MONTREAL -- Five players reached double figures in scoring as the McGill University men's basketball team bit the Terriers from St. Francis College of Brooklyn, N.Y., 80-67 in preseason play at Love Competition Hall, Monday.

The result evened McGill's record at 4-4 against NCAA Div. 1 teams this month, believed to be a single-season school record for most wins against American opponents. Dating back to last season, the Redmen have now posted a 6-5 record in their last 11 confrontations against NCAA opponents.

McGill won the first three quarters, holding leads of 20-10, 34-23 and 59-44, respectively. The Terriers had a slight 23-21 edge in the final stanza.

McGill's shooting was on-point as they connected on a sparkling 54.5 per cent from the floor (30/55), a spectacular 66.7 from the three-point arc (14/21) and drained six of 13 attempts from the free-throw line. The Terriers shot 39.7 per cent (23/58), 34.6 (9/26) and 66.7 (12/18), respectively.

"Shooting was something that we've been working on, our guys took a lot of shots this summer," said McGill head coach David DeAveiro. "We've really been working hard on creating good shot opportunities and I think we did a good job of that today. If you do that well in practice, you should be able to do make some open shots in a game."

Fifth-year point-guard Jenning Leung paced the McGill attack with 13 points, buttressed by a 4-for-5 performance from three-point range. Teammates Avery Cadogan and Noah Daoust came off the bench to add 11 points each, while Alex Paquin and Jamal Mayali, both freshmen, contributed 10 apiece. Rounding out the scoring for the Redmen was Sebastian Beckett (9), rookie Sam Jenkins (8), Isaiah Cummins (4), Dele Ogundokun (2) and Daniel Pieper (2).

"That's what our team identity has become, we don't usually rely on one person to put up 25 or 30 points, we kind of like to spread the scoring around four or five guys," explained DeAveiro. "We want five people on the floor to be a threat all the time, to be able to score and create and do things with the ball."

The Redmen led 38-20 in rebounding, 12-8 in steals and 2-0 in blocked shots. The only plus for the visitors was a favorable 29-20 advantage in turnovers.

"We had way too many turnovers," noted DeAveiro. "We over-handled the ball, too much handling, not enough movement, sometimes we were too cute with the ball. But a part of that was St. Francis's defence. They're a very good defensive team, so we struggled a bit in that area."

Glen Sanabria and Jalen Jordan tallied a dozen points apiece for St. Francis Brooklyn, which opened their three-game Canadian tour with an 89-55 setback at Carleton on Aug. 27. Their cross-border excursion concludes at Concordia on Tuesday (Aug. 29).

Since McGill began playing a regular preseason schedule against U.S. based squads in 2004, the Redmen have a 14-43 record in 57 contests. A pair NCAA opponents remain on this year's schedule as McGill will host Siena College from Loudonville, N.Y., on Aug. 30 at 7 p.m., followed by Hofsta University of Hempstead, N.Y., on Sept. 2 at 3 p.m.

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (office)
MOBILE SITE: http://mcgillathletics.ca/mobile/index.aspx
WEBSITE: www.mcgillathletics.ca
E-MAIL: earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca