ATHENS, Greece -- Well it wasn't really a Greek tragedy nor was it a comedy of errors but it was perhaps a little of both as the McGill University women's basketball team came up on the short end of a 62-61 score in preseason play against Kronos AD on Tuesday, less than two days after a trans-Atlantic flight to Athens.

The game start was delayed -- more than hour due to some late-arriving officials -- ended early with a clock failure at the venue, and was called after only three quarters.

Kronos, which finished first of a dozen pro teams in the Greece A2 league's South Division with a 20-2 record last spring, led McGill by a 23-22 margin after the opening quarter. They maintained a slim 48-47 advantage at the half and hung on for the one-point margin of victory when the game was halted prematurely.

An official scoresheet was not available due to the technical problems but the unoffical results had Alex Kiss-Rusk  a 6-foot-4 junior from Beaconsfield, Que., leading the Martlets with 19 points and six rebounds. Teammate Mariam Sylla, a senior from Guinea, added a dozen points and pulled down five boards under the glass.

"Definitely a different style of play in international basketball," said McGill head coach Ryan Thorne. "Embellishments are part of the game and you have to keep your composure with officials. I'm sure there was a bit of jet-lag and playing at 9 p.m. down here (3 p.m. Monteal time, only 37 hours after landing in Athens) definitely didn't help.
 
"I was disappointed with our overall effort but pleased with the fact that we were able to execute some good things on offence. The size combination of Alex and Mariam really helped us, along with the play of Marie-Love Michel who scored nine points and had five rebounds."

McGill is scheduled to have Wednesday off for a day-long tour of three Greek islands before returning to the hard-court on Thursday (Sept. 3) against Terpsithea, another women's pro team that finished seventh of 10 teams in the A1 league with a 6-11 record last year.

The Martlets are slated to conclude their week-long exhibition tour against AE Elliniko on Sept. 5, That squad finished atop the A1 league last spring with a stellar 17-1 mark.

Fans are invited to follow the tour via the Martlet Basketball Twitter account: @MartletBBall and/or the McGill Athletics twitter feed @McGillAthletics

SEE 2015-16 MARTLET BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

SEE 2015-16 MARTLET BASKETBALL TEAM ROSTER

SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
 
SEE COMPLETE McGILL VARSITY SCHEDULE ONLINE AT:
www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx