MONTREAL -- Noah Daoust of Dorval, Que., scored a game-high 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds as McGill rallied from a nine-point deficit to defeat visiting Laval 66-53 in RSEQ men's basketball at Love Competition Hall, Thursday, extending their win streak to three.

The game was part of the "Bell Let's Talk" campaign and the inaugural Mental Health Awareness Week at McGill Athletics & Recreation.

It was McGill's ninth consecutive victory over Laval and 25th in the last 29 confrontations.The result moved the second-place Redmen (6-4) two wins ahead of Laval (4-6) with six games remaining before playoffs.

The Rouge et Or jumped into an early 9-0 advantage and led 19-12 after the opening quarter. But McGill found their groove, winning the second stanza 19-7 to take their first lead at 27-26 with just 36 seconds remaining before the intermission. Ahead 31-26 at halftime, they came out and won the third quarter 19-16 for a 50-32 stranglehold on the scoreboard. In the final quarter, Laval won 21-16.

"We got off to a slow start today and our shots weren't falling, so we had to rely on our defensive ability a little more," said McGill head coach David DeAveiro, who improved to 179-119 in 298 games overall with the Redmen. "Then we got it going a little bit. We were up by five at halftime and I thought we hadn't played well at all in the first half. But we came out and established our defence in the third quarter and that changed the game around.... We hit some big shots down the stretch."

Daoust, a 6-foot-7, 221-pound forward, shot 6-for-14 from the floor, including a 2-for-8 effort from long range, and made his only free-throw attempt. The industrial relations senior, who turns 24 next week, added a season-high eight assists in 29 minutes of court-time. Daoust's shot from the charity stripe was McGill's only freebie attempt in the entire contest -- a season low for the team -- while Laval went 6-for-14 from the line.

"You've got to rely on your seniors and Noah stepped up and knocked down a couple of big threes," noted DeAveiro. "He's a fifth-year guy and has been in a lot of battles and championship games. So when games are tight down the stretch, you have to rely on guys that have been in those scenarios before.  Noah's a veteran and I don't expect anything different than him knocking those shots down. That's why we run the plays that we do and we try to use his talent."

Other Redmen to reach double figures in scoring were Sam Jenkins, a sophomore from Hamilton, Ont., and freshman Quarry Whyne, a Montrealer, with 11 apiece.

Teammate Avery Cadogan of Winnipeg, contributed eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds in 33 minutes of playing time, in the wake of back-to-back 40-minute games. Cadogan, the team's second-leading scorer, took an awkward tumble while corraling the ball along the baseline after a Laval free-throw with 4:46 remaining in the game. He suffered an apparent lower-body injury and did not return.

JJ Hamel-Carey of Montreal North, and Anthony Fisiru, a native of Gatineau, Que., two other McGill starters, had seven points apiece. Hamel-Carey fouled out with 3:32 remaining in the game.

Vladimir Thomas led Laval with 14 points, while Marc-André Fortin added a dozen.

McGill, which had a 40-35 edge in rebounding,shot 40.9 per cent from the floor (27/66), including an 11-for-35 effort from three-point range. The Rouge et Or shot 32.3 from the field (20/62) and went 7-for-28 from downtown.

The two teams will tango again on Saturday night in Quebec City. The game will be streamed live on the Laval YouTube channel at 8 p.m. A McGill victory would clinch the season series between the provincial rivals with one rendezvous remaining on Feb. 23 in Montreal.

REDMEN RAP: The team will have Friday off, then watch some video on Saturday morning before heading to Quebec City....


2018-19 RSEQ Men's Basketball Standings (updated)
 

Pos	Team/Équipe	GP/MJ	W/V	L/D	PF/PP	PA/PC	PCT	Diff.	PTS
1	Concordia	12	10	2	984	895	0.833	0.0	20
2	McGill	10	6	4	693	685	0.600	3.0	12
3	Laval	10	4	6	736	771	0.400	5.0	8
4	UQAM	10	4	6	755	755	0.400	5.0	8
5	Bishop's	12	3	9	921	983	0.250	7.0	6