MONTREAL -- Junior Noah Daoust from Dorval, Que., scored a team-high 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the No.8-ranked McGill Redmen to a tight 62-61 win over visiting Laval in their 113th regular season of men's basketball at Love Competition Hall, Thursday.
 
It marked McGill's third straight win over Laval and extended a home court win streak to 13 consecutive over the Rouge et Or since an 81-76 loss on Dec. 3, 2010.
 
The Redmen came out of the gate slow and found themselves down 11-9 after the opening frame. They didn't find the bottom of the basket until the 3:07 mark of the quarter. "We were getting good looks early but just weren't knocking them down," said head coach David DeAveiro, who improved to 127-90 overall in seven seasons at McGill. The offence got rolling in the second stanza as they outscored Laval 18-17 to only be down one at half. Both teams scored 17 apiece in the third and then McGill used a 12-2 run to open the final quarter and hung on down the stretch.
 
"That is a tough team," added DeAveiro. "Every time we play them we know it's going to be a battle. We shot poorly but found a way to win and that's what we have to be proud of."
 
Daoust, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound centre, went 5-for-8 from the floor including a 1-for-4 performance from downtown. He played 21 minutes of court time and made two of his three shots from the stripe.
 
Teammates Greg Trahan and Jenning Leung scored nine and eight points, respectively. Senior Michael Peterkin added seven points, a game-high 11 rebounds, a pair of steals and two blocks.
 
"Peterkin was great for us down the stretch," noted DeAveiro. "He gave us energy and bunch of key rebounds to help close out the game."
 
The Redmen held a 41-30 edge in rebounds and a 4-1 advantage in blocks but lost the turnover battle 21-15.
 
Laval's Alexandre Leclerc led his team with a game-high 20 points while Nicolas Begin and Karl Demers-Belanger also hit double digits in scoring with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Neither team shot the ball well. McGill went 35 per cent from the floor (21/60), 5-for-28 from three-point range (17.9) and netted just 15 of 32 chances from the stripe. Laval shot 35.9 per cent (23/64), made six of 18 from beyond the arc and shot 9-for-18 on free-throws.
 
The Redmen (1-0) will have a week off until they travel cross-town to battle UQAM on Nov. 17 at 8 p.m.