LENNOXVILLE, Que – Jamal Mayali scored 17 points and Quarry Whyne added 16 off the bench as McGill extended their undefeated record to nine consecutive wins with a 69-55 road victory over Bishop's in men's university basketball before 600 fans at the Mitchell Gymnasium, Thursday.

The result was also McGill's ninth straight decision over BU and clinched first place for the Redbirds (9-0) in the RSEQ conference with three games left to play, including a return match against the Gaiters (3-6) in a rare Saturday 3 p.m. matinee at Love Competition Hall.

McGill has now finished first in back-to-back seasons and in eight of the past nine campaigns. The team is three wins away of tying the school record for best start to a season, when it won 12 consecutive en route to a 14-1 mark. The last time that McGill went undefeated in regular season play dates all the way back to 1933-34, when posting a 6-0 record.

McGill got off to a bit of a sluggish start with a slim 17-16 lead after the opening quarter and a 30-26 advantage at halftime. But as has been the team's trademark for much of the season, the second half was a different story as the Redbirds outscored Bishop's 39-29 the rest of the way, including a 26-11 margin in the third quarter. McGill's largest lead was 20 points with just over six minutes left in the game.

"It was more of a feeling-out process early on and our halftime adjustments were pretty good," said McGill bench boss Ryan Thorne, whose troops were coming off an 11-day break in the schedule. "We got into a rhythm in the second quarter and then we made some adjustments (during the intermission) that we were happy with."

Mayali, a 6-foot-1 guard from Toronto, shot 5-for-10 from the floor, including a 3-for-7 performance from three-point range. The fifth-year political science senior was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and was credited with three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.

Whyne, an economics senior from Montreal, was 5-for-9 in shooting from the field, including 2-for-4 from the arc. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard made four of six attempts from the charity stripe. He also collected a game-high seven rebounds in addition to a pair of steals and one assist.

"Quarry was very solid again today, he didn't play early in the season (due to an injury suffered in a preseason game against Carleton) but now that he has gotten into the past five games, he is starting to get a rhythm," Thorne said. "We're starting to get an understanding of where we can use him so that he's not forcing his play and having to put everything on his shoulders.and that he feels comfortable playing within (our system).

"He's one of the top players on our team but being away for so long made it hard to grade him to without hurting the whole group. He's a tough matchup for different people. If you've got a big (player) on him that's slow, then he can attack him and stretch him and shoot the ball. If he's up against a small guard, then he can post him up and play inside-out. So just understanding how we fit everyone into the lineup is where we've got to go before the playoffs."

The only other member of the Redbirds to reach double-digits in scoring was senor Sam Jenkins of Hamilton, Ont., who had 11 points and five rebounds.

For the Gaiters, Montrealer Ibrahim Ngom led the way with 15 points and five rebounds. teammate Kiano Heath, a sophomore from Sutton, Que., came off the bench to add eight points in 13 minutes of court time before fouling out.

McGill drained an impressive 15 of 17 shots from the foul-line, compared to Bishop's, which shot a feeble 6-for-10. It marked the second time this season that the Redbirds had made more freebies than their opponent had attempted. 

"That's something that I've stressed to our team all the time," Thorne noted. "We've got to focus on getting to the free-throw line, especially when playing on the road. You need those baskets. So we've spent some time on that. We got a lot of free-throws in practice this week and we benefited from that tonight. The guys attacked when they had the opportunity, got to the line and knocked them down. I was pretty happy about that."

McGill shot 44.2 per cent from the floor (23/52), including an 8-for-24 performance from downtown. The Gaiters connected on only 34.9 per cent from the field (22/63) and made just five of 39 trey attempts. 

The Redbirds had a 38-35 edge under the boards and a 12-6 advantage in steals. Bishop's committed three fewer turnovers (21-18) but the Gaiters miscues led directly to 21 points in transition for McGill.

After Saturday's rematch with Bishop's, McGill will close out the regular season with a home-and-home against second-place Concordia (6-4), beginning with the third annual George Lengvari Cup rivalry game in a 6 p.m. tip-off on St. Patrick's Day

BOXSCORE

RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS

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