Comeback Caps Weekend

Friday vs. Laval

BU        19   21   16   12   -   68
UL        14   22   16   23   -   75


Much like our last game a couple of weeks ago vs. UQAM we played very well for a little more than 3 quarters, but could not sustain it. With a minute to go in the 3rd quarter we led by 9 and had extended our half time lead. Laval cut that lead to 4 quickly before the end of the quarter, but we still felt good heading into the final frame.

We had a 1 point lead with about 6:30 to go, but that changed abruptly as Laval went on a 8-0 run in the next 90 seconds. We got it back to a 5 point spread, but we could not get it any closer. A lot of positives for us in the game, but they did not translate to a win.

Dave Belanger - 42 pts & 16 rebound this weekend.

Dave Belanger returned from a dislocated finger to score 24 points on 9-9 fgs & 6-6 free throws. He also had 10 rebounds. He had a great week of practice and we missed his leadership while he was out.  Abdul continues to impress and he contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds. Jona had 13 points & 5 assists to round our double figures scorers. Nick Harvey added 8 points and 7 rebounds. Pete Weston is still out with a foot injury. Hoping to have him back sooner than later as we are definitely missing him.



Saturday @ Laval

BU         9   19   24   25   -   77
UL       16   24   17   16   -   73

We have had pretty good success in Laval's new gym over the last 3 years or so, but this is a much younger team and playing on back to back days makes that even more challenging. Regardless, our guys really showed they were not ready to rely on any excuses for a poor performance and managed to fight back for a much needed win.

We had a very good first 5 minutes, but Laval bounced back and pretty much dominated us for the next 20 minutes. To our guys credit they did not succumb to the opportunities to pack it in. With a little over 4:00 to go in the 3rd quarter we were down 55-37. At that point we went with a small 3 guard line-up which included 2nd year Mat Van Doorn and freshmen Luay Abow & Austin Macklem. They helped turn the tide and got us back to a manageable 5 point deficit. Freshmen Owen Martel returned to the lineup and was also instrumental knocking down a 3 point shot and getting a nice dunk in transition. Owen has been out since the end of November with a shoulder injury. He was on the verge of coming into his own before the injury. He is an 18 year kid who is almost 6'7 215 pounds and has a 40 inch vertical jump. He has been missed!

Sr. Leader Jona Bermillo

In the 4th, Laval quickly pushed the lead back to 11 points before our 2 veteran guys led us back. Dave was excellent again and Jona took over the game. He was solid down the stretch and hit a crucial 3 pt shot late in the shot clock with a minute to go to put us up 6. Laval was not done as they hit two 3's and had a decent look with 3 seconds before Dave knocked down 2 free throws to seal the win after being fouled on a rebound. We had actually played better the night before, but we will take the win either way!

Jona led us with 19 points, 10 in the 4th quarter. He also added 4 assists. Dave was 6-6 from the floor again for his 2nd perfect statistical shooting night and scored 18 points. Our freshmen were excellent again as Abdul had 9 points & 8 rebounds while Nick had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

Next up is 1st place McGill. They have been struggling a bit, but are most definitely the team to beat in the our league still. We are at McGill Thursday and will host them on Saturday. Hope to see you at the games!

For our BU alumni...stay tuned, we are planning a pre-game reception next Thursday before our game at Concordia. Details will be out soon. 

Gaiters Struggle Out of the Gate

Thursday @ UQAM

BU               6    16    17      5    -  44
UQAM       19   13    22     16   -  70

As you can gather from the line score we had the majority of our problems at the offensive end. A couple of injuries combined with 6 or 7 weeks since our last game did not help. Despite that, we could have really helped our cause and it would have been a different game if we were converting open layups and making free throws. We shot a paltry 6-21 from the line and our free throw shooting was poor all weekend. We had been shooting over 70% from the line as a team for the year...so, this is not what we expected!

Abdul Kamane, 18 pts & 9 rebounds

Regardless, I felt our guys competed hard on both ends. Our defense and rebounding kept us in the game. For the most part it was about a 12 point game and every opportunity we had to make a run was thwarted by our own doing...missed layups & free throws. With about 6 minutes to go and  down 14 we gambled a little trying to force the issue hoping to change our fortune. However, this backfired allowing the lead to balloon.

Abdul was our leading scorer and rebounder with 18 points and 9 rebounds. We shot 25% from the floor and thus did not have any other double digit scorers.





Saturday vs. UQAM

BU             19     21     17     15   -   72
UQAM      17     13     24     29   -   83

We made offensive strides in this game, but our defense let us down at times in the second half along with UQAM making some very tough shots. Due to injuries and some foul trouble we ended up playing a couple of guys some heavy minutes which cost us in the 2nd half defensively.

We are making improvements each game in multiple areas, but still have freshmen moments. After holding off UQAM's first 3rd quarter run we failed to take advantage of what we were doing well to possibly put them away. We started to fall in love with jump shots in situations where we had advantages attacking the rim. Understanding how shot selection can be dictated by time & score, flow of the game and match-ups is still something we are figuring out. In high school or Cegep, if you can get the shot off without it being blocked it might be considered a good or at least acceptable shot! Not so much at this level!

With 3 minutes to go UQAM was up 2 with the ball, we defended well and they made a contested 3

point shot off a very tough pass late in the shot clock to put them up 5. They basically repeated the same thing the next possession. We had very good offensive possessions in between where we executed well, but just missed some great looks at the rim. It happens! UQAM beat us in the final minutes...we did not beat ourselves. Small consolation for a young team, but I was pleased we played with poise.

Austin Macklem, Freshman Guard

Jona led us with 20 points. Nick was impressive despite foul trouble scoring 18 and grabbing 9 rebounds. Abdul continues to impress with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Freshmen guard Austin Macklem did a nice job defensively this week against some very good guards.

This week we have a bye in our schedule. The following week we host Laval on the Friday and then head to Ste. Foy for the back end of the home & home on Saturday.

On a very positive note, we reviewed our academic performance from the first semester and our guys did an outstanding job. We passed every class taken and had a team average of 78%! I would guess it has to be or at least close to a program best for a BU men's varsity team of any sport in any semester. Coach Craig Norman instituted a stringent academic monitoring program for both basketball teams at BU with both teams have exceptional results.