MONTREAL – Charles Robert scored a game-high 17 points and Tiernan McDougall hit a trey with 9.8 seconds remaining in overtime as Bishop's escaped with a 62-59 victory over McGill in RSEQ men's basketball at Love Competition Hall, Thursday.
 
Bishop's led 12-11 after an underwhelming opening quarter where both teams combined to miss 26 of 33 field-goal attempts. The Redbirds won the second stanza 14-12 for a slim 25-24 halftime lead and extended that to 43-39 after three quarters. BU controlled the fourth 17-13 to knot the score at 56-56 and force overtime. The Gaiters took the extra period 6-3.
 
McGill had three players in double-digit scoring, led by Sean Herscovitch, who had 14 points to go along with six rebounds, seven assists and one steal. The seven dimes was the second-highest total by a McGill player this season, behind Cameron Elliot's nine against UQAM on Nov. 2. The nine assists by Elliot last semester was the team's highest regular season total in almost 14 years, since Jeff Cumming had 10 against Bishop's on Nov. 9, 2010.
 
Redbirds rookies Saransh Padhy and Joshua Soifer contributed 10 points apiece.
 
The taller Gaiters used their height advantage for a slight 46-43 edge in rebounds, primarily on the strength of 6-foot-7 sophomore Etienne Gagnon of Longueuil, Que., who ripped down 20, including 16 in his defensive zone. It was the highest single-game rebounding total by anyone in RSEQ play since Feb. 9, 2023 when McGill's Haris Elezovic pulled down 22 against Concordia.
 
Bishop's shot only 30.1 per cent from the field (22/73), drained nine of 41 attempts from beyond the arc and sank just nine of 19 from the free-throw line. McGill shot 32.3 per cent from the floor (21/65), went 6-for-23 from downtown and drained 11 of 19 freebies.
 
The Gaiters evened their record at 5-5 and with six games remaining before playoffs, they now sit comfortably in third place, four points behind the division leaders, UQAM (7-1) and Concordia (7-2). Fifth-place McGill dropped its third straight and now sits at 1-8. But the playoffs are still in reach as fourth place Laval is only two points ahead at 2-6. The Redbirds and Rouge et Or will confront each other three times down the stretch.
 
Both McGill and BU will have a day off before crossing paths once again, on Saturday in Lennoxville, Que., in an 8 p.m. tip-off at the Mitchel Gymnasium.
 
BOXSCORE
 
RSEQ STANDINGS & STATS

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca