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