MONTREAL – Jamal Mayali scored 21 points and Sam Jenkins added 20 as McGill outlasted a pesky UQAM squad 77-71 in an RSEQ men's basketball semifinal before 460 fans, the largest crowd of the season at Love Competition Hall, Wednesday.

And despite being knocked out of the national Top 10 rankings this week, it proved to be a lucky 13th consecutive victory for McGill, breaking the team record of 12 accomplished to start the 1976-77 season.

The result, McGill's fourth straight conquest over UQAM, ended the season for the Citadins, while the Redbirds advance to host the league championship game against Concordia on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Stingers qualified after cruising to a 76-42 semifinal win over visiting Bishop's.

This will be McGill's first trip to the Quebec final since a 98-77 win over Concordia in 2018, which at the time was their sixth straight appearance in the RSEQ banner game.

The Citadins, who led by as much as seven late in the opening quarter, took a 20-18 advantage into the second stanza but McGill rebounded nicely to win that segment by seven and held a 39-34 edge into the halftime break. UQAM won the third 17-16 but McGill outpaced the visitors 22-20 in the final quarter .

"I don't think that we played well, to our abilities and we made some careless mistakes and we've got to be better," warned McGill bench boss Ryan Thorne, the conference's newly-minted coach-of-the-year award recipient. "That UQAM team is gritty and they fight and made it tough on us. I didn't take anything for granted and never felt until the very end that it was over."

Once again it was McGill's mainstays that made the difference, the three-ball and the charity stripe. The Redbirds drained nine of 20 attempts from downtown, compared to UQAM, which only connected on three of 17. And for the fifth time in 13 league and playoff games, McGill scored more freebies than their opponents had attempts.

Mayali, who was announced as the conference MVP hours before the game, stepped on the court and played 37 minutes. He led all scorers and shot 6-for-18, including an off-night from downtown, where he only went 2-for-6. But he made up for that by knocking down seven of his eight attempts from the line, in addition to pulling down seven rebounds. He was also credited with three assists and a steal.

Jenkins, announced earlier as an RSEQ second-team all-star, went 4-for-6 from three-point range. He added a game-high five assists and four rebounds.

"Sam had some foul trouble but he got us going early with a couple of big threes," said Thorne. "He a confident shooter and sometimes I think our guys shoot the three a little too quick but he knows when to pull it and my job is not to over-coach guys that are skilled. It's to find opportunities to put them into positions to be successful. Maybe slow them down at times but you gotta let guys like Sam and Jamal go because they're big time shot-makers."

Also reaching double digits was Quarry Whyne, who came off the bench to score 17 points in 33 minutes of action.33 minutes. He added five rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Cameron Elliot, who was overlooked in the all-star voting, became the team's first player this season to stay on the court from start to finish. He had nine points, four rebounds and a pair of assists.

Four of UQAM's starters all reached double figures, including all-star forwards Alex Lochard (17 pts) and Frantson Demosthene, who tallied 16 points and eight rebounds before fouling out. Samuel Cayo and Karim Subban added 12 and 10, respectively.

McGill, which had a 34-30 edge in rebounding, shot only 41.3 per cent from the field (26/63), compared to the Citadins, who made 29 of 60.

The Redbirds must know turn their focus on Saturday's championship affair against the Stingers. This season, McGill swept all three meetings to date with Concordia, winning 77-62 and 58-57 at home, and taking a 67-63 decision on the road. But the past means nothing in a winner-take-all game.

BOXSCORE

RSEQ BASKETBALL STATS & STANDINGS


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