MONTREAL -- Vincent Dufort of Smiths Falls, Ont., recorded a "double-double" as eighth-ranked McGill defeated the archrival Stingers 53-44 in RSEQ men's basketball at the Concordia Gym on Saturday.

It was team's ninth victory in their last 14 confrontations with the Stingers and capped a three-game road sweep for McGill over Concordia on a day when the hockey Martlets rallied for a 3-2 victory and women's hoopsters cruised to a 77-64 decision.

The Redmen hoopsters evened their season series with ConU after having lost two of the teams' three previous meetings. More importantly, McGill has outscored them 268-260 on the season and now hold the tie-breaker in case they end up even in the RSEQ standings.

Dufort, a fifth-year physical education student, scored 14 points and collected 11 rebounds, including 10 in the defensive zone. He shot 6-for-15 from the floor, including 2-for-7 from beyond the three-point arc, and was credited with two assists in 35 minutes of court time.

"Today was about putting Vince into situations where he could be effective," said Redmen head coach David DeAveiro of his all-star shooting guard's performance. "We had to play him at the point today because of Jenning Leung's injury. We tried that at UQAM and were successful with it, so we went back to it and Vince played outstanding."

McGill was credited with 35 defensive rebounds in a low-scoring battle between the nation's second-best defence -- the Stingers allow a meagre 63.7 ppg -- and the fourth-best among all 47 CIS teams, which has the Redmen conceding just 66.8.

"Defence is something both teams really preach and hang our hats on, so we struggled out there offensively," DeAveiro explained. "We just were lucky enough to make a few more shots than they did. We'd kind of lost our identity a little bit over the last few weeks -- and that was defending. I thought we got it back in these past two games, especially today."

Francois Bourque, a management junior from Terrebonne, Que., shot 3-for-10 from the floor and nailed three of four free-throw opportunities to tally nine points, and matched that with nine rebounds.

"He's our fiercest competitor," said DeAveiro of his 6-foot-6 masked marvel, who has missed a number of games with a broken nose. "He's a presence out there. He brings a toughness that our group needs -- it doesn't allow their big men to do what they want to do when we have Frank on."

The Redmen led 17-6 after the first quarter, but the Stingers outscored their guests 16-7 in the second to narrow McGill's lead to 24-22 at halftime. The visitors recovered in the third and carried a 39-34 lead into the final frame.

Dele Ogundokun, the 2014-15 RSEQ defensive player of the year from Hamilton, Ont., tallied nine points and pulled down seven rebounds. Third-year economics major Sebastian Beckett of Georgetown, Ont., came off the bench to shoot 4-for-5 en route to an eight-point, four-rebound performance in just 13 minutes of court time. Graduate student Tychon Carter-Newman of Brampton, Ont., notched seven points, including three from the charity stripe, and grabbed a game-high four rebounds in the offensive zone.

"We had a lot of guys playing a lot of minutes today," added DeAveiro with an eye toward the playoffs. "For us to keep doing well we need to get more contribution from our bench and get some guys healthy and ready to play. That's going to be our focus over the next two or three weeks."

One of those injured players was leading scorer Jenning Leung, a three-point specialist, who has been hampered by a lower-body injury and was held pointless in 12 minutes of court time. Coach Deaveiro indicated that he was going to shut Leung down a bit so that his injury can have sufficient time to mend.

Schneiders Suffrard of Montreal led the Stingers with nine points and seven rebounds, while teammate Ken Beaulieu of Longueuil, Que., registered seven in both categories.

McGill had a 45-33 rebounding advantage and a 20-15 difference in turnovers. Concordia claimed a 6-3 margin in blocks and a 9-4 lead in steals.

The Redmen shot 34.4 per cent from the floor (21/61) and sank only three of 18 treys, but went a solid 8-for-10 from the free throw line. Their opponents shot 22 per cent (13/59), made five of 29 from beyond the arc, and were 13-for-24 (54.2 per cent) from the line.

McGill has a 9-4 record and sits tied with Concordia (9-5) for first place in the league, but holds a game in hand. With three games remaining before hosting the RSEQ Final Four championship tournament, the Redmen play Laval (6-7) at the Centre PEPS in Quebec City on Friday, Feb. 19. The Stingers visit last-place Bishop's on Saturday, Feb. 20.

CIS STANDINGS

CIS SCORING LEADERS

 

Pos	CLASSEMENT RSEQ STANDINGS	MJ/GP	V/W	D/L	PP/PF	PC/PA	MOY/WIN%	Diff./GBL	PTS
1	McGill	13	9	4	946	868	0.692	-0.5	18
2	Concordia	14	9	5	925	892	0.643	0.0	18
3	UQAM	13	6	7	951	983	0.462	2.5	12
4	Laval	13	6	7	972	940	0.462	2.5	12
5	Bishop's

FOR FURTHER INFO CONTACT:
Kirsten Whelan or Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
(514) 398-7012