MONTREAL -
Cole Syllas of Kingston, Ont., registered a double-double as the Queen's University Gaels defeated McGill 71-55 in men's preseason basketball at Love Competition Hall, Sunday. It was the Redbirds first game of the fall against Canadian opponents after going winless in three August games against NCAA opponents.
The game marked the return of
Sam Jenkins to the McGill lineup. It was the first competition of the season for the fifth-year guard from Hamilton, Ont., who had graduated with a physical education degree last spring and missed the team's August training camp. But he couldn't resist the opportunity to confront his younger brother,
Scott Jenkins , who suited up for Queen's. It was their second head-to-head meeting at the university level.
The McGillian tallied team-highs in both points (14) and rebounds (8). He shot 5-for-13 from the floor and 2-for-5 from the line. He added three assists, and a pair of steals while playing a team-high 34 minutes of court-time.
His bro saw limited duty with the Gaels, playing six minutes and shooting 0-for-3 from the field.
Queen's overpowered McGill 23-4 in the first quarter but the Redbirds bounced back for a 20-18 edge in the second. The teams battled to a 19-19 stalemate in the third and the home side had a modest 12-11 advantage in the final stanza.
Syllas paced the Gaels with 15 points, on 7-for-17 shooting from the field, and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. He was one of four Queen's players to reach double digits in scoring, along with his brother
Luka Syllas, who had a game-high of 16,
Isaac Krueger (13) and
Cameron Bett (11).
Ibrahim Gosselin-Diawara of Longueuil, Que., and Montrealer
Zachary Lavoie-Toure added nine and eight points for McGill, respectively. Rounding out the scoring for the Redbirds was
Cameron Elliot (6),
Haris Elezovic (6),
Kevin Li (6),
Sean Herscovitch (4), and
Ashton Meace (2).
The game featured a plethora of turnovers, with McGill leading 19-15 in that department. Queen's, which had a 43-32 edge in rebounds, shot 37.1 percent from the floor (26/70), made eight of 40 treys and 11 of 16 free-throws. McGill connected on just 33.3 per cent from the field, drained four of 24 threes and 11 of 19 freebies.
The Gaels, now 2-0 in preseason play, return to the court on Oct. 6 at St Lawrence College.
McGill dropped to 0-4 overall and has two weeks off before hosting the annual Redbird Classic Tournament. They are scheduled to play three games in as many days against Lethbridge (Oct. 14), Saint Mary's (Oct. 15) and Ottawa (Oct. 16).
2022-23 REDBIRDS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
