BU Sports Info Release on RSEQ Awards

GAITERS WELL REPRESENTED IN RSEQ AWARDS

February 27, 2013

MONTREAL – The RSEQ announced the men’s basketball all-star teams and major award winners on Wednesday and the Bishop’s Gaiters were well represented.  Mike Andrews was named player of the year and defensive player of the year, Rod Gilpin was the coach of the year and Tim Hunter received the RSEQ’s nomination for the Ken Shields award.  Andrews and Jeremy Leonard-Smith were both first team all-stars while Jonathan Bermillo cracked a spot on the all-rookie team.

Andrews an Oakville, Ontario native was a force in the RSEQ.  He was second in the conference in scoring averaging 15.3 points per game on a league leading 53.8 percent shooting.  He averaged 6.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists and was second in the country with 2.0 blocks per game all the while averaging 24.9 minutes off the bench. The 6-foot-10, third year centre was named Provigo Robert Lafond Bishop’s Athlete of the Week three times during the season.

Gilpin from originally Sudbury, Ontario is in his fifth year at the helm of the storied Gaiters men’s program.  This season was without a doubt his most successful.  The Gaiters posted a 17-8 overall record and 10-6 RSEQ league record en route to a second place finish.  A year ago Bishop’s missed the playoffs with a 4-12 record (9-16 overall). This is his first RSEQ men’s coach of the year award to go along with his five RSEQ women’s coach of the year awards (1994-95, 97-98 and three straight from 2002-2005), all with Bishop’s.

Hunter earns his second consecutive Ken Shields Award nomination for excelling on the court while performing well in the classroom and being heavily involved in the Bishop’s and Lennoxville communities.

On the hardwood the 6-foot-7 forward was solid.  He averaged 9.9 points per game, while shooting 41.1 percent from the field.  His 2.3 steals per game was second in the RSEQ and 10th in the CIS.  He played 30.7 minutes per game while starting every game in his final university season.

Off the court the Baie D’Urfe, Quebec native was a true leader.  He spearheaded many different team initiatives giving back to the Lennoxville community.  He started ‘Terry’s Cause on Campus’, is the LAMPE Foundation student representative, has been involved with the ‘Barrage Routier’ that benefits the Heart and Stroke Foundation for the past two winters, has coached at countless basketball camps and clinics and was a driving force in the Alexander Galt Christmas Basket Campaign where the Gaiters bagged groceries while raising funds for the local high school.

Leonard-Smith (Ottawa) earned a first team all-star selection while Bermillo (Montreal) put up strong numbers in his first university season and was named to the all-rookie team.

First all-star team

Mike Andrews, Bishop’s

Alexandre Bernard, UQAM

Evens Laroche, Concordia

Simon Bibeau, McGill

Jeremy Leonard-Smith, Bishop’s

Second all-star team

Aleks Mitrovic, McGill

Thibaud Dezutter, Laval

Kyle Desmarais, Concordia

Richard Addai, UQAM

Vincent Dufort, McGill

All-rookie team

Karl Demers-Bélanger, Laval

Jona Bermillo, Bishop’s

Christian McCue, McGill

Nicolas Audet, UQAM

Antoine Beaumier, Laval

Player of the year

Mike Andrews, Bishop’s

Rookie of the year

Karl Demers-Bélanger, Laval

Defensive player of the year

Mike Andrews, Bishop’s

Leadership award (RSEQ representative for Ken Shields)

Tim Hunter, Bishop’s

Coach of the year

Rod Gilpin, Bishop’s

Official of the year

Mike Homsy

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For More Information:

Marty Rourke

Recreation & Sports Information

Coordinator

Bishop’s University

mrourke@ubishops.ca

819-822-9600 ext. 2507

819-574-4498 (cell)

www.gaiters.ca

On to the RSEQ Final!

Wednesday @ BU - RSEQ Semi-Final

BU        18   19   12   21  -  70
CU        18   15   15   15  -  63

Great win for our program. Winning a championship in our conference means going through Concordia at some point & that is never easy. Having a great home crowd supporting us made that a little easier as our fans were outstanding last night! It's funny, but part of me really wanted to face Concordia in their gym...some demons to slay there I guess.

The game was tight throughout once we rebounded from Concordia's 8-0 start. We played with composure, but made some defensive mistakes early & got ourselves into what seemed like perpetual foul trouble. The foul problems were not the worst of it though. Our starting point guard, Scott Ring, went down with a knee injury in the 2nd quarter. Not sure how serious it is, but at this point we are hopeful it is not ligament damage. In a sad coincidence, Scott's sister who is a star guard for Ottawa U, blew her knee out a couple of weeks ago. I will post our league awards next & you will notice Scott did not receive any league accolades. However, he is arguably our team MVP. Despite that we took a 4 point lead into the locker room at halftime.

Jona Bermillo

 Freshman guard Jonathan Bermillo was outstanding in Scott's absence & looked like anything but a 1st year kid. He played with poise & was aggressive throughout. He is no stranger to big games though as he has played in 2 National Championship tournaments with Vanier College. Jona attacked & got to the foul line when we needed points & instilled confidence in his teammates. He kept us in it when ConU made their runs at us. Jamil Abiad came in to give us some quality minutes at the point guard position that were crucial as well. He has not played much & even less at the point. Very key contribution!

With a slim 2 point lead a thunderous dunk by 'Big Mike' put us up 55-51 in the 4th. We never really stretched the lead out, but ConU never got any closer either. We played with composure & made big plays on the defensive end when we needed to. Tim ensured this was not his finale as he had 7 blocked shots...stats say 3, but they are wrong! He had some great sequences defensively...thought I would never say that about Tim...lol! He was a warrior & competed his butt off! Proud of how he stepped up.

We had important contributions from many...Patrik Kabongo 8 rebounds off the bench, 9 pts from a foul ridden Jeremy Leonard-Smith, 14 pts & 4 blocks from Big Mike, 12 pts, 6 rebounds & 3 assists from Onnex who finally is back in form after his month long ankle injury, 14 pts, 5 rebounds, 4 steals & 3 assists from Jona and finally 13 pts & 7 blocks from Tim.

McGill defeated UQAM & will host the final. Game time is 5 pm at the 'Competition Hall' at McGill this Saturday. Hope to see as many PURPLE clad fans as possible at the game!

Go Gaiters!!!

Message for Gaiter Club Supporters

Gaiter Club Supporters,

If you haven’t heard already we have some great news to share!  Our men’s basketball team will be hosting the Concordia Stingers on Wednesday, February 27 at 7 p.m. in an RSEQ semi-final. This game will mark the first time the Bishop’s men have played at home in the post season since March 2006.  We are excited as the Mitchell Gymnasium is one of the best home courts in Canada and we hope to see you out there to cheer on our Gaiters.

As this is a playoff game VIP passes will not be accepted at the door.  Adult tickets are $8, non-BU students $3, BU Students and children $2.  Tickets will be available at the John H. Price Sports Centre one hour before tip-off.  Arrive early to secure your place in the stands as we anticipate a great crowd.  After the game you can head to the Golden Lion and receive a large draft for the price of a pint with your ticket stub.

We hope to see many of you in the Mitchell Gym on Wednesday night.

Go Gaiters!

Brian Breckles

Director of Athletics & Recreation

Bishop’s University

819-822-9600 ext. 2668

BU to Host ConU Wednesday in RSEQ Semi-final

Playoff  basketball is back at BU as we have finished 2nd in our conference thanks to Laval knocking off Concordia Saturday night  in Qc City. Merci Laval! We finish with a league record of 10-6 while ConU is 9-7. Regardless of anything, the game Wednesday will be hard fought and very competitive...possibly more if the referees assume a let them play mentality!

Game time is 7 pm at the Mitchell Gymnasium. It will be webcasted on www.ssncanada.ca.

Go Gaiters!

Thursday @ Concordia

BU        13   20   16   14  -  63
CU        20   13   15   24  -  72

Lost to  a very talented Concordia team last night in their own gym where they are always tremendously tough to beat. Looks like we will play them there next Wednesday unless Laval can upset Concordia Saturday night in Ste. Foy.

Below is our write-up from our Sports Info Dept....I apologize for the brevity of my write-up...busy day with prep and recruits on campus. Next week's post will be as  usual!
Rod

http://www.gaiters.ca/article/gaiters_fall_to_stingers_in_their_last_games_of_the_regular_season

Gaiters Dropped at McGill

Saturday @ McGill

BU        18   16   14   12  -  60
MU       26   13   17   22  -  78

 McGill played very well and looked like a team that had a week to prepare to play us...which they did. They shot the ball very well, did a very good job defensively and had worn us down by the 4th quarter. McGill's play, injuries, foul trouble & the  fact that it was our 3rd game of the week all contributed to this. We have split 4 games with McGill this year and the total point difference in 4 games is a mere 2 points. Lost is the opportunity to finish in 1st place, but with our league home court advantage guarantees nothing in the playoffs.

McGill shot the ball well all game (11-21 from the 3 point line), but were particularly good in the 1st quarter. They opened up an 8 point lead, but we held them scoreless for the 1st 6 minutes of the 2nd quarter before letting things slip a bit in the final few minutes of the 2nd quarter finding ourselves down by 5 at the half.

Co-captain Jeremy Leonard-Smith

The 3rd quarter went back and forth before the final seconds of the quarter. We executed well out of a time out to score with 3 seconds left before McGill launched a 3 point shot from their own 3 pt line that was nothing but net. We found ourselves down 8 once again after they made a 70 foot bomb. We cut into the lead to start the the 4th, but McGill pulled ahead by 11 with about 5 minutes left with a long 3 pointer at the end of the shot clock. From that point we could never re-group.

Mike, Jeremy & Tim were our double digit scorers with 19, 13 & 11 respectively. We struggled to much production anywhere else. Onnex played  for the first time in close to a month, but failed to score in 13 minutes off the bench. We also missed having PK (Patrik Kabongo) in the line-up with an ankle sprain. We will need these guys back to make our push in the playoffs.

This coming Thursday we will play our final regular season game at Concordia and will likely play them in the first round of the playoffs as well the following Wednesday. However, this game should determine where the playoff game will be played...win and we will finish second at host at least the first round.

Hope to see a few more Gaiter fans out at ConU!
Go Gaiters!!

Gaiters Hold Serve at Home

Wednesday vs. Laval

BU        19   19   16   15  -  69
UL         4    14   16   19  -  53

We were able to hold serve in our 'match' (inside joke directed at a 'football guy'...of course!) vs. Laval and keep pace with McGill for 1st place. We sit a half a game ahead of McGill and a win at McGill on Saturday would clinch 1st place and home court advantage through the playoffs. I feel we are very capable of winning on the road in the playoffs, but we will be very tough to beat at home!

'Big Mike' Andrews

As you can see by the line score we had a strong 1st quarter. Defensively we were solid and did most things pretty well. Big Mike was dominant in the first half scoring 15 points. He really has developed into a quality player who is can be very challenging to stop on the low block or on rim runs in transition. Scary to think how good he can be with 2 years remaining because he really has only scratched the surface of his potential.

Throughout the game we were able to play a deep bench with 10 players seeing action in the 1st half and 12 guys seeing action before the game was over. We maintained a comfortable lead throughout the 2nd half and were able to sub out 5th year Sr Tim Hunter with a minute to go for an ovation in his final home regular season game.

Big Mike led all scorers with 21 points & 9 rebounds to go with 2 blocks...he also leads the CIS in blocked shots. Jeremy continues to shoot the ball well as he was 5-6 from the 3 point line scoring 15 points. He has been very solid lately and we need that to continue...nice to see his game mature. Freshman Jona Bermillo continues to shine in his starting role (replacing injured Onnex Blackwood...still out with an ankle!) as he scored  10 points and did a nice job playing both guard positions. Tim, Scott & Matt continue to produce in various ways each game even if they are not scoring...the stability they provide has created very good consistency in our game.

Freshman Guard Jona Bermillo

Saturday we travel to McGill to play for 1st place. Could not  ask for anything more at this point. Check the blog  entry below  this story for details on the BU Alumni reception before the games on Saturday. Hope  to see you there! As well, in case you have not been keeping up with Tim's 'monthly' blog  updates, check the  Captain's Corner link  on the right side of this page!

Go Gaiters!

BU Alumni Reception Saturday in Montreal

Purple Pride Night: February 16 Come and Cheer on Your Gaiters!

Cathy McLean '82, Bishop's University's Alumni Association President, invites all Bishop's alumni and friends to raise a toast to the BU Gaiters Women's and Men's Basketball teams in Montreal this Saturday, February 16! Join fellow alumni and friends for pre-game festivities, including BU door prizes, before heading over to McGill to cheer on your Gaiters! Where: Ye Olde Orchard Pub & Grill, 20 Prince Arthur When: 4:00-6:00 pm Special thanks to John Orr '87 for hosting us! Please let us know if you can make it to assist us in our planning by registering your name and that of any guests. Your Men's Gaiters are #1 in Quebec with just three games to go before the end of the regular season! Bring your Purple Pride to cheer on both teams for what promises to be an exciting evening of basketball action. The women tip off at 6:00 pm while the men get underway at 8:00 pm, in the Currie Gymnasium at 475 Pine Avenue West. Matt McBrine '96 Interim Director of University Advancement mmcbrine@ubishops.ca 819-822-9600 x2266

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Successful Senior's Day in Lennoxville

Sunday vs. Concordia

BU        23   14   28   19  -  84
CU        19   16   21   15  -  71

Tim Hunter Graduating Captain

Unfortunately Senior Night turned into Senior Day yesterday when the winter storm stopped Concordia from traveling down to play here on Friday night. We missed out on playing in front of our traditional Winter Homecoming crowd which is always a loud & crazy game...had a nice turnout of Gaiter basketball alumni down as well. I felt badly for Tim Hunter who is our lone graduating Senior because his parents, Linda & Chris, left on vacation Saturday morning & missed the ceremony to honour Tim that was planned for Friday. The only good part of that story is that the bouquet of flowers I had for Linda are now my wife's early Valentine's Day flowers! Silver linings...  It is hard saying good bye to Tim. We  have been together for 5 years now and he has been an incredibly dependable guy on & off the court. He has been a joy to coach & is a super teammate, just a quality person. Very happy he returned for a 5th year and is enjoying our team's best season in the 5  years he has been here. He deserves to go out on a winning team! (BTW, Tim's photo in hand is courtesy of Gaiter Alum & accomplished amateur shutter bug Blair Shier. Thx again!)

Gaiter Hoops Winter Homecoming 2013

With this weekend being Winter Homecoming we had a number of things going on here at BU. From a basketball perspective we had an alumni scrimmage Saturday afternoon with a mix of alumni, recruits and a couple of our players who see a little less court time than some of the others. Had we played Friday instead of Sunday our whole team would have been playing instead of practicing before hand. 'The older I get, the better I was' seems to be a timeless kind of statement for all of us...the stories told after the scrimmage seem to back that up! It was nice to see some of the 'more seasoned' alums out there playing like Mike Drew, Bryan McLean and Chris Forsythe (sorry, but you were the 3rd oldest playing!) It was a fun time and there are never a shortage of Eddie stories!! I am sure my day will come regarding those stories...but will not likely measure up  to the EP stories! 

To the game...we had a poor start. Defensively we were simply bad in every respect for about the first 5 or 6 minutes. ConU had us down 11-2 early, but we went 5-6 from behind the 3 point line to make up for poor defense. We defended better, but were sloppy offensively the rest of half. Regardless, we had a 2 point lead heading into the break.

To start the 3rd quarter both teams were clicking offensively as we traded baskets. We started to get some separation with about 4 minutes left in the quarter and eventually built a 10 point lead. Once we built that lead Concordia never did threaten us again. I was really pleased with the poise our guys played with not letting Concordia get back into the game. Offensively we really moved the ball well and finished with 23 assists on 31 hoops. We had 5 second half turnovers which was a major improvement over 12 in the 1st half.

We had several very good performances in this game. We had tremendous balance with 5 guys scoring in double figures...Jeremy 23, Big Mike 20, Jona 13, Scott 12, Tim, 10. We had 7 guys with at least 1 assist with Scott leading with 8. Mike & Matt did a very nice job on the glass with 10 & 9 rebounds respectively. We outrebounded ConU 42 - 27 as a result of that work. Mike also had 4 blocked shots.

If we can win our next 2 games we clinch 1st place & will host in the playoffs. Wednesday we host Laval and Saturday we are at McGill...one game at a time though! Laval is fighting for a playoff spot and will not be an easy out! We let one get away a few weeks ago at their place & I hope we are ready to settle that score! The game will be webcasted on www.ssncanada.ca.

Go Gaiters!!

Concordia Game Postponed til Sunday

Just found out our game tonight is postponed due  to the weather. It  is rescheduled for this Sunday February 10th @ 3 pm.

Rod

Surviving vs. UQAM

Saturday @ UQAM

BU          20   17   24   14  - 75
UQAM   18   18   20   18  - 74

This  was a game I was definitely worried about. We had beaten UQAM easily the week before (I knew  they were much better than they showed in that game), we had 3 guys who were injured that are key in our rotation including Onnex and Big Mike had been suffering from the flu since Wednesday...it is all part of the typical season! You just hope it does not happen around playoff time. Not to mention, we have not had a good  week quality practices due to injuries and our schedule in  a while...it is catching up to us and our zone attack was proof of that!

Jeremy Leonard-Smith

Anyhow, as the line score suggests it was a pretty close  game throughout. We did have opportunities  to stretch leads out at times. We  had a double digit lead in the 3rd quarter, but failed to put UQAM away when that opportunity was there. UQAM continued to battle and eventually took the lead with about 2:30 left in the game to go up 1. It went back & forth and we found ourselves down 1 with 20 seconds to go. With that we had the ball out of bounds on the sideline in the offensive end after a time out. We had  a decent shot  attempt, but missed. We  contested the rebound which went out of bounds in our favour. After another time out our guys executed well as we inbounded the ball to Jeremy who hit Big Mike for the score and the foul at the rim to give us a 1 point lead with 7 seconds to go. Mike missed the free throw which turned out to be a blessing as they were not able to advance the ball due to our defensive pressure & get a quality shot. So, we won ugly, but we won. In February that is what really counts.

Jeremy led us with 17 points, 5 rebounds & 3 assists. Matt McLean had his best offensive game in quite  a while scoring 15 while  Tim & Scott scored 12 & 11 respectively.

Sr Captain Tim Hunter

This week we only have 1 game and this is our Winter Homecoming & Senior Night game this Friday vs. Concordia. I am really looking forward to getting some quality practices in this week and getting ready for a very tough opponent. Our lone graduating senior is Tim Hunter. Tim has had a very good career here and we look forward to honouring him before the game. Saturday we will also have a scrimmage with our Alumni (young & old) at 2 pm. We will mix our current guys in with the alums & look forward to having a good time!

Go Gaiters!