ST. CATHARINES, Ont. -- Senior
Alex Paquin of Candiac, Que., scored a dozen points as McGill defeated Brock University 78-72 in the opening round of the RBC Classic men's basketball tournament, Friday, at Bob Davis Gymnasium, located just a stone's throw from Niagara Falls.
It was McGill's season debut against a Canadian opponent and their first game since playing Duke on Aug. 19. The result was McGill's fourth straight win over the Badgers and the first meeting between these teams in four years, dating back to a 76-68 victory at the Redbird Invitational tourney on Oct. 18, 2014. Brock's last conquest over McGill was 13 years ago, a 57-55 result on Oct. 23, 2005.
The game featured a matchup between the apprentice and the master, with Brock first-year head coach
Madhav (Muddy) Trivedi and long-time Redmen bench boss
David DeAveiro. Trivedi left the McGill program last spring after a five-year tutorship as an assistant coach under the guidance of DeAveiro.
The first quarter ended tied at 17-17 but McGill responded offensively in the second winning 21-14. The Badgers won the third 24-18 but the Redmen sealed the deal in the fourth winning 22-17, Paquin scoring four jump-shots in the last 15 seconds.
Paquin, a six-foot, 185-pound point-guard shot 4-for-9 from the floor and made all four of his attempts from the free-throw line. In 20 minutes of court-time, only he added five assists, three rebounds and a steal.
He was one of three Redmen to reach double-digits, along with
Avery Cadogan (11) of Winnipeg and
Levi Londole (11) of LaSalle, Que. Cadogan led the team with eight rebounds
, while
Sam Jenkins of Hamilton, Ont., pulled down five.
McGill dressed 12 players, nine of whom scored points. Brock only suited up a squad of 10 and eight of them registered on the scoreboard.
Leading the way for the home side was
Tyler Brown of Hamilton, Ont., and
Kascius Small-Martin of Toronto, both with 14 points. Teammates
Ryan Cooper and
Noah LaPierre added 11 and 10, respectively.
McGill will play UPEI in the second round of the three-day event at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The eight-team tourney concludes on Sunday.
