MONTREAL – Samuel Chaput scored a game-high 23 points and Haris Elezovic registered a monster double-double as McGill rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat Concordia 77-66 in a must-win men's basketball game at Love Competition Hall, Thursday.
 
It was the Redbirds' sixth win in their last seven confrontations with Concordia. The result put McGill (4-9) back in the race for the final playoff berth, two points in arrears of the Stingers (5-8), with three games left in the regular season schedule.
 
The 11-point margin of victory neutralized a 58-57 loss in their only previous meeting with Concordia this season. A pair of head-to-head games remain between the rivals. They will meet again in two days (Feb. 11 at 4 pm) at Concordia's sold out John Dore Court, in the fourth annual George Lengvari Cup rivalry game, then cross paths again on Feb. 18 at Love Competition Hall. If either team sweeps the two remaining contests, that would clinch the final playoff spot. If they split the next two meetings, McGill would have to defeat Laval in the season finale, while Concordia would have to lose to UQAM. Should that happen, then head-to-head point-differential would determine the last playoff spot.
 
"It's not about Xs and Os now," said McGill head coach Ryan Thorne."It's a lot about desire. We've played each other enough times to know what (systems every team) is running. It's just about who wants this more... getting after the extra possessions...  rolling on the ground... boxing out. It's all those little things that's going to determine the outcome."

After scoring the opening basket, McGill inexplicably watched in horror as the Stingers went on a 19-3 run en route to a  27-14 advantage after the first quarter. But the Redbirds roared back to win the second stanza 15-7, then stepped on the gas pedal to finally regain the lead at 42-41 with just over three minutes left in the third. McGill ended up winning the quarter 26-12, then took the final frame 22-20.

"I don't know if I did anything in there (during halftime)," Thorne said. "It's the guys wanting something and understanding that they can go out and get it. If you believe in the ability to go out and get something, then you are going to put everything on the line to do it and... (we) did that in the second half. There was definitely some pressure on (us) in the start of the first and you saw that by the defensive results... by our (lack of) offensive output. In the second and the third quarter, we stepped it up and played a lot better. So I was happy that (our guys) determined (our) outcome."
 
Chaput, a 24-year-old applied marketing major from Longueuil, Que., reached the 20-point plateau for the third consecutive outing and the fifth time in 11 league games. He shot 7-for-16 from the field, 2-for-5 from downtown and 7-for-8 from the line. The 6-foot-1 guard added three rebounds, five assists, one steal and a block in 38 minutes of court time.
 
But it was Elezovic, a management junior from Sherbrooke, who stepped up his game with 21 points, a career-high 22 rebounds and five assists. It was the ninth double-double for Elezovic on the season overall, six of them in league play. The 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward shot 9-for-17 and went 3-for-4 from the line. The 22 rebounds were the highest total in RSEQ play since the league began tracking records in 2007-08 and the second-highest regular-season total in McGill history, five shy of the 27 boards pulled down by FIBA Hall of Famer Nasko Golomeev against Queen's on Feb. 7, 1969.

Golomeev actually bettered that total in a playoff game, in a 101-89 OQAA semifinal loss at Windsor (Feb. 28/69), the eventual Canadian university champions. He ended up with 37 points and a school record 30 rebounds before fouling out with 11:11 remaining. His  playoff rebounding record was matched by McGill's John Naponick in the 1972 QUAA championship game against Loyola.
 
Other leading scorers for the Redbirds were Sam Jenkins (9 pts), Sean Herscovitch (8) and Ibrahim Gosselin-Diawara (7).
 
Four Stingers reached double digits in scoring, led by Olivier Koumassou-Bernier (17 pts) and Oge Nwoko (13 pts, 13 rbs).

McGill held an advantageous 12-8 margin in turnovers, which translated into a 10-6 difference on the scoreboard. The Redbirds shot 40.6 per cent from the floor (28/69), went 9-for-24 from distance and drained 12 of 14 from the foul line. McGill now ranks fourth in the nation from the charity stripe, connecting on 74.2 per cent (167/225). Acadia leads (76.9), followed by Cape Breton (76.0) and UBC (74.8).
 
Combined with a 77-50 victory for the Martlets in the women's game, it marked McGill's first doubleheader sweep over Concordia since Feb. 15, 2020.
 
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca