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!!!