Box Score
MONTREAL --
Ghiavonni Robinson scored a game-high 24 points and
Trent Steen added 10 as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff out-paced McGill 71-43 in men's preseason basketball at Love Competition Hall, Sunday.
The Golden Lions, an NCAA Div 1 team from Pine Bluff, Ark., finished their week-long four-game Canadian tour with a 2-2 record. They opened the excursion with a shocking 66-64 loss at UQAM (Aug. 8), followed by a 64-62 win at Laval (Aug. 10) and a 117-74 loss at Carleton (Aug. 12).
It marked McGill's 11th straight loss to an NCAA Div. 1 opponent since their last win, a 74-72 decision over Siena College on Aug. 25, 2013.
Pine Bluff led 19-9 after the opening quarter, 42-25 at halftime and 56-36 after three quarters. They outscored McGill 15-7 in the final stanza. The Redmen held a 26-19 margin in rebounding but coughed up the ball 20 times compared to only five by the Golden Lions.
"We struggled today, shooting the ball and handling their zone defence," said McGill head coach
David DeAveiro, who was back behind the bench after spending a week at an NBA Americas training camp in Mexico. "They were very aggressive and active with their hands. They trapped us a number of times and we just weren't ready for that kind of defence."
Sebastian Beckett, an economics senior from Georgetown, Ont., was the only McGill player to reach double figures in scoring. He had 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting and nailed all three free-throw attempts. Beckett also pulled down five rebounds, matching
Michael Richard of Boisbriand, Que., -- who also had six points -- for the team-high under the glass.
Rounding out the McGill scoring was
Berk Genel (6),
Avery Cadogan (5),
Noah Daoust (5),
Abdul Atta (4), freshman
James Wells (3) and
Isaiah Cummins (2).
UAPB shot an impressive 48.1 percent from the floor (26/54), went 7-for-35 from three-point range and dropped 12 of 14 free-throws (85.7%). The Redmen shot 33.3 (17/51), 10.5 (4/38) and 83.3 (5/6), respectively. The 38 attempts from beyond the arc was a single-game team record,
"We're doing different things with these exhibition games than maybe some of the other (CIS) schools," noted DeAveiro, whose substitutions featured five players at a time for most of the contest. "We're giving our young kids an opportunity to play. That's what the five-on, five-off is for. We're using this as an evaluation tool, then closing out the game in the last 15 minutes with the players we think give us a chance to compete. We're using our lineup in different ways, so I'm not really concerned about the score but rather how we play. And I don't think we played well today."
McGill, now 0-3 in their annual preseason schedule against NCAA teams, will host Florida A&M on Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. Their final NCAA matchup at Love Competition Hall, against Farleigh Dickinson
University from Teaneck, N.J. , has been moved to Aug. 20 at 3 p.m. after initially being listed for Aug. 18.
REDMEN RAP: Redmen scoring leader
Francois Bourque suffered a lower body injury early in the game and saw limited duty. The 6-foot-6, 197-pound senior forward had no shot attempts in the game... Also missing in action was senior guard
Dele Ogundokun, the Quebec league's two-time defensive player of the year, who did not dress... McGill's training camp roster features five freshman, five sophomores, four juniors and six seniors.
