RSEQ Week #9

Thursday @ UQAM

BU            14   14   23   28  -  79
UQAM     13   13   18   12  -  56

It is never easy winning at UQAM and with a playoff spot at stake we knew it would take 40 minutes.  In the 1st half both teams did a good job defensively and it was a bit sloppy & chaotic on offense at times. We settled in a bit in the 2nd half offensively and even played a little better defensively. I thought we played with a lot energy and determination which UQAM matched until the 4th quarter. We did not relent & really pulled away in the final 7 or 8 minutes.

Abdul led all scorers with 20 points along with 7 rebounds. Joany had 17 points and played some

Joany...defensive pride.  

great D. Dave had 15 points & 9 rebounds...just playing like a 5th year captain should. I think he is very deserving of making a league allstar team this year. Everyone was solid defensively as we held UQAM to 31% shooting and out rebounded them 49-39.

This win all but locked up the last playoff spot for us and allowed us to stay in a position to challenge Laval for 3rd place.


Sunday @ Laval

BU          15   22   19   24  -  80
UL          16   21   16   21  -  74

This win locked up a playoff spot. The game was very tight throughout, but as with Thursday we  pulled away in the 4th quarter and pushed the lead to 11 with under a minute to go.  We are the healthiest we have been in 2 years...what a difference it makes to have some depth and having guys play their proper positions!

Defensively we continue to get a little better individually each game, but we are really starting to play well together at that end of the floor. There was an issue with the stats from this game and I have not seen a boxscore yet. However, I thought we defended dribble penetration well, had a lot of tips & deflections and rebounded well for the most part. Offensively, the ball is moving much better and our spacing is gradually improving. I would guess the majority of our hoops were assisted on. Above & beyond anything, it is nice to get a couple of road wins when you need them!

Andrew Howarth - 3rd Year Forward

Abdul had 30 points based on what our Sports Info office tells me. He probably had at least 8 rebounds and a few assists. He has been spectacular at times and continues to improve each week. He can just score in so many ways. Dave was solid again and had to be double digits in points and rebounds. Joany would have been a double digit scorer as well. Yassin played tough and was close to a double double in points & rebounds. 3rd forward Andrew Howarth had his best game in a Gaiters' uniform. Drew had 5 points, but rebounded well and played some outstanding team defense that impacted the game.

The win leaves us 1 win behind Laval for 3rd place. The rematch is tomorrow night at BU. It will be a tough game and a must win to have any hope of finishing 3rd. Following the Laval game we head to McGill on Saturday to face nationally ranked & 1st place Redmen at 6pm.

I will keep you posted!
Rod

RSEQ Week #8

Friday vs. #5 McGill 

BU     20    26    22    18   -   86
MU    20    20    19    22   -   81

McGill is easily the team to beat in our conference. Aside from Carleton, they as good or better than any team we have played this year...and we have played 4 of the top 6 teams in the country so far. So, getting a win on Friday was not necessarily expected, but playing well was. We have had not had a bad practice since we returned after Christmas and I feel we have been making very good progress each week since then despite having at least 1 key player missing from our rotation every game.

Yassin Naji...game clinching 3 pt shot

In this game we led for at least 39 minutes. McGill led by 1 point twice for 1 possession each time I believe. We played with energy and poise most of the time, but we really competed on the glass. We did out rebound McGill 53-30 and held them to 41% shooting from the floor...although they did miss some open looks from the 3 point line at times. We led by as many as 11 at points in the game and if not for 25 turnovers we would have probably been able to put the game away earlier on this night. McGill's full court pressure is very good, but we did not turn the ball over there. Just some mistakes that were careless at times.  We have improved defensively, but still putting some things together offensively and figuring out how to play more efficiently together on that end.

McGill took 1 of their brief 1 point leads halfway through the 4th Q, but we responded on the next possession and held the lead for the remainder of the game. Our guys played poised and played well down the stretch.

Abdul had an excellent all around game with 24 points, 12 rebounds & 5 assists.  Joany was solid at both ends of the floor with 16 points & 5 rebounds. Nervens chipped in 12 points and 6 assists. Yassin had a big 3 point shot to seal the game in the last 2 minutes as part of his 11 points. Dave struggled to score, but had 12 rebounds & 6 assists. Big Jonah added 9 points off the bench. In the last 3 games Jonah is 10-11 from the floor including a 3 point shot in this game.


Saturday @ #5 McGill

BU     16    18    15     8   -   57
MU    27    23    32    26  -   108

This was just one of those games. A combination of McGill doing what they do well, being very motivated and us just not having it. We were physically a bit beat up going into Friday (we had 8 guys at practice Monday to Wednesday last week) and were in worse shape Saturday.  We knew what was coming, but we just had no juice.

We hung around a bit early, but McGill was tough and we just were not doing things to help our own cause. About 3 minutes into the 2nd half when Dave went down with an ankle injury we were pretty much into practice mode. Forget the score, spread out the minutes and see what we can learn the rest of the game. We did not head into the game with this mindset, but that is the way it played out.

Abdul had 17 points to lead us in scoring. Freshman Jordan Thornhill had a career high 11 and freshman PG Nervens had 10 rebounds.

This is our bye week and it could not come at a better time. We have some minor aches & pains we have to take care along with a couple of other injuries. With any luck we will have the core of our playing rotation available a week from Thursday at UQAM.

I will keep you posted.
Rod

RSEQ Week #7

Thursday at Concordia

BU          14    34    15    22   -   85
CU          23    21    22    24   -   90

After a slow start we had a very strong 2nd quarter and led by 4 heading into half time. We missed some good opportunities to start the 3rd and Concordia took a small lead.

Joany - 20 points in Game 1

Things took a bizarre  turn midway through the 3rd when freshman guard DJ Ngom received an unwarranted flagrant elbow to the face. The call was made, but DJ popped up off the floor and had an understandably very angry look on his face. He was restrained by a teammate before he could say a word, gesture or make a push towards his assailant. Regardless, he was assessed a technical foul. On the ensuing play Dave Belanger received a technical foul for flopping(referee's point of emphasis this year!)...the reality was he tripped over someone's foot while back pedalling in a defensive recovery. A minute or 2 later DJ was called for an 'unsportsmanlike hard foul' while contesting a lay-up and was ejected as that counted as a 2nd technical. It was a marginal call at best, but possibly understandable from the referee's perspective. When the smoke cleared we had lost DJ and he was suspended for Saturday's game because he received '2 technical fouls'. It was a moot point though,  the elbow to the face gave DJ a mild concussion and he would not have been cleared to play on Saturday anyhow. I certainly have a biased perspective, but as they say...'the video don't lie!' Maybe the most perplexing few minutes I have seen in a game in a long time.

To our guys credit they continued to compete. Concordia did manage to go up by as many as 9 in the 4th, but the spread was for the most part between 3-5 points. Our guys played hard, executed at both ends of the floor and were even or better in almost every statistical category except for the one that counted...the score!

Joany had 20 points to lead us in scoring. Freshman PG, Nervens Demosthene had 19 points & 10 rebounds...he gets better each game & is just an elite athlete. Tom Allen was around the gym last week and in his gravelly voice said, 'your lucky Breck is not coaching football here anymore or he'd have that kid playing defensive back as soon as you turned your head!'...more entertaining if you can replicate Tom's voice in your head!  Abdul had a solid all around game with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Dave chipped in 12 points and 6 rebounds.


Saturday vs. Concordia

BU          19    23    13    19   -   74
CU          23    19    16    21   -   79

As the line score would indicate the game was close throughout with the exception of the first few minutes where we had another sluggish start. Kevin Davis came off the bench to spark us in the 1st quarter with couple of steals on great defensive rotations. From that point forward neither team lead by more than 5 points the rest of the game.

Big Jonah - 10 points

Fast forward to the 4th quarter, we went up by 5, Concordia went up by 5, the score was tied 7 times and then Concordia had 1 point lead in the final minute before we missed a wide open, balanced, in rhythm 3 point shot that would have put us up 2 with about 20 seconds to go. Concordia rebounded and fouled. They managed to make 2 free throws, we called time out and scored a quick 2 point basket and fouled again. Concordia made 2 more free throws to go up 3 and we mishandled a pass with 2 seconds to go before 1 last desperate foul. Game over.

Abdul led us in scoring with 20 points, but he was not as efficient as usual. Nervens had 19 points, 7 rebounds & 3 steals. Big Jonah who has been getting better each week had a career high 10 points. The skilled 7 footer is regularly contributing off the bench and that bodes well for next season when we lose Dave. Dave had 8 points & 13 rebounds (*leads RSEQ in rebounding)

The 2 losses definitely hurt. However, we are playing much better and seeing progress each week. We still control our own destiny from a playoff perspective. Our guys continue to work hard each day in practice and the new guys are slowly getting up to speed. February will be a big month for us. Not to look past McGill who we play this week, but those games won't likely impact our playoff scenario. McGill is in a class by themselves presently in our league. They will finish first in league play and the rest of the teams will have to hope that in a 'do or die' 1 game playoff format they falter...any team can have a bad shooting night!

Friday we host McGill and Saturday we are at McGill.

Game time at McGill is 6:00pm. 

RSEQ Week #6

Thursday @ UQAM

BU             26    18    18    23   -   85
UQAM      22    22    19    25   -   88

Defensively this may have been the worst we have been all season. Despite that we had leads as large at 8 points in the 3rd quarter, but could not put UQAM away. We are definitely a work in progress as far as being able to manage a lead and put enough distance between ourselves & our opponents to seal a victory. A big part of that is belief & confidence that you only get by having success in those situations.

With UQAM clinging to a 1 point lead we had 2 opportunities to go ahead on attacks to the basket in the last 30 seconds. Unfortunately we missed both attempts. The game was sealed with about 7 seconds to go on a very questionable call as we made a play for the ball while fouling, but got called for a flagrant foul that gave UQAM 2 shots and the ball back. It was hard to complain about the referees though as we did shoot 37 free throws compared to UQAM's 12.

Abdul...25-28 from foul line in 2 games! 

A disappointing loss, but not fatal with regards to the playoff race. Abdul led all scorers with 31 points. Yassin had 15 points playing a very good offensive game. Dave Belanger muscled his way to 13 points & 7 rebounds. Our best player for a good part of the game was Kevin Davis. In 17 minutes he had 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals & a couple of assists. He played well at both ends of the floor, but unfortunately tweaked his hamstring and had to sit the our game on Sunday.


Sunday vs. UQAM

BU             27    18    18    21   -   84
UQAM      18    17    24    18   -   77

Season high 24 points for Dave Belanger

This game was supposed to be played Saturday night, but it was postponed due to weather.  That gave us another practice to clean up some things defensively. Our defensive transition  was poor Thursday and we did not guard the ball well at all. That was much better in this game. Right now we are making some mistakes that we might normally make in September or October, but when you have 4 new guys in your line up that will happen.

After giving up 11 points in the first 2 minutes we tightened up defensively and rebounded the ball well. We again had opportunities to really extend leads, but could not put UQAM away as early as we would have liked. UQAM did take a brief 1 point lead early in the 4th quarter, but our guys played with poise and sealed the victory in the final few minutes.

Dave was outstanding scoring 24 points & grabbing 12 rebounds. Abdul continued his fine play with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Yassin played his best overall game as a Gaiter scoring 13 points, grabbing 4 rebounds & blocking 3 shots. Recently added freshman guard DJ Ngom was a spark off the bench with 5 points, 5 rebounds and a couple of assists. He is just a guy who brings a lot of positive intangibles and fits what we need.

That leaves us in 4th place 1 game ahead of UQAM for the final playoff spot. This Thursday we head to Concordia to play the 3rd place Stingers. Game time is 8 pm. Hope to see you there.
Rod

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