MONTREAL – Sam Jenkins of Hamilton, Ont., scored a game-high 29 points but it was insufficient as his McGill Redbirds fell 70-64 to the visiting Ottawa Gee-Gees in men's preseason basketball, Friday.
 
It was a tale of two halves, with the Gee-Gees winning the opening quarter 22-11 and taking a commanding 39-20 lead at halftime. Ottawa never trailed, although the Redbirds won the third stanza 19-13 and the took final quarter 25-18. McGill battled back to make it 52-48 early in the fourth but Ottawa took a 12-point lead upping their advantage to 63-51. The Redbirds rallied again and reduced the margin to 68-64 after Jenkins hit a three with 12 seconds remaining.
 
Maxime Boursiquot scored 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds for Ottawa. He shot 9-for-9 from the field, including a trey and went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line. Teammate Guillaume Pepin added 13 points.
 
Jenkins, a 6-foot-3, 192-pound guard who was seven points shy of his career personal best tally (36), made 12 of 19 attempts from the floor, including a 4-for-8 performance from three-point range. The fifth-year physical education senior went 1-for-2 from the line and added three rebounds, a pair of steals and one assist.
 
Jamal Mayali, a political science senior from Toronto, played a game-high 36 minutes and contributed 19 points with a pair of rebounds for the Redbirds. The 6-foot-1 guard shot 4-for-7 from beyond the arc and drained five of six attempts from the line.
 
Rounding out the scoring for McGill was Montrealer Quarry Whyne (9 pts, 5 rbs), freshman Sidney Gauthier (6) and junior Cameron Elliot (1) of Ottawa.
 
Ottawa shot 52 per cent from the field (26/50), 27.8 from three-point territory (5/18) and 75 per cent from the foul-line (13/20). McGill only shot 37.3 per cent from the floor (22/59), went 9-for-26 from downtown and drained 11 of 14 from the charity stripe.
 
The result put a damper on McGill bench boss Ryan Thorne, who was coaching in his 500th game for the University, including 498 with the women's program. He becomes just the fifth coach in McGill history, in any sport, to reach the 500 milestone, after volleyball's Rachele Beliveau (1,202) and hockey coaches Peter Smith (838), Kelly Nobes (700), and Martin Raymond (520).
 
Ottawa (1-0) plays at UQAM (1-0) on Saturday (Oct. 16) at 4 pm, while McGill (1-1), will host Queen's a few hours later at 7 p.m.
 
BOXSCORE
 
 
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Off.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca