MONTREAL – Cole Syllas of Kingston, Ont., registered a double-double as the Queen's Gaels survived a late scare but held on for a 71-64 victory over McGill in men's basketball preseason play at Love Competition Hall, Saturday.
 
It was the first meeting between these old rivals since 2016, when McGill came away with a 70-61 victory in Kingston.
 
The Gaels led 24-15 after the opening quarter and 36-31 at halftime. McGill clawed back to tie the game at 51-51 after three stanzas and narrowed the gap to 65-64 when senior Sam Jenkins connected on a trey with just over two minutes remaining.  But Queen's went on a 6-0 run to end the contest.
 
Syllas scored a game-high 24 points, shooting 10-for-22 from the field, and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds. He was one of four Gaels to reach double digits in scoring, along with Cameron Bett (14), Quinton Gray (12) and his brother Luka Syllas (10).
 
Jenkins, whose younger brother Scott saw limited duty for Queen's, had the hot-hand again for the Redbirds in the wake of a 29-point performance against Ottawa on Friday. He racked up 20 against Queen's. The 6-foot-4 guard from Hamilton, Ont., shot 9-for-15 and made one of three free-throws. He added six rebounds, a pair of steals and one assist while playing a game-high 37 minutes of court-time.
 
Teammates Sidney Gauthier of Blainville, Que., and Kevin Li of Vancouver, B.C., added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Rounding out the scoring for McGill was Cameron Elliot (8), Quarry Whyne (4), Haris Elezovic (4), Jamal Mayali (2), Zachary Lavoie-Toure (2) and Charles Couture (1).
 
The game featured a plethora of turnovers, with McGill leading 24-20 in that department. Queen's had a 38-31 edge in rebounds. The Gaels shot just 45.2 percent from the floor (28/62) and only made four of 26 treys and 11 of 26 free-throws. McGill didn't fare much better, connecting on 44.3 per cent from the field. The Redbirds drained four of 25 threes and six of 11 freebies.
 
The Gaels, now 1-0 in preseason play, return to the court on Oct. 22 at UQAM. McGill, which dropped to 1-2, will host the perennial powerhouse Carleton Ravens on Saturday, Oct. 23 in a 5 p.m. tip-off at Love Competition Hall. It will be McGill's first rendezvous with the Ravens since a 76-71 loss in the bronze medal game at the 2018 nationals.
 
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