concordia shot 39.3 per cent (22/56), made three of 12 treys and went 6-for-11 from the line.

McGill, which improved to 9-1 against CIS opponents, is 2-0 in regular-season play and now the only undefeated team in the RSEQ conference.

"Our preseason schedule (was a tough one), we wanted to play the best teams in the country," noted DeAveiro. "Playing Ottawa (a 74-70 win on Nov. 1) was a big challenge for us. We played extremely well that weekend but we know that is behind us now. When you have early success, then you become a target. Everyone's gonna give you their best game, so we can't let up. We've talked about how mentally prepared and mentally tough you have to be to handle that."

The Redmen will confront UQAM (1-1) at their Centre Sportif, near the Berri metro stop, on Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. The game is scheduled to be streamed live online at tvgo.ca.

REDMEN RAP: The three McGill varsity teams that captured championships in the fall semester were honoured at halftime, namely Redmen baseball, Redmen lacrosse and Redmen rugby.... To you the Martlets, we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high in the winter semester (with apologies to Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, author of "In Flanders Fields")


SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
 
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