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