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.