Gaiters & Galt Team Up for Charity

On Friday December 29th @ 1 pm Alexander Galt Regional High School will be hosting our BU Gaiters vs. the UNB Varsity Reds in a USport non-conference game in Galt's newly renovated gymnasium in the first of a 2 game series.

Game 1 vs UNB is a collaborative event as the Gaiters & Alexander Galt are joining forces to support families in need in our local community. Winter apparel (coats, boots etc...), non-perishable items & cash donations (cheques greater than $10 will be issued a tax receipt) will be accepted on December 29th @ Alexander Galt.

Donations will be distributed to Lennoxville Elementary School, Ecole Primaire Saint-Antoine & Alexander Galt. 

We are trying to help fulfill needs of the three schools in our community of Lennoxville, including families in need, breakfast programs and getting some winter basics distributed. It is a continuation of the work our players started by raising  over $750 for the Alexander Galt Christmas Basket Fund earlier in December and the service of Robert Pinkston, former Gaiter Soccer coach and community leader, who launched a Winter Jacket campaign years ago.

Our athletes appreciate the tremendous support we receive and are excited to give back whenever the opportunity presents itself. Helping lead this particular initiative is tri-captain, Kevin Davis.  Kevin is a 4th year Psychology major from Baltimore, Maryland who heads our Jr Gaiters youth program and volunteers at Galt in the Basketball Sport Concentration program. Kevin is expected to have a big impact on the court for the team. Unfortunately injuries have derailed  his career thus far at BU as he has only dressed in 1 game. This past August Kevin scored 11 points vs. Canisius College in the Gaiters first game before injuring his knee. He is expected back in the line up for the UNB games. Despite not having played a game yet in Lennoxville he is very familiar with the great atmosphere our community creates at our home games. "Being on the bench injured in street clothes has been so frustrating. Seeing & feeling the energy our fans bring to our gym makes me all the more excited to get back playing!"says Davis.

We are so fortunate to be part of a community that not only comes together to support our Gaiter teams, but is also generous when an opportunity like this presents itself.  

 Game 2 of the Gaiters vs. UNB series takes place Saturday December 30th at 5:00 at Bishop's. Donations will NOT be accepted on site at BU on the 30th, but if you would like to donate & were not able to do so on the 29th please contact me at: rgilpin@ubishops.ca. 

Take note, our women's basketball team will be hosting a tournament on December 29th & 30th which includes the Ryerson Rams coached by Gaiter alum Carly Clarke & the McGill Martlets coached by another former Gaiter Ryan Thorne. Admission is free to all games on December 29th & 30th. For more info please go to: www.gaiters.ca

We hope every has happy & safe holiday season!

RSEQ Week #5

Friday vs. Laval

BU          19    22    10    19   -   70
UL          15    23    23    19   -   80

If you told me before the game that we would hold Laval to 39% shooting, shoot 49% ourselves while  having 20 assists I would have thought that those would likely be winning numbers.  They would have been if we were able to keep them off our glass & reduce our turnovers...Combined Points off TO's &  Offensive Rebounds: Laval 56   BU 17.  If we just do an average job in either of those areas we win by 10.

Frustrating, but there were definitely some positives. Most notably we competed & executed defensively (until there was a rebound too many times!) and shared the ball well at times. We tried to change some things up in our 3rd quarter routine, but we need more work there. I know that will get better after Christmas. I do take some solace in the fact that the Raptors are a much more experienced team than us and might be a just as bad 3rd quarter team than us!

$756.50 raised for charity!

So, after a good first half and a sub par 3rd Q we were still in the game. With just over a minute to go it was a 5 point game. We missed a couple of good looks at the basket and had to foul which stretched Laval's lead. To Laval's credit they are playing well. They are a very athletic & veteran group who is currently sitting in first place in our league at 4-1. Disappointed with the loss, but I am excited about our team moving forward after Christmas as we will have 4 more players in the line up that will dramatically improve our depth, athleticism & overall toughness.

Abdul led us in scoring with 16 points while adding 7 rebounds & 5 assists. Dave chipped in 15 points while Alex had 10 points & 7 assists.

On a more cheery note, our guys raised $756.50  for the Alexander Galt Christmas Basket Fund on Saturday by bagging groceries at Provigo-Lennoxville. A great initiative that was the brainchild of Gaiter alum Charles Kobelt 10 years ago. It really has a positive impact this time of year & gives our guys a chance to give back to a community that supports us so well.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season. We are back in action on December 29th at 1 pm @ Alexander Galt Regional High School vs. UNB. We play them the next day again at 5:30 pm in the friendly confines of the Mitchell Gymnasium at BU. More info to follow later in December.
Rod

RSEQ Week #4

Saturday vs. #6 McGill

BU          19    14    16    29   -   78
MU         24    26    30    20   -   100

We started off playing pretty well at both ends of the floor. The tide started to turn later in the 1st quarter after 3 consecutive turnovers. That ignited a McGill run that would last the next 20 minutes or so. McGill is very good defensively and their pressure just took us out of our rhythm. We allowed them to bully us & speed us up.  Their pressure & depth controlled the game. We will have to do a better job this week vs. Laval from that perspective as we will be facing much of the same thing this Friday.

Yassin - 17 pts vs. McGill

From a statistical perspective FG%, free throw attempts & rebounding were all equal. However, McGill had 25 more shot attempts than us because we turned the ball over 33 times to their 14. There is just no way to make up for that kind of discrepancy. Having said that, when we were not turning the ball over we did execute reasonably well at both ends. I liked the way we competed and we never did quit. There were  a few lapses and an experienced team like McGill is going to take advantage of that. That is why they are the top team in our league.

Abdul led us with 21 points. Joany had 15 points & 8 rebounds. However, I think the bright spot was Yassin Naji who had a career high 17 points along with 4 rebounds & 3 assists. Yassin is starting to find some consistency in his offensive game which complements his steady defense. That bodes well moving forward.

We finish the semester this Friday vs. Laval at home. We need a good week of practice as Laval is playing very well right now. They are talented, experienced and are the most athletic team in the league.

I will keep you posted.
Rod

Gaiters Topped at Laval

Friday @ Laval

BU          19    13    16    26   -   74
UL          18    20    27    24   -   89

Right now our margin of error is pretty slim if we are going to be successful. With injuries at key spots we have a number of guys playing out of position and that is posing some challenges.  Especially when it comes to our depth & taking care of the ball...we had 29 turnovers vs. Laval and that alone sunk us. Our guys are playing hard, but we seem to be in a constant state of flux with regards who is in the line up from day to day.

PG - Alex Boisse

Point guard Alex Boisse sprained his ankle Thursday in practice and played about 10 minutes in the 2nd half Friday in a much less ineffective manner than usual. That meant that Abdul had fill in and play most of the game at the point. Not exactly ideal for a our starting small forward, but he did a decent job. Abdul playing the point guard position is not what is ideal for us, but it is a great opportunity for his game to develop and that will eventually help our team. He had 26 points, 8 rebounds & 4 assists in the loss.

Dave has continued to play well as he is leading the RSEQ in rebounding. Dave had 11 points & 10 rebounds vs. Laval. Joany contributed 11 points and played some solid defense. Yassin Naji is also started to come into his own as he played some excellent defense while adding 8 points, 4 rebounds & 3 assists.

On Saturday we host nationally ranked McGill who is coming off an upset loss to Concordia at home this weekend. Tough challenge, but I am confident our guys will compete!
Rod

Gaiters Drop to 1-1

Thursday @ ConU

BU          17    16    21    17   -   71
CU          21    12    33    22   -   88

After a solid first half defensively we coughed up the ball at inopportune times in the 2nd half allowing ConU to cash in on some easy baskets. The most telling stat was Points off Turnovers...Concordia 22, BU 8. According to the stats we had a normally survivable 15 turnovers. However, they were mostly live ball turnovers that kill your defensive transition.

Abdul 22.5 ppg in RSEQ Play

Other than that, I think Concordia did a good job of defending us and we also did a good job of defending ourselves when they didn't! Shooting 5-14 from the foul line did not help our cause either.

Concordia was the better team on this night. However, there is an opportunity to learn a lot from this game. As they say, you usually learn more from a loss than a win. The bottom line is that despite failing in the 2nd half we handled the adversity better as a group than we had earlier in the season. There is a level of maturity now that was not even there just a few short weeks ago.   Our team chemistry is getting better each week and the buy in is there for this group. These guys have faced a lot of adversity from the 2nd half of last season through the earlier parts of this season, but they are pulling through it. We just need to weather the storm & hope we have a healthy roster by January.

We got very good production from the '5' position in this game. Dave had 15 points & 9 rebounds while Big Jonah added 8 points, 5 rebounds & a blocked shot. Abdul was solid again with 22 points. Yassin was very good off the bench with 8 points, 6 rebounds and some good defense.

On Friday we travel to Laval. They are an athletic and mature team. It will be a tough test on the road, but they have a great facility and it is a fun gym to play in.

I will keep you posted.
Rod

Gaiters Open League Play with a W

Saturday vs. UQAM

BU            24   21   19   19   -   83
UQAM     18   11    21   27   -  77

Suffice to say, it is just a relief to get a win! Would have been nice to get a few more in the pre-season, but this one actually counts. One step towards getting back to the playoffs. Our guys practiced very well the last couple of weeks. Even when we only had 7 or 8 healthy bodies in practice we were getting a fair amount accomplished. Sometimes intensity drops off when numbers are that low, but to our guys credit they did not allow that happen.

Dave Belanger 13 rebounds vs. UQAM

Defensively we have made a lot of progress and our guys did a very good job of playing hard, trusting each other & following the game plan. We did give up 77 points, but our sixteen 2nd half turnovers were costly as they were often converted into easy scores by UQAM. That is more on our offense than our defense.

We led start to finish and despite the spread being 6 pts at the end,  UQAM never really got close enough to seriously threaten. At one point in the 3rd quarter we were up 22 points, but UQAM never quit and we were a bit sloppy. I am sure the next time we face UQAM it will be a much different game as I feel that we did not see UQAM at their best.

Abdul led all scorers with 24 points. Joany had 22 points including going 4-8 from the 3 point line. Alex was solid at the point guard position scoring 19 points to go along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.  Dave had another solid game scoring 9 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

Next up is a quick turnaround as we face a talented and athletic Concordia team on Thursday at ConU. Game time is 8 pm. Hope to see you there.
Rod

Gaiters Topped by Hawks

Friday vs. Wilfred Laurier

BU         24    20    23    24  -  92
WLU     19    26    31    30  -  106

The irony starts with the fact that I was worried that we would have trouble scoring this year based on early scrimmages & NCAA games. We were not great defensively last season, but at least average. Suffice to say, we have more work to do on the defensive end.  This is also magnified all the more by the fact we as with most teams are playing at a greater pace this year.

Alex, 22 points, 5 assists

From a fan's perspective it would have been a fun game to watch. It was uptempo and lots of offense from both teams. We shot at least 50% from the floor in each quarter with the exception of the 3rd quarter. Laurier shot 67% that quarter and that put them up 9 heading into the 4th. We were playing with a very short bench due to some injuries and we did not have enough to cut into that lead significantly. Our guys did play hard and did compete.


Alex Boisse had a career high with 22 points, but really was not quite himself. Feeling the effects of the flu along with the fact that he was playing extended minutes due injuries. Abdul also had 22 points with 20 coming in the 2nd half. Dave Belanger had an efficient 20 points on 11 shots and has been playing like a 5th year senior should. He has been consistent and very solid in all respects.

Looking ahead, we have an exhibition game on Saturday at Mount Allison. We will travel with our football team on their chartered flight as they travel to St. FX. We will land in Nova Scotia & then drive a couple of hours to Sackville, NB to play the Mounties. Game time is 2 pm AST.

I will send the update out on that game next Monday!
Rod

House - Laughton Round Up

Friday @ #1 Carleton

BU          15    15    15    14  -  59
CU          28    17    25    25  -  95

Rarely does Carleton get out rebounded and they are a supreme offensive rebounding team. We pretty much got dismantled with just that aspect of the game. Our 27 turnovers did not help either. They converted offensive rebounds and turnovers into points greater than the margin of victory. That was the was the game. On the positive front we were decent in defensively in the half court and our defensive transition was much improved over last week.

Joany, House-Laughton All Star

Joany led us in scoring with 18 points. He was also named a tournament all star. Kasey had 10 points off the bench. Abdul had a great start scoring 8 points in the first 7 minutes before he went out with a pretty good charley horse when he got took a knee to his thigh. Not sure it would have the difference between winning our losing, but we would have been more competitive.





Saturday vs. #9 Acadia

BU          22    13    19    13  -  67
AU          29    13    25     8   -  75

3rd Yr Forward, Yassin Naji

This was our 4th game in a row vs. a team that is ranked in the top 10 nationally.  With the exception of a few mistakes following the game plan we were much better defensively. When we did make mistakes we paid a price though as their All Canadian post player went off for 31 points. When you are playing top teams the margin for error is very small and playing hard does not make up for not following a scouting report.

After being down 15 early in the 4th quarter we went on a run and cut the lead to 3 with about 3 minutes to go. Unfortunately we could never overtake Acadia.

Yassin & Harvey Matou each had 14 points. Joany had 13 points  while Dave added 12.

Our next game is Friday at home vs. Wilfred Laurier at 6 pm. Laurier has had some mixed results including a double OT loss to Laval.

In other program news, we received news that last season's team MVP, Jona Bermillo, has signed a pro contract to play in China. Very happy for him and really excited he will have the opportunity to start a professional basketball career. Could not happen to a better guy!

I will keep you posted,
Rod

Gaiters Tour of BC

Thursday at Victoria

BU               19    21    19    25   -   84
UVIC           23    25    26    18   -   92

3rd Year Forward Yassin Naji

We are not having major problems scoring points, but defensively we have things to clean up that will have a significant impact. It might be hard to believe, but the things that hurt us the week before actually improved. However, there was a drop off in other areas that were really exposed by the teams we played in BC as we were playing some good to excellent offensive teams.

In the UVIC game we were at our worst defensively despite giving up fewer points than the last 2 games. We struggled in transition at times and struggled getting matched up. Each time we had an issue UVIC capitalized.

Abdul scored at will on the fast break scoring 25 points. Dave Belanger was solid with 16 points & 7 rebounds. Joany had a quiet 11 points.

Friday @ #5 UBC

BU            11    25    24    32   -   92
UBC         24    31    22    22   -   99

2nd Year Guard Kasey Paul-Buzas

UBC dominated the first half on the glass and in transition. We struggled to score due to their defensive pressure. However, we did manage to figure that out a bit as the game went on. We actually played a pretty good 2nd half as we doubled them on glass and scored 56 points. However, any time that we had a chance to seriously threaten them they had an answer. That is why they are a top 5 team.

Abdul had 21, Alex Boisse 18, Yassin Naji 14, Dave 12 & Kasey Paul-Buzas with 11.

Saturday vs. #3 U of Alberta

BU            20    18    28    18   -   84
UA            17    35    29    30   -   111

3rd Year Forward Andrew Howarth

After a pretty solid 1st quarter the wheels fell of in the 2nd quarter. Alberta is explosive offensively (they scored 103 the night before) and we have the ability to be poor defensively for stretches...that is a bad combination for us. They shot 17-32 from the 3 point line and rode the momentum of the 2nd quarter for most of the game. We had opportunities  to cut into the lead in early in the 4th quarter, but could not capitalize and then they just ran away with the game.

Joany had 17 points to lead our scoring Yassin had his best weekend as a Gaiter scoring 11 points. Harvey Matou added 11 while Kasey & Andrew Howarth each scored 10.

Thanks so much to the Gaiter Alumni who showed up to see us play. Special thanks to Ian McLean, Jeff Szita, Herm Tesfaghebriel & Jordan Winnett for picking up team meals, as well as, Blair Shier for taking & supplying us with great pictures from the 2 games at UBC.

Next up is our 3rd game in a row vs. a top 5 team...#1 Carleton this Friday night at 8 pm at Carleton. The following night we play a very good Acadia team at 6 pm at Carleton. Acadia defeated McGill this past weekend in Calgary.
I will keep you posted.
Rod

Tough Start at Home

Friday vs. Queen's

BU          14   19   22   11   -   66
QU          21   25   20   15   -   81

Full credit to Queen's as they did a very good job defensively and we never found our rhythm. Shooting 2-26 from the 3 point line is not going to win you many games and that was the case here. Defensively we had some issues all weekend. Those will be looked after with some practice and video sessions though. Regardless of anything we knew we were playing a good & currently underrated team with a point guard that is I think is exceptional.

Playing from behind all game was not ideal. We did manage to build some momentum late in the 3rd quarter and early in the 4th. With 7:30 to go in the game we were down 4 points. Unfortunately we only scored 4 points the rest of the game. We did not turn the ball much during that period, but missed  a lot of good shots. We were still within striking distance with 3 minutes to go as it was a 6 to 8 point game, but we could not capitalize on opportunities.

2nd year guards Alex Boisse & Joany Castor Thadal led us with 11 points each. 2nd year transfer Kasey Paul-Buzas added 9 add points. Freshman forward Harvey Matou had 9 rebounds to pace us there.

Sunday vs. Ottawa

BU          15   18   23   14   -   70
UO          20   23   28   14   -   85

We were a little better offensively in this game, but defensively we continued to struggle. Ottawa can be a tremendous 3 point shooting team and we did a decent job from that perspective as they only shot 6-24. However, we did not guard the ball very well in 1-1 situations. That is something we can improve on quickly based on the guys we have.

Just like the Queen's game we played from behind throughout. We managed to stop our own runs most of the time though and could not make a serious run at them. We had some great offensive & defensive possessions, but we also had some horrid possessions. Closing the gap between our worst & best possessions will happen with time.

Joany bounced back from a poor shooting game vs. Queen's to score 19 points on 12 shots. Abdul was solid all around as he had 15 points, 7 rebounds & 4 assists. That should be a little less that what he could average in each of those categories. It would not surprise me if he has a triple double at some point this season. 3rd year forward Duncan Lambert had 12 points as he went 4-8 from the 3 point line.


Next up is our tour of BC. Our first game is Thursday in Victoria at Belmont Secondary School vs. UVIC. It does not get any easier as we head back to the UBC Thunderbird Invitational to face UBC on Friday night and then Alberta Saturday. Both likely to be top 5 team USport teams this year. Hope to see a few of our BC alumni out there! Competition will be very challenging, but our team is in definite need of a road trip together at this point.
Rod

Gaiters Open USport Play at Home this Weekend

Typically we do not have too many non-conference games at home, but this year is a bit of an anomaly as we host 5 games in Lennoxville before January 1st.

This weekend we open up Friday night vs. a mature & talented Queen's University team and follow that up on Sunday afternoon facing national power U of Ottawa. See the rest of our non-conference schedule below and the full schedule at:   http://gaiters.ca/schedule.aspx?path=mbball

Gaiters' Non-Conference Home Schedule
Friday September 30th vs. Queen's at 7pm
Sunday October 1st vs. Ottawa at 1 pm
Friday October 20th vs. Wilfred Laurier at 7 pm
Friday December 29th vs. UNB @ 1 pm (at Alexander Galt Regional High School)
Saturday December 30th vs. UNB @ 5 pm

For our alumni & fans on the West Coast. Next week we will be in beautiful British Columbia:

Exhibition Game - Victoria, BC
Thursday October 5th vs. UVIC @ 7 pm (PST) (at Belmont Secondary School )

UBC Thunderbird Invitational
Friday October 6th vs. UBC @ 7 pm
Saturday October 7th vs. U of Alberta @ 5 pm

Season Comes to an End...

Wednesday vs. Concordia

Score by Periods      1  2  3  4   Total
Concordia........... 19 18 23 19  - 79
Bishop's............ 16 14 25 21  - 76

As has been the case for the past few weeks our guys really competed hard and played

to the final whistle. We were down a couple of more bodies as Owen got a concussion in theMcGill game last Saturday and Andrew Haworth, who had been starting in Dave Belanger's spot, blew out his ankle in practice last week. That left us with 8 healthy bodies and I'm 

pretty sure I have never coached a game at this level with just 8 guys. The warm up 

reminded me of a men's league game warm-up with just the 8 guys in the layup lines!

Despite being shorthanded our guys made it a game. Concordia had a brief run in the 3rd 

pushing the lead up to 9 which was quickly trimmed down and the score remained tight. 

With just under 15 seconds to go Concordia took a 6 point lead. We came down the floor 

and Duncan Lambert knocked down his 5th three point shot of the game to cut the lead to 3 

with 7.5 seconds to go. Concordia called timeout which automatically advances the ball to 

the sideline in the front court. We have a line-up in that is pretty good at creating turnovers 

in this situation. So we feel still have a chance. We nearly steal ConU's first inbound attempt, but we have a foot on the line as we recover the ball. We deflect the 2nd attempt back out of bounds and we steal the 3rd inbounding attempt where Joany ends up with a 3 pt attempt from 35 feet that narrowly misses. Tough loss, but proud of our effort!

Abdul led all scorers with 18 points. Jona, playing in his final game at BU, had 17 points & 8 assists (1 turnover! More on Jona later). 2nd year forward Duncan Lambert had a career high 15 points while freshman Alex Boisse added 13. 

Saturday at UQAM

Score by Periods      1  2  3  4   Total
Bishop's............ 19 14 21 15  - 69
UQAM................ 19 18 16 25  - 78

Much like the last few games (excluding McGill) this game was tight and decided in the final minute. It was a 2 point game with less than 2 minutes to go and we just ran out of gas.  Wednesday night took a lot of us and our guys were playing on fumes in the 2nd half. They did a great job hanging in, but UQAM was fresher and their size wore us down.

 Fab Freshmen wearing #15,  Onnex Blackwood & now Joany!

Abdul led us with 17 points, Jona had 13 and Joany completed an excellent freshman season with 11 points and 3 steals.


So, that completes a season with no shortage of struggles and was one of those where I could say if you coach long enough you will see everything.  We realistically were not looking to challenge Carleton for a CIS championship, but with a little luck from an injury perspective we definitely would have been a playoff team and had a better than .500 record in non-conference play. 

Definitely a 'what could of been' type of season, but injuries are part of the game as is attrition. Despite everything it was a season that will help our core move forward as all but 2 guys were 1st or 2nd year players. Lots of teachable moments and character building opportunities. As difficult as is to finish outside of the playoffs I felt very proud of how our guys played the last few weeks. They played hard every second, competed, played unselfishly and they learned to deal with adversity. I can say it was truly rewarding to coach the group of guys that finished the season together.  

CIS basketball is now a major 12 month a year commitment for athletes. Attrition is much higher than it was even 8 - 10 years ago and you have to love it if you are going to make that commitment. Due to education, technology and increased expectations, athletes are better trained, coaches are better prepared and the game may even be played at a higher level, but a lot of what made the experience of being a CIS student-athlete special has disappeared unfortunately... for better or for worse. 

Moving forward the only guy we lose from our core is Jona Bermillo. Jona has been a fantastic teammate and a great kid to coach. Certainly represents everything we want in a Gaiter and he will be a proud alum moving forward. He had an exceptional career at BU...RSEQ All-Rookie team, soon to be 3 time RSEQ Allstar, played in 3 RSEQ finals with 1 RSEQ championship and he hit several huge shots in his career. Not sure I have coached someone who has come up bigger than Jona when the game was on the line. This season Jona led the league in assists and steals while finishing 3rd in scoring...he will be missed!

These guys were a big part of our last turnaround season! 

Truly appreciate the support we receive from our alumni, family & friends of Gaiter Basketball. It has been nice to see our alumni in the crowd in Montreal recently despite that fact we were not in a championship run. There is always optimism for next season. With a little luck on the recruiting trail and from an injury perspective I feel sincerely that next season with be quite different from this one. Nothing to do, but get to work on making that happen! 
I will keep you posted. 
Rod
   

Saturday @ McGill

Saturday @ McGill

Score by Periods      1  2  3  4   Total
Bishop's............ 16 17 16 22  - 71
McGill.............. 27 24 23 15  - 89

McGill has been playing at a very high level the last few weeks. They defeated Concordia by 27 on Thursday and UQAM by 29 the weekend before. I am not really one for moral victories, but despite not having a chance to defeat McGill on Saturday I was proud of how hard our guys played until the final horn. This game could have easily been a 38 point loss instead of an 18 point loss. Especially when you consider that Laval beating UQAM Friday night eliminated us from the playoffs. 

On the positive side of this game, we have 5 players score in double figures. Freshman point guard Alex Boisse had 14, Abdul had 13 and 12 rebounds, Joany had 12, Yassin had 11 and Jona chipped in with 10. 

Jona Bermillo - 5th Year Captain

We finish up the season hosting Concordia on Wednesday night and traveling to UQAM on Saturday for a 7 pm game. Wednesday night will make Jona Bermillo's final game at the Mitchell Gym. He has had an excellent career as a Gaiter being named an RSEQ Allstar 3 times, playing in 3 conference finals and winning 1 of those championship games. More importantly, he is a fantastic person and has been a great teammate. He graduated with a degree in Economics and is hoping to play professionally somewhere in Asia next year. We are wishing him the very best and would love to see him go out with a couple of victories! 

I will keep you posted,

Rod

Falling Short vs. Laval

Saturday vs. Laval

Score by Periods      1  2  3  4   Total
Laval............... 16 16 19 19  - 70
Bishop's............ 12 26  8 22  - 68

My apologies for getting this out a day late. I try to get it out at the same time each week win or lose. This week I was away recruiting from Sunday morning through Tuesday with no access to my laptop. 

This loss puts us in a precarious situation. Any BU loss or Laval win now eliminates us from the playoffs. We played again with a bit of a depleted bench. Really missing Dave Belanger at times as he has been the only reliable inside scorer we have had since Big Jonah went out with his concussion in October. Regardless, I thought our guys played well, played hard and played together. 

After a good first half we just could not score in the 3rd quarter. We missed numerous layups and did not actually score until 7 minutes into the quarter. From that point on we played very well on both sides of the ball. We pretty much played 5 guards the entire 4th quarter. What we lost from a rebounding perspective we made up with ball control and defensive pressure. 

Rookie of the Year Candidate - Joany Thadal Castor

Laval did have their largest lead of 9 points in the 4th, but our small line-up did a good job of getting stops and converting in transition for easy scores to gain a 2 point lead with just over a minute to go. However, the small line-up that got us the lead got over powered on Laval's last score when they scored off their 2nd offensive rebound of the possession. With score tied and the ball at our finger tips, Laval managed to grab the ball and score the winning basket with 15 seconds to go. Definitely a disappointing loss, but I am very proud of how our guys competed and played for each other. This season has seemed to have it's challenges every week, but despite the results it has only pulled our team closer together. 

Jona led us with 16 points and 7 assists. Abdul & Joany added 14 and 12 respectively. Owen was solid off the bench and chipped in with 9 points. 

This Saturday afternoon we travel to McGill for a 'do or die' game at 3 pm. Hope to see a few friends, fans and alumni out at that game! 

I will keep you posted,

Rod

Tough Losses to McGill

Thursday at McGill      

                            1     2     3     4   Total

Bishop's............ 13   17   12   20  - 62
McGill.............. 23   12   27   17  - 79

Playing McGill is never easy as they are a seasoned team that is very physical, defends well and 

rebounds even better. They are in 1st place and nationally ranked for a reason. 

After a tough first quarter where we could have been blown out we showed some toughness


 and battled back to cut a 10 point lead to 5 at the half. During that time, we rebounded and guarded dribble penetration fairly well. That was not the case in the 3rd quarter and McGill pulled away. 

We made a run in the 4th cutting a 20 point lead

to 8 at one point. With 1:50 to go McGill was up 11, but scored the final 6 points putting the game out of reach. Abdul had 19 points, Jona had 15 & Joany had 10. The telling stat was McGill

doubling our rebound total. 

Saturday vs. McGill

                             1    2      3     4   Total
McGill..............  14   21   33   19  - 87
Bishop's............ 14    9    19   17  - 59


We battled in the 1st quarter, but really made some tough shots to just score 14 points. McGill was locked in defensively we truly struggled to score all night. Defensively we were not good, but McGill's offense was ignited by their defense. They were just better and we were not going to beat them this 
night. 


Freshman Alex Boisse
Not a lot to speak of with regards to this game 
unfortunately. One of the bright spots of the weekend was the play of freshman 6'9 centre Josh Daoust. 
With Dave Belanger still out with a concussion Josh has been inserted into the line-up. Josh had expected 
to redshirt this year, meaning he would only practice and never dress for games. However, with injuries 
and defections he has gotten the opportunity to play. He was 4-4 from the floor with 6 rebounds in 2 
games. He did score twice in the post over his big 
brother who is a starting post at McGill. 
In the Saturday game, our point guards led us in 
scoring as Jona and freshman Alex Boisse each had 
12. It was nice to have Alex back in the line-up after missing the last 2 weeks. 


The 2 losses leave us in 5th place 2 games behind 
Laval for the final playoff spot. A win against Laval 
on Saturday at BU makes things interesting. Laval is talented, but has struggled mightily since Christmas 
losing their last 8 RSEQ games. We host them at 6 pm on Saturday as the women play the 8 pm game on our Shoot for the Cure night. 


I will keep you posted. 
Rod

Home & Home with Concordia

Thursday at Concordia

Bishop's............ 17 14 12 12  - 55
Concordia........... 26 18 13 19  - 76

As most people know Concordia does not have one of the premier facilities (yes, that is being generous)  in the CIS, but we have been pretty comfortable playing there the past few years and usually come out of the season series with a split there. Unfortunately, that was not the case this season as we dropped both games at ConU. After a decent start we came undone and gave up a significant amount of points off turnovers. As a result, a close game was quickly a double 

digit spread in Concordia's favour. 

The way things were going we really could have been down 20 plus at the half, but we managed to keep it to 12 points. However, it seemed worse and we really never could make a run in the second half. It did not help that we lost Dave Belanger early in the 2nd quarter when he was taking a charge on the baseline (actually it was a no call should have been a charge). Dave ended up with 5 stitches to his chin and a mild concussion. In his limited minutes, Dave did make 5 of 6 shots. The only other bright spot was Jona who had 15 points & 6 assists. 




Saturday vs. Concordia

Concordia........... 15 17 26 17  - 75
Bishop's............ 17 15 15 22  - 69

A minute into the game and we were down 8-0. After a quick timeout we were back on track scoring the next 9 points and holding Concordia to 8 points over the next 12 minutes. In that time we started to play the best basketball we have played in a couple of weeks on both ends of the floor despite not having some key guys in the line-up. We did manage to build an 8 point lead in the 2nd quarter, but had a couple of lapses defensively and the half ended in a tie at 32. 

We struggled in the 3rd quarter, but had a strong 4th quarter. We were able to cut an 11 point Concordia lead to 3 a bunch of times, but could not make shots when we had a chance to close the gap. Regardless, I thought our guys played hard and played together for 40 minutes. We did not have the depth we would normally have, but still gave ourselves a chance and may have been a little unlucky at times. Abdul played his best game of the year with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Jona had 14 points, 4 assists and 4 steals. Freshman guard Joany Thadal Castor continued his strong play 16 points and some solid defense. 

Next up we are at McGill this Thursday evening and then host McGill on Saturday. At 2-8, we sit 2 games behind Laval for the last playoff spot. Not exactly in prime playoff position. Hopefully we can get back on track a bit this week. 

I will keep you posted.
Rod

What a Difference a Week Makes...

Friday vs. UQAM

BU            15   11   12   24   -   61
UQAM     24   10   17   18   -   70

After a good first 5 minutes UQAM dominated the next 25 minutes. Having things go our way early in the game only gave our guys a false sense of confidence. We were feeling too good about how we played last weekend and UQAM was coming with with something to prove after getting blown out twice by McGill. UQAM is more talented than people give them credit for, but more importantly they play hard and together. That was pretty much the whole weekend in a nutshell. They just played harder and were more cohesive. Full marks to them.

In the 4th quarter of this game we did reduce a 20 point deficit to 5 between the 7 minute mark and the 1 minute mark. However, the we paid a price the next night for having put forth such a sustained extreme effort with a short bench right now.

Saturday at UQAM

BU            11   20   20   28   -   79
UQAM     18   24   29   27   -   98

This is about double the number of points that is usually scored in a game in our league...only slightly exaggerated! We got smacked on the glass almost 2 to 1 and got outcompeted like had not happened in any game this year. There is simply not that much to report on this game. We missed some good shots early and could not find a rhythm. There were opportunities to make a run in the 2nd quarter, but could capitalize offensively. Then in the 2nd half when we were scoring we could not get a stop when we needed it.

All in all, a disappointing weekend and we did not do ourselves any favours with regards to a playoff position. However, strange things have been happening in our league all year. You just never know what is going to happen from one week to the next.

This Thursday we play at Concordia. We host them on Saturday and we definitely will have to get things together this week if we are going to have any success against them.

I will keep you posted.
Rod

In the Win Column...Finally!

Friday @ Laval

BU           8     17     22     17   -   64
UL          16    14     15     13   -   58

It was definitely nice to get into the win column in league play. We were not in a must win situation, but it was getting close to that. Regardless, we felt prepared heading into the game. We had practiced well in December and January, but were certainly not game sharp after a 7 week break from our last CIS game. That showed in the first quarter as we had 10 turnovers. We figured things out and had 8 the rest of  the game.

BU Athlete of the Week - Big Dave

We have been putting a lot of time into becoming better from a defensive and rebounding perspective. That showed this weekend as we were at a level higher than we had been in the first semester.  That allowed us to stay in this game during a wretched offensive first quarter and during the 3rd quarter where we were down by as much as 11. It is never easy winning on the road, but if you defend & rebound you give yourself a chance.

Dave was just really solid all weekend and was especially good this game. He had 19 points & 8 rebounds while anchoring our defense. Jona did not shoot the ball well, but handled Laval's pressure well and provided stability. As our lone seniors, both these guys did a nice job leading this weekend.
Abdul struggled shooting the ball, but made a big 3 point shot that gave us a cushion in the final 3 minutes. He also had 13 rebounds and 5 assists.




Saturday vs. Laval

BU          23     25     17     19   -   84
UL           9      19     15     26   -   69

We are in the part of our schedule where we play teams in a back to back, home & home series. Winning 2 in a row is rare unless you are just that much better than your opponent. We are not that much better than any team in our conference and Laval is very formidable. Fortunately, we showed no  complacency and came ready to compete Saturday night.

Sr Leader - Jona Bermillo

The first quarter might have been our best quarter of the year. We were very good in every aspect of the game, but we did not let up. We pushed our lead to 25 early in the 3rd quarter, but Laval made a run to get it back to 14. We held at that point got the lead back to a safer margin. We had the lead to 26 with 6 minutes go, but Laval made a final push to narrow the point spread.

We had great balance on offense with almost 7 guys in double figures...Dave 15 points, Nick 14 points, Joany & Owen with 12 points, Abdul 10 points, Jona 9 points, Yassin 8 points. We moved the ball well and handled Laval's 40 minutes pressure defense pretty well.

The 2 wins puts in a position where we are 1 win behind UQAM & Concordia for the final playoff spot and 2 wins out of 2nd place where Laval sits. We host UQAM Friday and travel there Saturday to play a 7 pm game. Hope to see a few our fans and alumni at both games!

I will keep you posted!
Rod