MONTREAL –
Kendrick Jolin and
Jenning Leung each scored a game-high 12 points as seventh-ranked McGill silenced the Stingers 72-45 in an RSEQ men's basketball battle for first place at the John Dore court in the Concordia Gym, Thursday.
The result -- McGill's fifth straight victory -- clinched a fifth consecutive regular season pennant for the Redmen, who improved to 11-3 with two games left and will now have the No.1 seed in the RSEQ Final Four tournament, March 2-4. It was also the 12
th win in the last 16 confrontations with the Stingers, who dropped to 9-5 and will finish second.
"This was an important road win for us," said McGill bench boss
David DeAveiro, whose troops suffered a 66-56 setback in their last trip across town. "This is a tough place to play but our guys were truly focused and executed the game plan pretty well."
The only setback for McGill was a late-game injury to Jolin, the starting point-guard who was sent to hospital after a heavy collision under the Concordia basket with just under four minutes remaining. Jolin, a 6-foot-2, 192-pound freshman from Pointe Claire, Que., was racing down the middle of the court on a fast break but collided with TJ Umar, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound centre who was sprinting back to catch Jolin. The two crossed paths under the basket and Jolin fell awkwardly to the floor, appearing to land on his shoulder. It finished the day for Jolin, who shot 5-for-6 from the field including a 2-for-3 performance from downtown. He also added two rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.
The Redmen came out of the gate strong and led 20-10 after the opening quarter. They extended that to 37-20 at halftime and 57-36 after three. McGill, which led by as much as 30 at one point, had a 34-21 rebounding advantage and posted a 9-6 edge in steals. Despite losing the turnover battle 25-18, the Redmen tallied 18 points off miscues, compared to 16 by the Stingers.
Leung, a 6-foot-1, 177-pound guard from The Philippines, only made three shots from the floor but made them count as they were all from beyond the arc. The psychology senior sank 3-for-4 from the foul-line and contributed three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
McGill also had solid contributions from
Francois Bourque,
Dele Ogundokun,
Sebastian Beckett and
Avery Cadogan, each of whom scored seven points apiece. Ogundokun, a Hamilton, Ont., native ripped down a game-high 11 rebounds and dished out four assists.
"We shared the ball well today," added DeAveiro. "All year long we haven't cared about who scores points. We just want to have good movement, get good looks and do the things we talk about in practice."
Ricardo Monge led Concordia with 11 points. With two games left, the Stingers cannot be caught by third-place UQAM (7-7) and will finish second in the league under sophomore head coach
Rastko Popovic.
The Redmen shot a stellar 47.3 per cent from the field (26/55), went 9-for-17 from beyond the arc and dropped 11 of 17 free-throws. Concordia shot an ugly 28.3 per cent (17/60), made four of 23 treys and went 7-for-12 from the line.
McGill will host their final home against Bishop's this Saturday, where they will pay tribute to their graduating seniors. Tip-off follows the women's matinee and is set for 3 p.m.
| 2016-17 RSEQ Men's Basketball Standings (updated) • Classement de la saison régulière du RSEQ |
|
|
| 1 |
McGill |
14 |
11 |
3 |
1049 |
848 |
0.786 |
0.0 |
22 |
| 2 |
Concordia |
14 |
9 |
5 |
910 |
910 |
0.643 |
2.0 |
18 |
| 3 |
UQAM |
14 |
7 |
7 |
970 |
1041 |
0.500 |
4.0 |
14 |
| 4 |
Laval |
13 |
5 |
8 |
835 |
859 |
0.385 |
5.5 |
10 |
| 5 |
Bishop's |
13 |
2 |
11 |
877 |
983 |
0.154 |
8.5 |
4 |
