QUEBEC CITY – Kevin Li of Vancouver, B.C., came off the bench to score a game-high 15 points as first-place McGill remained undefeated with a 76-62 victory at Laval in men's basketball at the Amphithéâtre Desjardins, Friday. The result extended McGill's win streak to four, their best start to a season since 2015-16, when they opened the campaign with five straight victories.

McGill exploded out of the gate and took a crushing 29-15 lead after the opening quarter. It was the team's highest offensive output in a quarter since Nov. 23, 2019, when they notched 31 in the final stanza of a 90-77 home-court win over Concordia.

The Redbirds stretched their lead to 43-24 at halftime and headed into the fourth quarter with a 62-44 margin . A plethora of McGill substitutions put some wind in Laval's sails and the Rouge et Or won the final stanza 18-14.

Li, a 6-foot-7, 238-pound forward who was born in Beijing, shot 5-for-7 from the floor, drained four of five trey attempts and made one of two free-throws. He also was credited with three rebounds, a pair of steals and one assist. The 21-year-old economics senor subbed into the contest midway through the opening quarter and in less than two minutes, hit a trey and pulled down a rebound. He finished with a productive nine minutes of court time before fouling out.

Seniors Jamal Mayali of Toronto and Sam Jenkins of Hamilton, Ont., also reached double digits in scoring. Mayali had 13 points and three rebounds, while Jenkins tallied a dozen points and pulled down seven off the glass.Both saw a game-high 35 minutes of playing time.

Haris Elezovic, a a 6-foot-8, sophomore centre from Sherbrooke, Que., registered nine points and five rebounds. Senior Cameron Elliot of Ottawa and Sean Herscovitch, a sophomore from Montreal, also tallied nine points apiece.

Rounding out the scoring for McGill was Leonardo De Coninck (4) of Quebec City, Sidney Gauthier (3) of Blainville, Que., and Montrealer Zachary Lavoie-Toure (2).

The Redbirds won the turnover battle 22-17 and had a slight 43-42 edge in rebounds.

McGill shot 35.3 per cent from the floor (29/68), including a 9-for-31 effort from downtown, and drained nine of 16 from the line. The Rouge et Or shot 35.8 from the field (24/67) but only connected on six of 28 treys. They went 8or-11 from the charity stripe.

Laval (1-3) returns to the hard court on Jan. 5 when they visit Concordia. The Stingers are 1-2 and will close out the first semester at UQAM (2-1) on Nov. 27.

McGill (4-0) will now have close to six weeks to recover and re-energize for what looks to be a promising second half after the exam break. The Redbirds are not scheduled to play in any exhibition games over the holidays and slated to resume league play on Jan. 6 with a short jaunt across downtown to confront UQAM.

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