LENNOXVILLE, Que.-- Noah Daoust came off the bench to score 13 points in 13 minutes, including 11 in the final quarter, to help McGill complete a 76-63 comeback win in men's college hoops at Mitchell Gym, Saturday.
 
The result moved McGill (7-3) into sole possession of first place in the RSEQ conference.  They are two points up on both Concordia (6-4) and Laval (6-6).

Neither team could put together two consecutive solid quarters. Bishop's own the first and third quarters -- outscoring the Redmen 21-18 and 26-22, respectively -- but McGill had advantages in the second (14-9) and fourth (22-7). It was ultimately a strong final stanza, where the Redmen erased a seven-point deficit at the 3:24 mark and outscored the home team by 15 points down the stretch.
 
"We've always been a good fourth-quarter team," said McGill head coach David DeAveiro, whose troops have outscored their opponents by a 180-134 margin in the fourth, by far their best offensive and defensive performances of any quarter. "We are outscoring teams by a wide margin in that quarter and we did that again today to grind out a tough road win."

Daoust, a 6-foot-7 forward from Dorval, Que., shot 5-for-10 from the floor, including three clutch fourth-quarter treys that pulled the Redmen ahead for good. He added three rebounds and a steal, all in that fateful fourth period.

"Noah hit some big shots down the stretch," noted DeAveiro. "He's been struggling with his shot lately but once he saw a couple go in, his confidence grew and it put us over the top in the fourth."

Two other players reached double figures in scoring for McGill. Newcomer Tychon Carter-Newman, a transfer from Laurentian University and a native of Brampton, Ont., and junior Dele Ogundokun of Hamilton, Ont., contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively. Ogundokun also registered six rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block in a game-high 38 minutes of court-time.

Point-guard Jenning Leung contributed nine points, while Michael Peterkin, a junior from Toronto, and freshman Michael Richard of Boisbriand, Que., came off the bench to score eight apiece. It was the first regular-season appearance for Richard who made all four of his field-goals, pulled down six rebounds and was credited with a pair of blocks along with one steal in 14 minutes of court-time.

Junior Davide Belanger, a 6-foot-6 forward from Sherbrooke, Que., paced the Gaiters with 17 points, while Abdul Kamane, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Montreal and Jona Bermillo, a six-foot senior guard from Montreal, added 15 and 12, respectively.

The Redmen had a 35-26 advantage in rebounding, a 6-1 edge in blocks and committed 10 less turnovers than the Gaiters 23. McGill had a slight margin in shooting, connecting on 42.2 per cent from the floor (27/64) and 30.0 from the arc (6/20). Bishop's shot 40 per cent from both the floor (22/55) and downtown (6/15). McGill sunk 16 of 21 from the charity stripe, while BU drained 13 of 20 attempts.

McGill has now won 22 of their last 26 confrontations with Bishop's, who upset the division-leading Redmen in the league championship game last spring.

Only a half-dozen games remain before playoffs. Next up for McGill will be a showdown with crosstown rival UQAM (5-5) on Thursday Feb. 4 at Love Competition Hall. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m., following the women's game.
 
Cellar-dwelling Bishop's, which dropped to 2-8 in league play and trail fourth-place UQAM by three wins, also returns to action on Friday, when it travels to second-place Concordia (6-4).
 

Pos	CLASSEMENTS RSEQ STANDINGS	MJ/GP	V/W	D/L	PP/PF	PC/PA	MOY/WIN%	Diff./GBL	PTS
1	McGill	10	7	3	741	682	0.700	0.0	14
2	Concordia	10	6	4	678	665	0.600	1.0	12
3	Laval	12	6	6	912	873	0.500	2.0	12
4	UQAM	10	5	5	734	748	0.500	2.0	10
5	Bishop's	10	2	8	675	772	0.200	5.0	4

FOR FURTHER INFO CONTACT:
Ryne Bondy or Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info office
(514) 398-7012