HALIFAX -- Samuel Chaput scored a season-high 25 points and Haris Elezovic registered a double-double as McGill tamed No. 10-ranked Dalhousie 85-74 to silence a capacity hometown crowd on opening day of the 29th annual Rod & Joan Shovellor men's basketball tournament, Thursday, at the Dalplex sports centre.

It was the first meeting between these teams since March 12, 2017, when Dalhousie rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final quarter to defeat McGill 69-63 in the bronze medal game of the U SPORTS Final 8 national championship tournament.

Chaput, a native of Longueuil, Que., was selected as McGill's player of the game. In only his eighth appearance for the Redbirds since transferring from the NCAA after four seasons at Monmouth University in New Jersey, he saw 43 minutes of court time. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard shot 8-for-15 from the floor, including a 2-for-7 effort from three-point range. He was 7-for-10 from the charity stripe and added four rebounds, two steals and a pair of assists.

Elezovic, a management junior from Sherbrooke, added 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and one steal in 36 minutes of court duty. he shot 4-for-8 from the floor and was an impressive 12-for-16 from the line. It was the most free-throws made since Jamal Mayali went 12-for-12 in a 98-92 win over Laval on Jan. 8, 2020.

Two other McGillians reached double-digit scoring, with Ibrahim Gosselin-Diawara of Longueuil, and Beijing native Kevin Li netting 14 points apiece.

Shamar Burrows led the Tigers with 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals.

McGill led 19-17 after the opening quarter, 39-32 at halftime and 51-50 after three. The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth battle that came down to the final minute.

Joshua Koulamallah of Gatineau, Que., hit a free-throw and Burrows added two more narrowing the gap to 67-66 with 40 seconds remaining. Chaput answered with a contested layup to stretch McGill's lead to 69-66 with 23 seconds left.

Dal fouled and McGill missed both chances as the Tigers trailed 71-69. On the last play of regulation time, Ngala sank a heavily-contested three-point shot at the buzzer, sending the game to a five-minute overtime session.

McGill dominated the extra period 14-3. It started out as a free-throw battle with the Redbirds hitting five out of seven attempts at the line to take a 78-74 lead. Sean Herscovitch connected on a trey, then drove for a layup dagger shot to silence the crowd.

The Redbirds went 26-for-37 from the free-throw line, their highest number drained since Jan. 8, 2020, when they connected on 27 of 35 in a win over Laval.

McGill shot 45.6 percent from the field (26/57), compared to Dalhousie's 35.3 success rate (24/68). The Redbirds went 7-for-22 from the arc, compared to the Tigers, who went 8-for-28.

The visitors held a 41-32 edge in rebounds and won the turnover battle 18-17. Two members of the Tigers fouled out, including starter Lydell Husbands-Brownes and reserve Joshua Koulamallah. Another Tiger starter, Ifesinachi Chiekwe, was assessed a technical foul.

The Redbirds improved to 4-8 against Canadian opponents while Dalhousie dropped to 11-9 overall. McGill will confront Waterloo (3-12) in the tourney semifinal round on Friday at 7 p.m. (Eastern) in a game that will be streamed for free on AUS.tv.

REDBIRDS RAP: Also playing 43 minutes of court time was guard Cam Elliot... McGill was without the services of injured starting guard Sam Jenkins for the second consecutive contest.  
 

2022 ROD & JOAN SHOVELLOR TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
(all times are Eastern)

Thursday, Dec. 29:
St.FX 124, Saint Mary's 78
Concordia 89, Cape Breton 82
Waterloo 82, UPEI 70
McGill 85, Dalhousie 74

Friday, Dec. 30:
12 noon. Saint Mary's vs. Cape Breton (CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL)
2 p.m. UPEI vs. Dalhousie (CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL)
5 p.m. St.FX vs. Concordia (CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL)
7 p.m. Waterloo vs. McGill (CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL)

Saturday, Dec. 31:
8 a.m. 7th place game:
10 a.m. 5th place game
12 noon Bronze Medal game
2 p.m. Gold Medal game

Previous Tournament Champions

BOXSCORE

REDBIRDS SCHEDULE

U SPORTS STANDINGS

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)