MONTREAL --
Kevin Li came off the bench to lead a six-pack of double-digit scorers as McGill triumphed 85-68 over visiting Laval in RSEQ men's basketball at Love Competition Hall, Saturday.
The result was the first victory in five tries for McGill, which improved to 1-4 in league play in the wake of an undefeated season last year. It also avenged a lacklustre 84-70 setback to the Rouge et Or in Quebec City on Nov. 5.
Both teams tallied 19 points in the opening quarter but McGill moved into overdrive to win the second stanza by a lopsided 34-13 edge. It was bizarrely opposite to the last game played in Quebec City, when McGill took a one-point lead after the first quarter but were outscored by a 27-12 margin in the second.
Li, a 6-foot-8, 237-pound forward from Beijing, scored 15 points, pulled down six rebounds and registered three dimes. The 22-year-old economics senior shot 5-for-7 from the field, including a red-hot four triples in five attempts from three-point range.
He was aided and abetted on the scoresheet by teammates
Haris Elezovic (14 pts, 9 rbs).
Sam Jenkins (13 pts),
Sean Herscovitch (11),
Zachary Lavoie-Toure (11) and
Samuel Chaput (10).
Laval had a 32-27 edge under the boards but McGill won the turnover battle with an impressive 20-7 difference, primarily a result of a spiffy 13-3 margin in steals. The turnovers translated into a 27-12 advantage for McGill on the scoreboard.
The Redbirds shot 47.8 per cent from the field (32/67), going 10-for-32 from the arc. They drained a solid 11 of 15 from the line, paced by freshman
Samuel Chaput, who shot 4-for-6.
The Rouge et Or connected 44.8 per cent of their shots from the floor (26/58), made 10 of 27 treys and went a perfect 6-for-6 from the line.
Laval (2-3) sits fourth in the RSEQ standings, two points ahead of McGill (1-4), and will return to action on Dec. 1 when they return to Montreal to confront second-place UQAM (3-2). The Redbirds are off until Saturday, Dec. 3, when third-place Bishop's (2-3) will visit the Currie Gym in a 4 p.m. matinee.
BOXSCORE
RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
