Exhibition in QC City

Friday vs. Memorial @ Laval

BU       20       18       31       19   -   88

MUN   21       26       14       11   -   72

We were fortunate enough to pick up an exhibition game not too far from home as Memorial was in Quebec City playing Laval. Although I am not sure I felt exactly that fortunate in the first half of this game!

Nervens playing above the rim! 

Traveling is never an issue for us and we don’t allow it to be an issue, but we were flat after jumping out of our vans and onto the court.  In the first half we were slow defensively as we did not communicate or get into a stance off the ball. We were a step late on everything and Memorial made us pay. We have been more of a 2^nd half team this year which is not all bad, but we do have to tighten up some things earlier in the game as our league will be tighter than it has EVER been from top to bottom. A couple of bad starts could be the difference between hosting a playoff game or not making the playoffs at all…we really expect the RSEQ to be that tight this year.

Pushing the ball ahead on the break! 

Back to the game…defensively we were much more engaged in the 3^rd quarter which allowed us to counter attack and score quickly in transition. Abdul has struggled all pre-season after a tough summer of injuries. He had a stint with the Lebanese National Team in June/July, but seriously sprained his ankle a couple of weeks before heading to Lebanon. This was to his detriment as he played without being quite ready. It was not until this game where we saw flashes of his 2017-18 self. He was a factor defensively, played with great pace and scored at the rim in transition. He also passed the ball very well…a part of his game that is getting better and better.  All in all, Memorial had a hard time dealing with our team speed in the 2^nd half and we were able to wear them down to get the win.

Nervens had 19 to lead our scorers. Abdul had 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 0 turnovers. Joany shot the ball well scoring 15. Kevin chipped in 11 and grabbed a team high 9 rebounds…he is definitely one of the better rebounding guards in the country.

6’6 freshman forward Emile Babin is starting to impact our rotation after missing the first 6 weeks of

Freshman Emile Babin

the year with a stress fracture in his foot. He was 4-4 from the floor and brings a very athletic & physical presence to our front line. This fills a void as we have lost 7’0 Jonah Fogg. Jonah suffered another concussion in September and with his history of documented concussions he has to retire from competitive basketball. Jonah is a great person and we feel very badly that he has to stop playing. He will remain part of our program and has already begun coaching at the youth level.

This week we head into New England to play 2 legendary Northeast 10 NCAA D2 programs in Bentley & St. Anselm’s. Both are fantastically coached and are continually at the top of one of the best NCAA D2 leagues. St. A’s is pre-season #6 in the NCAA and Bentley will challenge them for a league title as usual. It will be great prep as we head into league play the following week.

Game times:

Thursday 7:30 PM @ Bentley U  (Waltham, Mass)

Friday 6:00 PM @ St. Anselm’s College (Manchester, NH)