MONTREAL – Senior Sam Jenkins registered his first career double-double and Cameron Elliott scored the winning basket with 47 seconds remaining as McGill squeaked past Bishop's 76-74 in a men's basketball thriller at Love Competition Hall, Saturday.

The undefeated Redbirds improved to 3-0 in the RSEQ conference, their best start since winning their first eight games in 2017-18. It was McGill's eighth straight win over the Gaiters since a 79-69 loss on Nov. 15, 2018.

Bishop's, which dropped to 1-2, won three of the four quarters. They led 22-18 after the opening stanza but McGill stormed back with a monster second to take a 45-38 lead into the halftime break. The Gaiters took the third quarter 19-17, reducing the deficit to five and rallied to tie the contest at 74-74 with 75 seconds remaining when Charles Robert tallied two of his team-high 19 points on a layup in the paint.

But Elliot returned the favour just 18 seconds later with what proved to be the game-winning shot. The management junior from Ottawa contributed 14 points – on 4-for-5 shooting from the floor and 4-for-5 from the line – in addition to four rebounds.

A last-shot trey attempt at the buzzer by Gaiters baller Ibrahim Ngom went astray and he collapsed on his back in disbelief, while the Redbirds breathed a collective sigh of relief and celebrated a hard-fought victory.

"We played undisciplined, turnovers hurt us and (so did not) boxing out, allowing (key players) to get shots off, we just didn't play a physical game," said a relieved but perturbed McGill head coach Ryan Thorne, whose troops coughed up the ball 19 times, which led directly to 19 points for the Gaiters. "Anyone in this league can win if their (opponent) is not playing disciplined.

"That's a well-coached Bishop's team," Thorne added. "They were (missing) two major players and gave us everything that we could handle."

Jenkins, a 6-foot-3 guard from Hamilton, Ont., scored 17 points and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds in 34 minutes of court time. The fifth-year physical education senior shot 5-for-14 from the floor and was a deadly 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. He was also credited with one steal and a pair of assists but committed seven turnovers.

Jenkins and Elliot were among four Redbirds in double digits. Freshmen Haris Elezovic, a 6-foot-8 centre from Sherbrooke, Que., added 14 points and nine rebounds, while Kevin Li, a senior from West Vancouver, B.C., came off the bench to score a career-high 10 points. Senior Jamal Mayali, who leads the team in scoring on most nights, played a game-high 36 minutes and was limited to nine points and four rebounds.

Other leading scorers for the Gaiters included the aforementioned Ngom with 17, plus Connor Kelly (13) and Carl Jacob (11).

The Redbirds shot 45 per cent from the floor (27/60), including an 8-for-23 performance from downtown, and made a sizzling 14 of 18 attempts from the free-throw line. BU shot 37.5 from the floor (27/72), went 11-for-38 from the arc and 9-for-16 from the line.

Bishop's (1-2) will host UQAM (1-1) on Nov. 25, while McGill will look for a fourth straight victory when they close out the fall semester with a trip to Quebec City to play Laval (1-2) on Nov. 26.

"It's less about going 4-0 and more about being better," noted Thorne. "Everyone wants to win but winning in November is not the biggest thing for me. i want to win in February and March... so if were masking problems trying to win in November, then we're not going to win in March.... If we can go into our last game and play a better, complete (effort), where we're disciplined for 40 minutes, whatever the outcome is, I'll take it. As long as we're better."

BOXSCORE

RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS


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