MONTREAL – Seems like McGill had the luck of the Irish on St. Patrick's Day. A pot of gold came in the form of
Quarry Whyne, a not-so-little leprechaun with ice in his veins.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound economics senior from Montreal, scored only 11 points but drained a pair of free-throws with 2.8 seconds remaining as No. 10 ranked McGill rallied from an 18-point deficit for a 58-57 victory over Concordia in a men's basketball thriller, to capture the third annual Lengvari Cup at Love Competition Hall, Thursday.
It was McGill largest come-from-behind victory since Feb. 9, 2016, when the team erased a school record 23-point second-half deficit and rallied for a 69-68 road win at Laval.
The result pushed McGill's unblemished record to 11-0, with one game remaining in the quest for the school's first perfect hoops season since 1934, when the team went 6-0 to win the Wilson Cup championship. The Redbirds will close out the current season at Concordia (6-5) on Saturday in a 4 p.m. tip-off. A McGill conquest would also tie the school record win streak set in 1976-77 when they won the first 12 games en route to a 14-1 mark in league play.
"That was a great game, a fun one to be a part of," said McGill head coach
Ryan Thorne in a post-game interview on the McGill Sports Network. "We got tested today. (Concordia is) a great defensive team, well-coached and we withstood it, so I'm very proud of our guys."
Concordia led 12-10 after the opening quarter and 28-21 at the half. With just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Stingers had a seemingly impenetrable 48-30 lead. Then McGill went on a magical 28-9 run over the final 12 minutes . It marked the fourth time this season that McGill had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
After frittering away their advantage, Concordia took a precarious 57-56 lead when
Sami Jahan drained one of two free-throws with 3.9 seconds remaining in the game. Following a time out, McGill's
Sidney Gauthier in-bounded an arcing pass to Whyne under the basket and he was mauled by
Owen Soontjens who received a technical foul with 2.8 seconds remaining. Whyne hit nothing but net, on both shots. The Stingers replied with a desperate half-court buzzer-beater attempt by
Alec Phaneuf that bounced off the rim in vain.
"We go by three pillars," answered Thorne when asked about his halftime message. "And those are head, heart and hustle. That's what I talked about to the guys at halftime, that we were playing without those three pillars... What we did on the court, we need to have our heads, know what we're doing and be on the same page... We battled and didn't give up... We didn't play a good game but Concordia forced us to not play (well), so I'm happy about the result."
Leading McGill's offence was freshman
Haris Elezovic, with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Kevin Li also reached double digits with 10 points.
Jamal Mayali, the league's leading scorer, was limited to just three points and 23 minutes after fouling out.
Jahan paced the Stingers with 14 points and
Olivier Simon registered a double-double with 11 points and a dozen rebounds,
For the third time this season, McGill made as many foul shots as the total trips to the line made by their opponent. The Redbirds were 10-for-14, while Concordia shot 4-for-10.
Concordia had the edge in rebounds (33-30), steals (8-4) and blocks (1-0). Both teams committed 16 turnovers. McGill shot 40.7 per cent from the floor (22/54), including a 4-for-17 effort from the three-point arc. Concordia connected on 40.7 percent (24/59), making five of 25 from downtown.
CARDIAC KIDS: McGill has now salvaged four games from the loss column in the dying moments this season and each time, there was another hero involved. In an 85-82 overtime victory at UQAM on Nov. 18,
Sam Jenkins hit a trey with 10 seconds remaining to force the extra session... In an 80-79 decision at UQAM on Feb. 19,
Sidney Gauthier nailed a buzzer-beater as McGill overcame a 12-point deficit with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter... In a 65-63 win at Laval on Feb. 26, McGill erased a 17-point deficit with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter and took the lead for good with 2:16 left in the game when
Jamal Mayali hit a jumper to put the Redbirds ahead 62-60.
LENGVARI CUP: McGill is now 2-1 against Concordia in Lengvari Cup play... The first two Cups were won by the visiting team, with the Stingers taking the first one 86-69 at Love Competition Hall (Jan. 21, 2019) and McGill rebounding on the road for a 58-54 decision (Feb. 15, 2020). The event is named in honour of long-time benefactor
George Lengvari, Jr., a native Montrealer and chairman of Lengvari Capital, Ltd., who presented the trophy in a post-game ceremony. Lengvari earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Loyola College (BA '63) – one of Concordia's two founding institutions – and a law degree from McGill (BCL '66). During his varsity career, he was a forward and MVP of the Loyola Warriors team that won the Ottawa-St. Lawrence league title in 1962-63 and qualified for the first Canadian Final Four national championship. He went on to play three seasons at McGill, where he served as team captain of the men's basketball squad. In May, 2021, he was a recipient of the U SPORTS Mitchell Family Alumni of the Year Award, which recognizes philanthropy... In Dec. 2021, he announced a million dollar gift to the basketball program at each of his two alma maters..
BOXSCORE
RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
