MONTREAL – Junior Francois Bourque and sophomore Noah Daoust scored 17 points apiece but it was all in vain as the UQAM Citadins upset division-leading and No.6-ranked McGill with a stunning 82-78 overtime decision in men's college hoops at Love Competition Hall, Thursday.

It was only UQAM's (6-5) third victory in their last 15 confrontations with the Redmen (7-4), who dropped into a first-place tie with Concordia (7-4) in the RSEQ standings, with five games left to play.
 
"When we needed to make a big shot, we didn't make a big shot. When we needed a key rebound, we didn't come down with the rebound. When the ball was loose we just somehow couldn't come up with the steal," said a blunt McGill head coach David DeAveiro. "We just weren't clutch when we had to be tonight and that was the story of the game."

Kewyn Blain was one of four Citadins to reach double figures in scoring with 22 points. His supporting cast included Julien Girard (19), Charles Miller (16) and Greishe Clerjusts (13).

McGill led 22-14 after the opening quarter but UQAM rallied to outscore their cross-town rivals 14-8 in the second, cutting the deficit to 30-28 at halftime. A wild third quarter, where the Citadins exploded for 28 points, gave them a 56-49 lead heading into the fourth frame. McGill managed to keep it close down the stretch and a Daoust trey with 35 seconds remaining forced overtime as neither team could connect on potential game-winning shots their next two possessions.
 
In the five-minute extra period, the back-and-forth battle continued and it came down to the final minute once again. Dele Ogundokun, a junior guard from Hamilton, Ont., had a chance to tie the game for McGill with 19 seconds left but only made one of his two free-throws. Teammate Jenning Leung, the team's leading scorer who was playing hurt, then had his own chance to tie it with six seconds remaining but his drive to the hoop came up short. When it was all said and done the Citadins outscored McGill 12-8 in the extra session to earn a hard-fought road victory.

Bourque, a 6-foot-5 forward from Terrebonne, Que., had an impressive return to action after missing four games with an upper-body injury. He went 8-for-9 from the field including one long-range bomb. The accounting major also tallied eight rebounds, three steals, two blocks and a pair of assists.
 
Daoust, a 6-foot-7 centre from Dorval, Que., continued to be the late game spark-plug for McGill, scoring all of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and overtime period. He was 6-of-13 from the floor with two key treys and had a 3-for-4 performance from the charity stripe.
 
"That's what Noah can do. He can score," noted DeAveiro. "Where we would like to see Noah get better is his defence. He needs to become more of a presence in the paint. We saw him come up with a key block down the stretch now we just need that on every possession."

Tychon Carter-Newman of Brampton, Ont., was the only other Redmen to reach double figures, scoring 11 points. A transfer guard from Laurentian is a graduate student in urban planning, he was 5-for-7 shooting with one trey, five assists and four rebounds.

Starters Ogundokun and Leung both added nine points while team captain Vincent Dufort chipped in with six. Ogundokun also contributed nine rebounds, five assists, a pair of steals and a block.
 
McGill had a 44-32 rebounding advantage but lost the turnover battle 23-17, resulting in a 20-14 disadvantage in points scored from miscues. They shot 38.9 per cent from the floor (28/72) and drained only five of 26 treys, compared to UQAM, which shot 42.2 (27/64) and made eight of 16 from beyond the arc.

The cross-city rivals have now split their two confrontations this season and will rendezvous again in just two days, at UQAM's Centre Sportif on Saturday in a 7 p.m. tip-off. McGill holds a 30-23 advantage in the all-time series but are only 12-14 in road games at UQAM.

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