HALIFAX – Samuel Chaput surpassed the 20-point plateau for the fourth straight game but it was insufficient as McGill fell 68-50 to No. 7-ranked St. FX in the championship game of the Shovellor Classic men's basketball tournament, Saturday, at the Dalplex sports centre.

The X-Men outscored McGill in three of the four quarters, shooting 35 per cent from the field and 53 per cent from the line. St.FX was able to score by committee, with 10 different players inscribed on the scoresheet, led by Avan Nava with 15 points, and teammate David Muenkat who had 14.

Chaput tallied a game-high 22 in a losing cause for the Redbirds. In 30 minutes of court-time, the 23-year-old native of Longueuil, Que., added three rebounds and shot 8-for-20 from the field. He went 2-for-7 from the arc and drained all four of his free-throw attempts.

Over the three tourney contests, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard averaged 35 minutes of court duty while tallying 69 points, to go along with 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals. He shot 44 per cent from the field (27/50), went 8-for-20 from three-point range and drained 17 of 20 attempts from the free-throw line, a stellar 85 per cent success rate. A product of École secondaire Lucien-Pagé in Montreal and Saint Anthony High School in Texas, Chaput played four years in the NCAA while majoring in business with Monmouth University in New Jersey, before enrolling at McGill this season for a diploma in applied marketing. He joined the Redbirds after a summer stint with the Montreal Alliance of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, where McGill bench boss Ryan Thorne served as an assistant coach.

Chaput was one of two McGill players to merit all-tournament status along with Sean Herscovitch, a 22-year-old political science junior from Montreal. The 5-foot-8 guard scored 16 points along with 23 rebounds over the three games, while averaging 35.3 minutes per contest. He added 10 assists, six steals and one blocked shot over the tourney. Herscovitch, a product of Dawson College, shot 25 per cent from the floor, went 3-for-11 from the arc and 3-for-6 from the line.

The X-Men led 18-11 after the opening quarter, 38-31 at halftime and 53-41 after three. They had a 47-39 edge in rebounding and a favourable 18-15 advantage in turnovers, including a 10-5 margin in steals. St.FX went to the foul line 28 times and came away with 15 points. McGill was 11-for-16 from the charity stripe.

St. FX improved to 19-2 overall, including a 9-1 record atop the AUS conference. The X-Men return to action on Jan. 6 when they host Cape Breton.

The Redbirds, who were without leading scorer Sam Jenkins for the fourth consecutive game, fell to 5-12 overall, including a 5-9 mark against Canadian opponents and a 2-4 mark in the RSEQ conference. With 10 regular season contests remaining, McGill resumes league play on Jan. 12 against second-place UQAM (4-2) in the first of a home-and-home with the Citadins at the Centre sportif de l'UQAM. The two teams will square off again two days later at Love Competition Hall in a 4 p.m. matinee on Jan. 14.
 

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:

Sami Jahan, Concordia

Samuel Chaput, McGill

Sean Herscovitch, McGill

David Munekat, St.FX

Antoine Vernon, St.FX

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Antoine Vernon, St.FX


2022 SHOVELLOR TOURNAMENT RESULTS

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:
UPEI 75, Saint Mary's 71 (7th place)
Concordia 89, Waterloo 72 (Bronze)
Dalhousie 79, Cape Breton 73 (5th place)
St. FX 68, McGill 50 (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)