Gaiters Top Unbeaten Redmen @ McGill

Thursday @ McGill

     BU     17   20   23   24  -  84
#3 MU    20   15   21   23  -  79

Thursday we  traveled into Montreal to  face CIS #3 and undefeated McGill.  McGill is a very well coached team that really plays well together...they were 10-0 vs. CIS opponents this year. This was going to be no easy task, but  we were confident & have not been slouches ourselves as we boasted  a record of 6-3 vs. one of  the toughest schedules of any team in the CIS this year according the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

The game was intense right from the start. Both teams knew  what they were up against and it showed as it was very physical. The lead seesawed back & forth with neither team taking more than a 4 point lead  before  the 4th quarter started. We made a good  push to start the 4th quarter as we had 3 consecutive 3 pointers to take a double digit lead. McGill had switched to a zone to start the 4th because they had trouble guarding Jeremy Leonard-Smith the last  few minutes of the 3rd Q. We moved the ball well against the zone and found Tim Hunter for a 3 on the first possession & then Scott Ring connected on back to back 3's. To that point our inside game had carried us.

Jeremy Leonard Smith

We took a  lead as large as 14 before  McGill charged back. They had  cut it to  2 in the final minutes, but never had a shot to tie or take the lead fortunately. We had been very good  defensively for most of the game, but lost a couple of  shooters allowing McGill to make a run. We made our free throws for the most part  and our defense held as we won by 5. Did a lot of good  things, but still have not played our best basketball. We need to  clean up our rebounding as McGill out rebounded us by 12. Forunately we are taking care of the ball and forcing a lot  turnovers...we are plus 10 per game in turnover margin in 3 league games while leading the conference in field goal % defense.

Big Mike led us with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Scott continues  to be very solid as he scored 18 pts on 7 shots while only committing 1 turnover in 34 minutes. Jeremy was strong around the rim scoring 17  while Onnex added his usual double digit effort with 10 points.

I am on the road recruiting as soon as I have the post finished, but will send out a first semester summary  next week while our guys are busy studying & writing final exams!
Rod

Back on Track...

Saturday vs. Laval

BU     21   16   19   18  -  74
UL     15   17   18    8   -  58

After a difficult loss last week we needed a win at home to get back on track. Laval had an impressive 20 point win over UQAM on Wednesday and we expected them to come in with some confidence. Fortunately after a good week of practice our guys were equal to the task. Defensively we were very good at times as we held Laval to 32% shooting and forced 26 turnovers. However, we had too many lapses and gave up some needless easy hoops to Laval.

3rd yr guard Patrik Kabongo

After finishing the half with a Scott Ring 3 pt shot we had some momentum. We had opportunities to really stretch our lead out in the 3rd quarter, but we were not disciplined enough to do so. That was frustrating. Regardless, we maintained the lead and managed the clock well the final 5 minutes of the game pulling away for a comfortable win in the end.

Scott Ring was excellent scoring a career high 23 pts and adding 7 assists. Scott controlled the game and played with poise throughout. Onnex & Tim scored 14 & 10 pts respectively while Patrik Kabongo was a spark off the bench with 7 points & 3 steals.

Next up is #3 CIS ranked & undefeated McGill this Thursday night at McGill. Game time is 8 pm and we hope to have a few friends, family and alumni there!!

Rod

Gaiters Give Concordia Early Christmas Gift

Saturday vs. Concordia

BU      19    16    23    18   -   76
CU      15    23    16    23   -   77

After playing very well for  39 minutes and 37 seconds we helped facilitate a monumental comeback by Concordia to lose by 1 point. With 23 seconds to go we were up 7 points. However, going 3-6 from the line in the final (we were 17-18 for the game before that!) minute combined with a couple of needless fouls, some tough hoops by Concordia and a turnover with 7 seconds left we found ourselves on the wrong end of a game we most certainly should have won. We beat Concordia on Saturday night, but we did not win the game...none of us take any satisfaction out of that. Despite what the non-believers might think this is not the same team as in the past and we don't expect & won't falter after a good pre-season.

Mike Andrews

A good effort was wasted as we did not get the victory. It taints a fantastic performance by 3rd year post Mike Andrews. Big Mike scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and swatted 6 Concordia shots while altering many more. Mike has really started to come into his own this year and we are hoping this break out is a sign of things to come. Onnex & Jeremy each added 12 & 10 points respectively while, but I would not say we had better than average performances overall from the core of our team. Still room for improvement and our guys are expecting a lot more from themselves.

This Saturday we host an offensively talented team in Laval. Laval has struggled vs. Concordia and McGill, but has the ability to win a lot of games in our league.

I will keep you posted!
Rod

UQAM Game Postponed

Just in case anyone was looking for a result or boxscore from our game Saturday night...there was no game! Apparently there was an administrative error. This game has been on the schedule since the initial draft and has never changed...wasted trip into Montreal for our teams and parents.

Keep you posted on the the re-scheduling of the game.
Rod

RSEQ Season Opens @ UQAM Saturday

Saturday night we open up  our league schedule at 7 pm at UQAM. Every game in our league will be incredible important as we expect all 5 teams to be very tight and competitive. It is likely that points for  and points  against will be a factor in breaking ties at the end of the year for  playoff position and home court  advantage in the playoffs.

Matt McLean 3rd yr Post

The highest rank team in our league right now is McGill. They are undefeated in CIS exhibition play. No doubt a favourite, but the league champion will have to go through perennial  power Concordia and that will be no easy task. Below those 2 teams it is  expected that ourselves, Laval and UQAM will be fighting for the final 2 playoff spots.

UQAM started league play with a 5 point loss to Concordia on Wednesday and will definitely be ready to play Saturday night in their own gym. They are always a tremendous rebounding team who possesses excellent athleticism & size. The level of intensity will be up a notch from our pre-season competition as things do get testy at times in league play!

We hope to see some friends, family and alumni out Saturday night in Montreal. Just a reminder that game time is 7 pm and not the traditional 8pm!
Rod

Gaiters Defeat Lyndon St. to Finish Pre-season

Friday at  Lyndon St.  

BU     32     43  -  75
LSC   31     37  -  68

I would not  classify this as  one of  our most  spirited  efforts of the season. However, we did manage to get a win on the road which is seldom a bad thing.  Lyndon St.  played  very hard and we  did not respond  well. We missed  10 first half  free throws which does not  include  missing the front end of a couple  of 1 & 1 bonus situations which really means  we missed 12! We did not shoot much better from the 3 point line either.

We did manage to make 16-22 free throws in the 2nd half and  build  a double digit lead before Lyndon made some late  3's to make it interesting. Onnex Blackwood had 21 points while  Mike Andrews added 18 points & 15 rebounds against a much smaller LSC team. Scott Ring had a very efficient 15 points while shooting only 5 shots.

The 'real' games start Saturday at UQAM, game time is  7 pm. We have finished the pre-season at  7-3, but that does not matter now as league play is literally a brand new season and what you did in October counts for nothing. Every league game will be a battle and the team that has the best focus is likely to be the victor on that night!

Hope to see a few of  you out at UQAM on Saturday night!
Rod

Gaiters Travel to Lyndon State

Tonight we play our final pre-season game vs. NCAA D3 Lyndon State which is about a 75 minute drive from our campus down into Vermont. We are hoping to keep the momentum we built so far in our exhibition schedule as we head into RSEQ conference play next week.

Freshman Jona Bermillo

We know Lyndon St.will be smaller than us and will pose some match-up issues. No doubt they will be hard to guard for our bigs and they will show us a lot of pressure defense. Both things that will help us get better. We expect to see pressure next week when we face UQAM so this is good prep  for that.

Stay tuned for the update early next week and a bit of a preview on our league opener vs. UQAM on Saturday the 10th.

Rod