LENNOXVILLE, Que --
Alex Paquin of Montreal came off the bench and poured in 29 points and senior
Jenning Leung added 21 more as McGill routed the Bishop's Gaiters 100-78 before more than 500 at the Mitchell Gymnasium, to close out the first semester of RSEQ men's basketball, Saturday.
It marked the highest offensive output by the Redmen in league play since a 102-88 home-court victory over Bishop's on Nov. 20, 2009, and their highest overall since a 108-56 preseason thrashing of Waterloo on Oct. 18, 2015. McGill had a massive 17-7 advantage in steals, a beneficial 33-14 ratio in turnovers committed and a 4-3 edge in blocks. The Gaiters had a 45-40 rebounding advantage.
"We were stuck at 99 for a little while -- over two and a half minutes," said McGill bench boss
David DeAveiro, whose squad finally hit the century mark with 37 seconds left in the game. "Our energy was good today. We came in and it was a good, vocal crowd but our energy quieted them down and took the crowd out of the game a little bit. We got into a rhythm and it was nice to see a bounce-back after a tough (70-58) loss to Concordia (on Nov. 18).
"We got back to doing some of the things that we were doing before the Concordia game -- playing up-tempo, focusing the issue with our defence and full-court defence."
McGill led 24-19 after one stanza, 50-33 at halftime and 80-49 after the third quarter.
Paquin, a six-foot, 190-pound point-guard in his first year after transferring from the NCAA's American University, where he played three years in Washington, shot 9-for-18 from the field, including 6-for-10 from beyond the three-point arc, and was 5-for-6 on free throws. He also pulled down two rebounds, had a pair of steals and four assists, all in just 22 minutes on the court.
"He's getting a little more comfortable in terms of what we're looking for from him," said DeAveiro, who improved to 154-105 in 259 games behind the McGill bench and 362-232 in 594 games overall, including a nine-year stint at uOttawa.. "Just playing with flow and doing the things that he does well without trying to do too many things. That's where he gets in trouble, when he does too (much)."
Leung, a three-point specialist shot 7-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-9 from downtown, and drained both his free throws. The 6-foot-1, 181-pound point-guard from the Philippines also grabbed two rebounds, had two steals and a pair of assists.
"I think we're going to see more of both of them playing together in the second semester," said DeAveiro of Leung and Paquin, who have been splitting the duties in the back-court. "We've been experimenting with that. When you have two shooters like that, it's important to have our two top shooters on the floor as much as we can."
Dele Ogundokun of Hamilton, Ont., also reached double-digits with 12 points and corralled six rebounds. The 6-foot-3, 226-pound guard also had four assists and two steals.
Abdul Kamane paced the Gaiters with 21 points.
The Redmen shot 43 per cent from the field (34/79), including 35 per cent from beyond the arc (14/40) and were 18-for-30 from the free-throw line. Bishop's shot 43.6 per cent from the field (24/55), making nine of 24 treys, and connected on 72.4 per cent from the line (21/29).
Bishop's (1-3) closes out the semester against Laval (3-1) on Dec. 1, while McGill (3-1) resumes their season next semester with a home-and-home against the winless Citadins (0-4), at UQAM on Jan. 4, then back at Love Competition Hall on Jan. 6.
LINK TO BOXSCORE
| 2017-18 RSEQ Men's Basketball Standings • Classement de la saison régulière |
|
|
| 1 |
McGill |
4 |
3 |
1 |
336 |
273 |
0.750 |
0.0 |
6 |
| 2 |
Concordia |
4 |
3 |
1 |
306 |
278 |
0.750 |
0.0 |
6 |
| 3 |
Laval |
4 |
3 |
1 |
316 |
284 |
0.750 |
0.0 |
6 |
| 4 |
Bishop's |
4 |
1 |
3 |
306 |
354 |
0.250 |
2.0 |
2 |
| 5 |
UQAM |
4 |
0 |
4 |
264 |
339 |
0.000 |
3.0 |
0 |
