MONTREAL – Montrealer
Sean Herscovitch scored 16 points as McGill rallied from a 10-point deficit to defeat Laval 60-51 in a key RSEQ men's basketball match-up at home, Thursday.
The contest, played at Love Competition Hall, also served as the team's annual Black Heritage Game and the Redbird wore special T-shirts in the pre-game warm-up and also those for those on the bench.
It was only the second victory of the season for the fifth-place Redbirds (2-11). With three contests remaining, two of them against fourth-place Laval (4-9), McGill has destiny in its own hands and can still catch the Rouge et Or for the final playoff berth in the RSEQ conference.
McGill, which erased an early 10-0 deficit, trailed 16-13 after the opening stanza and fell behind 31-26 at halftime. But the Redbirds won the last two quarters, reducing the gap to 41-40 after three. They then cruised 19-11 through the final quarter.
"Were young and need to score a little more but when scoring is not working, you have to rely more on your defence," said McGill head coach
Ryan Thorne. "Tonight, the guys did a great job defending and the effort was huge. Everyone tried and cared a lot and worked hard. That's all you can ask for at this point."
Herscovitch, a shifty, 5-foot-9 guard, shot 6-for-14 from the field, including 2-for-9 from the arc, and was 2-for-2 from the foul-line. The 23-year-old political science senior was also credited with three rebounds, a game-high six assists and one steal.
"Sean is one of our leaders and we rely on him for scoring," Thorne noted. "He hit some big shots early. From time to time, he tries to make a more difficult shot than he needs to but he also incorporates others and knows how to do that. He was big for us on both ends of the court."
Also reaching double-digits for the Redbirds was rookie
Joshua Soifer, a first-year law student from Regina, Sask., who had a dozen points on 5-for-7 shooting.
Pacing Laval was
Steeve Joseph with 22 points, and former McGill star
Haris Elezovic, a 6-foot-8 forward from Sherbrooke, who tallied nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Last week, he pulled down 26 boards in a game, one shy of the Quebec league record.
The marked the second time that Elezovic faced-off against his former mates but the first time on McGill's court. He graduated last spring from the faculty of management but was unable to get into an MBA program at McGill. Laval's MBA program accepted him this season and the rest is water under the bridge. Student-athletes are permitted to transfer in U SPORTS without sitting out a year if they are earning an enhanced academic degree.
"We didn't speak to that, it wasn't something that we addressed in the pre-game talk. We were going out to play Laval, not Haris," confided Thorne about his former all-star. "Academically he got an opportunity at Laval that he didn't get here. Before the game, he came in to see me and we sat and chatted. He's one of the best players in the league and he's a walking 'double-double'. I wished him all the best."
The Rouge et Or had a slight 33-32 edge in rebounds but committed a whopping 29 turnovers, compared to McGill's 20. The Redbirds shot 36.9 per cent from the field (24/65), went 6-for-29 from three-point range and shot 6-for-9 from the stripe. Laval connected on 40.8 per cent (20/49), went 6-for-19 from downtown and dropped five of eight attempts from the line.
The provincial rivals teams will cross paths again on Saturday evening (Feb. 10) in a critical 8 p.m. tip-off at Quebec City. A McGill victory would put the Redbirds only two points behind with two left to play – at home to both Concordia (Feb. 17) and Laval (Feb. 24). Assuming that McGill defeats Laval in the two remaining head-to-head meetings, and they finish tied for the final playoff spot, McGill would hold the tie-breaker by virtue of three wins in four meetings.
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
