MONTREAL – Rookie Saransh Padhy scored a game-high 23 points and co-captain Sean Herscovitch posted a double-double, highlighted by a school record 14 assists, as last-place McGill rallied from a 13-point deficit to upset division-leading Concordia 83-81 in a men's basketball thriller, Saturday.
 
The result gave the Redbirds a fourth consecutive Lengvari Cup rivalry game victory before about 500 fans at Love Competition Hall. McGill's only loss in this annual grudge match occurred in the inaugural game in 2019.
 
Padhy, an electrical engineering freshman from Stouffville, Ont., scored his points in just 21 minutes of court time. The 6-foot-6, 217-pound centre shot 10-for-18 from the floor and went 2-for-3 from the free-throw line. He added three rebounds before fouling out with 44 seconds remaining and McGill clinging to an 80-77 lead.
 
Herscovitch, a political science senior from Montreal, scored 11 points and collected 14 dimes to break the McGill single-game assist record held by Jeff Cumming, who had 10 against Bishop's on Nov. 20, 2009. The RSEQ conference record book, which only dates back to 2007-08 lists the benchmark as 15 by Laval's Karl Demers-Belanger on Jan. 16, 2014, also against Concordia.
 
The game itself was a tale of two halves, with Concordia, dressed in vintage Loyola uniforms, jumping into a 26-13 lead after the opening quarter. McGill narrowed the gap to 43-39 by halftime, then tied the score at 61-61 after three. The Redbirds won the final stanza 22-20.  The victory snapped a four-game losing streak to Concordia since winning the Lengvari Cup on Feb. 11, 2023.
 
It was a costly loss on two fronts for Concordia (11-4), which could now be overtaken by second-place UQAM (10-4), which has a game in hand and two left to play.
 
The turning point seemed to happen after Stingers two-time all-star point-guard Sami Jahan left the game with what appeared to be a serious knee injury. There was 4:48 remaining in the second quarter and Concordia was leading 33-30. He was injured on a seemingly innocent play, while trying to dribble past McGill guard Alexis Messier. Jahan had 15 points, all in the first quarter, on 6-for-8 shooting. The game was delayed four minutes until Jahan, the Stingers team captain, could be helped off the court.
 
He was one of three Stingers to reach double digit scoring, along with Jaheem Joseph (21) and Alec Phaneuf (12), the older brother of McGill freshman Matt Phaneuf, who saw limited duty but ended up with four rebounds, one more than his sibling.
 
Other leading scorers for McGill included law school freshman Joshua Soifer (14), who tallied the winning basket on a nifty, spin-o-rama layup in the paint with 12.6 seconds remaining, plus the aforementioned Alexis Messier (13) and Benjamin Onyenwosa (11).
 
"Last week's loss at Laval may have ended our playoff hopes but to play for this Cup in honour of someone who has done so much for the basketball programs at both schools, this was very special and it means a lot to us," said McGill co-captain Cameron Elliot, a fifth-year management senior from Ottawa. "It's a fun rivalry, they're a great team and every opportunity that we get a chance to play them, it's an intense game and we look forward to that. I've been lucky to go 4-0 in the Lengvari Cup game over my playing career and its very special."
 
The two teams were invited to a post-game reception, which paid tribute to George Lengvari, Jr., a benefactor for both basketball programs and for whom the Cup is named after. He overcame the burden of being raised in a refugee camp, emigrated to Canada and played varsity basketball for both schools while earning a business degree at Loyola and a law degree from McGill, A Hall of Fame inductee at both institutions, Lengvari had a very successful business career, serving as a financial advisor for numerous athletes, including hockey's Jean Beliveau and baseball's Gary Carter.
 
The Redbirds (3-12) will close out their season when hosting fourth-place Laval (6-10) in the regular season finale, at Love Competition Hall on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 4 p.m. It will mark Seniors Day and the team will pay tribute to five players expected to graduate.
 
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SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca