MONTREAL – Samuel Chaput scored a game-high 24 points and Haris Elezovic added another one of his patented double-doubles but it was insufficient as McGill fell to Concordia 83-79 in a critical RSEQ men's basketball matchup before a crowd of 618 at Love Competition Hall, Saturday.
 
With one game remaining on the calendar, Concordia (6-9) has the upper-hand on the fourth and final playoff berth in the RSEQ conference. McGill (5-10) can still wrestle the spot away from their cross-town rivals but would have to win at UQAM (9-5) in next week's final contest (Feb. 25, 4 p.m.) and hope that the Stingers lose their finale to visiting Laval (9-6). In that scenario, the teams would be tied in the standings but McGill would hold the tie-breaker in head-to-head competition with Concordia. The teams split their four-game series but McGill outscored the Stingers by a 291-275 margin.
 
ConU led 23-21 after the first quarter, 40-34 at halftime and 61-55 after three. The Redbirds took the final quarter 24-22.

McGill shot a solid 50 per cent from the field (29/58), went 7-for-17 from three-point range and drained 14 of 20 from the free-throw line. But the host team was outshone by Concordia, especially from downtown, where the Stingers were on fire with a 10-for-20 performance. The visitors shot 46 per cent from the floor (31/68) and went 11-for-16 from the line.

Chaput was one of five Redbirds to reach double digits in scoring and reached the 20-point plateau for the sixth time in 13 league games.

Elezovic poured in 19 points and pulled down 11 off the glass. He shot an impressive 8-for-10 from the floor, made his only trey attempt and was 2-for-2 from the line. It was his 11th double-double of the season, including seven in league play.

Other high-scorers for McGill included Sam Jenkins (14), Kevin Li (10) and Ibrahim Gosselin-Diawara (10).

Concordia had four players in double figures, led by 18 from Jaheem Joseph, who went 4-for-5 from long-distance.

The game was preceded by the announcement of a newly-created endowed athletic financial award, named after head coach Ryan Thorne, which will be awarded annually to one McGill basketball player. The honour was the impetus of benefactor George Lengvari (BCL '66), a former basketball team captain and a 2022 inductee to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame. With this being Black History Month, Lengvari decided to endow a gift of $100,000 for a scholarship in honour of Thorne, who is in his third year coaching the Redbirds after directing the McGill women's program for 17 seasons and guiding the Martlets to  seven Quebec league titles en route to a national championship in 2017.

There was also a post-game ceremony to recognize the final home contest for five McGill veterans expected to graduate. That group includes Kevin Li, an economics major from Beijing, Joshua Daoust, a certificate student in human resources management from Dorval, Que., Samuel Chaput, a certificate student in applied marketing from Longueuil, Que., Sedami-Habib Djossou, a political science senior from Quebec City and Haris Elezovic, a management major from Sherbrooke, Que., who is graduating in only three years but could return for a master's degree.

BOXSCORE

STANDINGS & STATS

NATIONAL STATS LEADERS


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