ST. LAMBERT, Que. – Georges Lefebvre registered a double-double for the third time in as many games but it was insufficient as McGill fell 66-51 to the Catholic University Cardinals, an NCAA Div.3 program from Washington, D.C.  The men's basketball preseason game was played at Champlain College in St. Lambert, on Montreal's south shore.
 
The Redbirds led 14-12 after the opening quarter but Catholic U. rebounded for a 30-25 advantage at halftime. After the break, the visitors exploded to take the third quarter 17-5. McGill took the final stanza 21-19.
 
Dan Buckley paced the visitors with 19 points off the bench, while starter Sean Neylon added 14.
 
The Cardinals had a huge advantage at the charity stripe, draining 12 of 22 freebies, compare to McGill, which only made six trips to the line and came away with three points. Rebounds were almost dead even with a 36-35 edge for the taller NCAA squad. But turnovers proved costly as McGill had a 17-11 disadvantage that resulted in a lopsided 23-7 difference on the scoreboard.
 
Lefebvre, a first-year international development studies major who transferred from Simon Fraser University, shot 5-for-11 from the field, including 2-for-5 from three-point range. The 22-year-old native Montrealer went 2-for-4 from the free-throw line. He added a pair of assists, to go along with one steal and a block playing a game-high 32-minutes of court-time..
 
Joining Lefebvre in double digit scoring was Joshua Soifer, a civil law sophomore from Regina, who tallied 10 points and pulled down six off the backboards.
 
Catholic U., which went to the NCAA Tournament last year, shot 39.3 per cent from the floor (22/56) and made 10 of 28 attempts from beyond the arc (10/29). McGil shot 40.4 per cent (21/52), making six of 15 treys.
 
The Cardinals, who opened their tour with a 75-64 victory at Concordia on Aug. 20, with be gunning for a clean sweep when they play Laval in Quebec City on Aug. 23.
 
McGill, which went 0-3 in it's Summer Series versus NCAA opponents, will now have a five-week break to conduct a proper training camp in preparation for a Canadian opponent when it confronts the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the nation's capital on Sept. 28.
 
BOXSCORE
 
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
McGill University - Athletics & Recreation
CELL: 514-983-7012
TWITTER: @EarlZukerman
E-MAIL: earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca