MONTREAL -- Seniors
Dele Ogundokun and
Alex Paquin poured in 16 points apiece as the No.6 ranked McGill Redmen showed why they're a bonafide contender in U SPORTS men's basketball, Thursday, starting off the New Year with a resounding 95-47 victory over the host Citadins at the Centre Sportif de l'UQAM.
It was the fourth straight league win for the Redmen (4-1) and the 48-point margin of victory was McGill's largest in 23 years of playing in the Quebec conference, since a 105-55 decision over Laval on Feb. 10, 1995. Although records are incomplete, the school record spread in league play is believed to be 55-point differential in a 94-39 win over Bishop's on Jan. 14, 1977. Including non-conference play, this was McGill's highest single-game spread in 84 contests, since defeating Waterloo by 52, with a 108-56 decision on Oct. 18, 2015.
"When you have a goal like ours, which is to repeat as (league) champions, there are no nights off, regardless of the opponent," said McGill head coach
David DeAveiro, who improved his career coaching record to 363-232 in 595 games overall with McGill (eight seasons) and Ottawa (nine seasons). "Our objective is to play the same way every game, every possession, regardless of the opponent and the score.
"We came out with a real defensive energy tonight and played at a high-speed pace. We really put pressure on them defensively, forced them into taking quick shots and made them see something that they're not used to seeing. Offensively we had our stuff, got good looks and made some shots."
McGill led 27-13 after the opening quarter, 59-25 at the half and 82-33 after three before calling off the dogs in the final stanza, which UQAM won 14-13.
"At the beginning of the fourth quarter, we took the press off their defence and played a half-court defence, which slowed down the tempo of the game," explained DeAveiro.
Ogundokun, a 6-foot-3 guard from Hamilton, Ont., shot 7-for-13 from the floor and was 1-for-1 from the free-throw line. He was officially credited with eight rebounds, although it appeared that he had perhaps double that amount. He also had two blocked shots, a pair of steals and two assists in just 24 minutes of playing time.
Paquin, who transferred to McGill this season after a stint with American University in Washington, was 7-for-12 from the floor, including a 2-for-3 effort from the three-point arc. He collected seven rebounds and a pair of steals with a team-high 27 minutes on the court.
Teammate
Francois Bourque, a fifth-year senior from Terrebonne, Que., also reached double figures with a solid 14-point. six-rebound performance.
The Redmen were without the services of scoring leader
Jenning Leung and in his absence, the bench rolled up 33 points after a flurry of substitutions and all 12-men who dressed for McGill got on the scoreboard.
UQAM had two players in double figures, with
Charles Miller scoring 17 points and
Misi-Boye Jeanneau collecting 13.
McGill, which led by as much as 54 points in the contest, had a 38-28 edge in rebounds and a favourable 12-9 advantage in turnovers. They shot a season-high 56.5 per cent from the field (39/69), went 9-for-18 from three-point range and made eight of 14 free-throws. The Citadins shot 32.2 per cent (19/59), 31.3 (5/16) and 44.4 (4/9), respectively.
The victory improved McGill's record to 4-1 in the RSEQ conference and moved them into a first-place tie with Laval (4-1), two points ahead of Concordia (3-1), which holds a game in hand. UQAM, which dropped to 0-5 with 11 games remaining in their schedule, can still qualify for playoffs as they are only a win behind fourth-place Bishop's (1-4). The Citadins and Redmen will cross paths again on Saturday, in a 6 pm tip-off at Love Competition Hall as the RSEQ schedule now moves into a month-long home-and-home phase.
REDMEN RAP:
Levi Londale, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward from LaSalle, Que., made his debut in a McGill uniform and wore jersey No. 13. In nine minutes of court-time, he had four points, a pair of rebounds and one assist. In his third year of eligibility, Londale graduated last year from Northwest College (NJCAA) in Wyoming after playing high school ball at Thetford Academy in Vermont.
| 2017-18 RSEQ Men's Basketball Standings • Classement de la saison régulière du RSEQ |
|
|
| 1 |
McGill |
5 |
4 |
1 |
431 |
320 |
0.800 |
0.0 |
8 |
| 2 |
Laval |
5 |
4 |
1 |
396 |
354 |
0.800 |
0.0 |
8 |
| 3 |
Concordia |
4 |
3 |
1 |
306 |
278 |
0.750 |
0.5 |
6 |
| 4 |
Bishop's |
5 |
1 |
4 |
376 |
434 |
0.200 |
3.0 |
2 |
| 5 |
UQAM |
5 |
0 |
5 |
311 |
434 |
0.000 |
4.0 |
0 |
