The Last of 'Meaningless' Games Comes to an End!

Friday vs. Concordia

BU      14   20   22   22  -  78
CU      23   18   20   15  -  76

5th Yr Senior, Onnex Blackwood

The most meaningful part of this game was that it was Seniors' Night for Scott, Matt and Onnex. Aside from wanting to win every game you play the added motivation was to send these guys out with a win in potentially their last game in Mitchell Gymnasium...Scott & Matt each have another year of eligibility so there is a chance they could return.

4th Yr Senior, Scott Ring

Regardless, Onnex made the most of his last home game carrying us for a good part of the night scoring 19 points. Mike Andrews was dominant in the 2nd half scoring 14 for the game. Rookie Jaleel Webb added 14 while Jona chipped in with 12.

4th Yr Senior, Matt McLean

I think this game was exciting for the fans. With us opening playoffs vs. Concordia on Saturday both teams were just trying to play hard and get through the game injury free. This game certainly did not have the playoff intensity that will be there on Saturday.





Saturday at Laval

BU        12   20   17   22  -  71
UL        19   27    8    19  -  73

There was nothing at stake other than pride for both teams in this game. We certainly started off slowly and  Laval seemed a little more fired up than us on their Seniors' Night. After some pretty porous defense and our team playing with some very different line-ups (we did not dress Big Mike - precautionary knee and Dave Belanger - ankle) we decided to switch to a 2-3 zone for the second half of the game.  We had some success with this, but it is not our preferred choice of defense.

However, our guys played hard and we managed find a way to score some hoops in the 2nd half playing some very small line-ups. We played well enough to take a 6 point lead mid way through the 4th quarter before running out of gas...lack of depth caught up to  us at that point.

Jaleel had another strong game scoring 16. Onnex continues to play well as he chipped in with 15. Freshman guard Kurt Caro  is really coming along and he contributed 7 points and 3 assists. Matt did a great job defensively grabbing 15 rebounds, blocking 3 shots and scoring 9 points.

Playoff Time!!

This is the most exciting time of the year. I am really looking forward to seeing our guys perform this weekend. Despite the struggles we have endured I feel we are really coming together. We should be as healthy as we have been all year and we have played pretty well when we have our key guys in the line-up.

As previously mentioned, we  play Concordia this Saturday at Laval at 1 pm in the RSEQ Final Four. Laval faces #1 McGill in the game following ours and the winners play off Sunday afternoon at 3pm. Check gaiters.ca for links to the webcasts if you cannot make the trip to Quebec City.

I will keep you posted,
Rod

Tough Weekend for Gaiters

Friday vs. McGill

BU     17   13   10   23  -  63
MU    16   16   18   19  -  69

Despite the loss it was one of our better games in a while. Defensively we did some good things and offensively with the exception of the 3rd quarter we were decent. Our undoing was a few small defensive breakdowns which McGill exploited every time. They played very well despite succumbing to our defensive pressure at times.

A poor 3rd quarter put us in a bad situation  and were never able to regain the lead again in the 4th cutting the margin to a 4 points a few times. McGill did a good job of answering any run we had. Often with a tough 3 or score late in the shot clock. 

Onnex led us in scoring with 16 points. Big Mike added 14 and 4 blocked shots. Scott and Matt returned to the line-up and both had an impact on our play. Scott scored 12 points and added 3 assists. Matt had 4 points, on nice dunks, but really did a good job defensively & provided some toughness we had been missing in his absence.

Sunday at UQAM

BU          11   15   14   12  -  52
UQAM   20   14   26   13  -  73

UQAM needed this game to stay in the playoff hunt. They have played well at times and have been unlucky. They also have 2 of the best scorers in the league. The game meant nothing to us regarding standings...we face Concordia in the first round of playoffs regardless of anything. However, the game always means something! We did not compete and rise to the challenge of facing a motivated team. They won and they earned it.

Nothing else left to be said and we won't even talk about this game with our team. At this point of the year sometimes you have to just have a short memory for certain things and just move on!


This coming weekend we play our final 2 regular season games. We host Concordia on Seniors' Night. Matt, Scott & Onnex are our graduating seniors. All have had nice careers here, but Onnex is the only one who is guaranteed gone...he is in his 5th year of eligibility. Matt & Scott have the option of returning for a final year and we are hopeful they make that choice! Saturday we travel to Laval and this could be a big game for Laval as they are fighting for the final playoff spot vs. UQAM.

I will keep you posted,
Rod

Back on Track

Friday vs. Concordia

BU     10   20   19   24  -  73
CU     15   15   15   19  -  64

Despite playing without our 3 captains (Jeremy, out for the year...Scott & Matt, hopefully back this week) we were able to pull out a couple of wins against Concordia who we had been tied for 2nd place with. Our older guys stepped up their play at key times and our freshmen are starting to contribute more regularly now. I have never gone through a season with some many and so many different injuries to a team, but it has been a great opportunity to play a lot of different guys at times. Does not always help us at the moment, but will pay dividends down the line.

This game was pretty close throughout, but we felt in control despite the game being within 4 points

Jona, career high 26 pts Friday.

either way for the majority of the game. We were able to get defensive stops when we needed to and made some timely baskets.

Jona carried us a good part of the way scoring 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting from the floor...that is pretty efficient! Onnex was excellent defensively and had a nice all around game scoring 15 and grabbing 7 rebounds. Majid chipped in with 12 points and 6 rebounds as he is starting to find his game. Big Mike was relatively quiet offensively, but he did have 5 blocked shots and continues to lead the CIS in blocks per game.

Saturday @ Concordia

BU     20   20    4   20  -  64
CU      8   22    18  13  -  61

We played pretty solidly throughout this game with the exception of the 3rd quarter. If you look at the line score you will notice the paltry 4 points scored there. It was good experience to struggle through that and not fold. We responded nicely in the 4th quarter and regained the lead with some good defense and offensive execution when it counted.

Majid with 14 points on Saturday.

Freshman Jaleel Webb had 2 key rebounds, a steal and 4 points to push us ahead with about 5 minutes to go. Concordia did not give up though as they did have a difficult 3 point attempt to tie the game that we contested well. Majid had 14 points to lead us in scoring. Freshman Dave Belanger & Onnex each added 11. We got a nice contribution off the bench from freshman Kurt Caro who had 7 assists as well.

The win on Friday guaranteed a playoff spot. With a 4 team tournament at the end being played at Laval that is all that really matters. We host McGill on Friday and then travel to UQAM on Sunday for a 4 pm game there. We hope to have Scott & Matt back this week, but they may be game time decisions Friday.
I will keep you posted.
Rod

Lost Weekend

Thursday at McGill 

Score by Periods      1     2    3     4     Total

Bishop's............       7    13  20   27   -  67

McGill..............        29   16  18   17   -  80

After a first quarter where we were horrid and McGill was fantastic we seemed to wake up a little and play somewhat better. Unfortunately we did not play well enough to erase a 25 point halftime deficit. Defensively we were very poor as McGill made eight 3 point shots in the first quarter. They shoot the ball well and execute well. However, we did not do anything to deter them. 

We went to a smaller line-up in the 2nd half and showed a little more fight. We attacked better on offense and even if we were not going to win the game we were improving. With the number of injuries we have been going through our freshmen are getting a great opportunity to play. We played this game without Matt McLean and Scott Ring received an elbow to the face in the first half which resulted in a broken nose & mild concussion. Not sure when he will be back. Jeremy Leonard-Smith is officially out for the season & will get surgery on his foot February 19th. He will return next year to play his 5th year of eligibility. With so many young players we tend to struggle without our 3 captains in the line-up. It is making it tougher now,but it will benefit us in the future. 

Freshman Jaleel Webb led us with 14 points off the bench. Jaleel missed most of January as he had to be tested for a heart condition. The test results were favourable and we are happy to have him back. Big Mike, Dave & Majid all reached double figures while freshman point guard Kurt Caro had his best game in a Gaiter uniform scoring 9 points and dishing out 7 assists while committing on 1 turnover. 

Saturday @ BU

 
Score by Periods      1    2    3    4     Total

McGill..............       16  20   8   11   -  55

Bishop's............      11   9   16  12   -  48

Another subpar first half performance did not help us this night. McGill did a job of defending and we struggled to score. To compound that we made too many errors defensively in a half where we were struggling to score. Being down by 16 at the half was certainly more manageable than the game before when were down 25 at the half. 

In the 2nd half we did a better job in defensive transition and attacked a little better on offense. Jona was in foul trouble in the first half, but was a factor in the 2nd half as he created and facilitated our offense. We were able to cut the McGill lead to 6 a few times, but we missed 8 layups in the 2nd half which really was our undoing. Shoulda, coulda, woulda...make half those and it is a much different game. 

No offensive stars in this game. Freshman Chris Henny had a very good weekend is certainly benefiting from all our injuries with more court time. Chris is providing some excellent energy on the defensive end and is doing a good job rebounding from the wing position. Onnex led us with 8 rebounds, but failed to score a field goal for what is probably the first time in his 5 year career. 

The beauty of our league (due to our injury situation this is a 'beauty') this year is that as long as you finish in the top 4 you make the playoffs and where you finish has no impact on home court...the RSEQ Playoffs/Final Four is at Laval. As we sit in 2nd place we are in a good position. Winning 2 of our final 6 guarantees a playoff spot and winning 3 ensures we finish no worse than 3rd. That is not where our focus is though. We just need to get healthy, get better each week and hopefully hit our stride come playoff time. 

This Friday we host Concordia at 8 pm. Saturday we play the back half of the home & home at Concordia at 4pm. Notice the afternoon start at Concordia. We hope to see a few of you there! 

I will keep you posted!

Rod