HALIFAX, N.S. -- Samuel Chaput of Longueuil, Que., scored a career-high 32 points as McGill cruised to a 69-46 victory over Waterloo in the semifinal round of the Shovellor men's basketball tournament, Friday.

It marked the fourth consecutive win for the Redbirds, and their third straight over Waterloo, improving to 9-20 lifetime against the Warriors.

McGill is now 5-8 against Canadian opponents this season and will meet No.7 ranked St. Francis Xavier in the tournament's gold medal game on Saturday at 2 p.m. (Eastern). The X-men have won seven straight and own an 18-2 record overall. The contest will be streamed live on AUStv.

The 32 points by Chaput was the most by a McGill player since Sam Jenkins netted 36 in a 101-78 home-court win against Laval on Nov. 7, 2019. Speaking about Jenkins, McGill was without the team's leading scorer for the third straight outing with an undisclosed ailment.

Chaput, a 6-foot-1 guard who tallied 25 points in the tourney opening win over Dalhousie, added four rebounds, a pair of assists and one steal. The first-year transfer -- who played four seasons with the NCAA's Monmouth University -- shot 11 for 15 from the floor, with a 4-for-6 performance from three-point range. He was an unblemished 6-for-6 from the line and earned player of the game honours for the McGill.

Two other members of the Redbirds reached double digits in scoring, with Cameron Elliot and Haris Elezovic potting 13 and 10 points, respectively. Elliot, who had three steals, led all players in court-time, registering 37 minutes on the clock.

Sean Herscovitch was strong on the boards, pulling in a game-high nine rounds. He added five points, three steals, three assists and one steal.

Leading the scoring for Waterloo was Raf Llorin (11) and Cristian Craciun (10).

The Warriors had only two early leads on the first bucket and at 4-3, then trailed the remainder of the way. McGill jumped into a 27-17 advantage after the opening quarter and never looked back. The Redbirds were in front 38-26 at halftime and 52-38 after three, then won the final stanza 17-8.

McGill shot a solid 46.3 per cent from the field, draining 11 of 23 treys, in addition to going 8-for-11 from the free-throw line. Alberta made only 34 per cent of their shots (18/53), went 6-for-28 from the arc and 4-for-6 from the line.

The Redbirds had a 31-25 edge in rebounds, a 10-3 margin in steals, a 1-0 edge in blocked shots. the also won the turnover battle 16-12.

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:
Cape Breton 97, Saint Mary's 87 (CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL)
Dalhousie 72, UPEI 70 (CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL)
St.FX 78, Concordia 71 (CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL)
McGill 69, Waterloo 46 (CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL)

Saturday, Dec. 31:
8 a.m. UPEI vs Saint Mary's (7th place)
10 a.m. Waterloo vs Concordia (Bronze)
12 noon Dalhousie vs Cape Breton (5th place)
2 p.m. McGill vs St. FX (Gold)

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)