MONTREAL -- Alex Paquin scored 23 points, bolstered by a pair of "double-doubles" from teammates Levi Londole and Avery Cadogan, as McGill cruised to a 91-81 victory over the Brandon Bobcats on Day 2 of the Olga Hyrcak Holiday Classic men's basketball tournament at the UQAM Sports Centre, Saturday.

The Redmen sunk 14 treys in the game -- matching a season high in an 87-69 win over Saint Mary's on Oct. 21 -- to register a lofty 42.4 from three-point range (14/33). The 91 points against Brandon was McGill's highest offensive output since a 98-79 RSEQ semifinal win over Concordia on March 3, 2018 and marked the first meeting with the Bobcats in nine years, dating back to a 77-62 Brandon victory, also at the UQAM Holiday Classic, on Dec. 27, 2009.

McGill, which never trailed, jumped into a 27-17 edge after the opening quarter and eventually extended that lead to 19. The Redmen took a safe 47-31 advantage into the intermission but the Bobcats then rallied to outscore McGill 24-12 in the third quarter, narrowing the gap to 59-55. But the Redmen outlasted Brandon 32-26 in a wide-open final stanza.

"We made a lot of threes today. Our game plan was if you have an open shot, you take it and we had a lot of open shots today," quipped McGill head coach David DeAveiro. "That tells you that the defence wasn't that good right now or we were shooting at a very good clip. We shot the ball really well in the first half -- I think were were 9-of-18 from three-point range -- but we couldn't make a three in the third quarter and they went on a long run to get back in the game. They spread out our offence and went 'small ball' on us with five guards."

Paquin, one of five Redmen to reach double figures in scoring, shot 8-for-16 from the field, including a 3-for-8 performance from three-point range. The six-foot, 185-pound point-guard from Candiac, Que., drained four of five free-throw attempts. In 26 minutes of court-time, he potted five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.

Sophomore Sam Jenkins of Hamilton added 19 points, buttressed by a 5-for-9 performance from beyond the arc. Londole collected 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Cadogan contributed 14 points and 10 boards. Freshman starter Anthony Fisiru added 11 points, giving him 20 over the past two games.

Four Bobcats also reached double digits, led by Troy Grant.who had 26 points in a losing cause. Teammate Tyson Cooper had 16, while Jaleel Webb and Steven Chiang added 12 and 10, respectively.

McGill shot 48 per cent from the floor (36/75) and drained five of 10 attempts from the foul-line. Brandon shot 41.7 per cent from the floor (30/72) but only made four of 26 attempts from downtown. They went 17-for-22 from the charity stripe.

The Redmen had a 41-37 rebounding advantage but committed 15 turnovers compared to nine by Brandon.

McGill, which improved to 8-9 overall and 8-4 against Canadian university opponents, will have a 19-day break before resuming league play with a critical home-and-home matchup against Concordia. The division-leading Stingers (4-1) will host McGill (3-2) on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 8 pm, followed by the rematch two days later in a 6 p.m. tip-off at Love Competition Hall.

REDMEN RAP: Fifth-year senior Noah Daoust sat out the game after suffering a sprained ankle early in the fourth quarter of Friday's tourney-opening victory over Guelph... In Saturday's other matchup, UQAM defeated Guelph 89-78... The tourney, which has no medal round, wraps up on Sunday at noon with a Guelph-Brandon matchup.
 

2018 Olga Hrycak Holiday Tournament Schedule

Friday, Dec. 28
6 pm:  McGill 81, Guelph 77
8 pm:  UQAM 97, Brandon 92

Saturday, Dec. 29
4 pm:  McGill 91, Brandon 81
6 pm:  UQAM 89, Guelph 78

Sunday, Dec. 30
12 noon:  Guelph vs Brandon

(no medal round)