Men's Basketball Recognized @ BU Awards Night

Last  evening was the annual BU Athletic Awards  night  which was held  at the Delta Hotel in Sherbrooke. It was  a nice  way to recognize our guys who had a  very  good  season along with all the other BU athletes.

The 4  awards  for  Men's Basketball are the Bradley Jones Rookie  of  the Year  Award, the Garth Smith Team Award, the Michel Fontaine Memorial Most  Improved Player Award and the Most Valuable  Player Award. 

                                                       Bradley Jones Rookie  of  the Year:  Jona Bermillo

The 6' guard from Vanier College had an 'un-rookie' like  year. Jona played with poise throughout and carried  us  in our semi-final playoff win vs. Concordia when starting PG Scott Ring  went out with a knee injury  early in the game. Jona provided scoring from both guard positions and was able to create for others while steadily improving his  defense throughout  the year.  He was named to the
 RSEQ  All-Freshman  team & was runner-up for  Rookie of the Year in our league.

                                        Garth Smith Team Award: Tim Hunter

After  leading our team in every statistical  category for the past  few years  Tim unselfishly took a step  back  this  year in some ways, but continued to lead by example. Tim enabled other players to step while sacrificing personal glory for the betterment of the team. Tim has been a great guy to coach for 5 years and we all appreciate that he has been an integral  part of  our team for the past 5 seasons. He will be missed!!





                                       Michel Fontaine Memorial Most  Improved Player: Mike Andrews

Entering his  3rd  season Mike was regarded as  a decent player in our  league, but was  seen as a guy with the 'P' word...potential! Mike made good strides  over the last year and has started to fulfill  some of that potential. His work led to him becoming the RSEQ Player of the Year and a 2nd Team All Canadian. In addition to that, he was named RSEQ Defensive Player of the Year as he led our league in blocked shots. Despite the accolades, Mike  has still on scratched the surface of his potential...if he was able  to win this award again next year he would then be some kind of player!!



                                                       Most Valuable Player: Scott Ring

Our 3rd year point guard is the unsung hero of this team. Not  the biggest the guy, maybe not the most skilled guy on the team, but definitely one of the toughest and most competitive. His strong will and determination helped our team rally all season. These traits were evident in the league final as he played 20+ minutes  before fouling out...but he had been on crutches for the 2 previous days after being injured in the league semi-final.

Both Jona & Mike were recognized with major BU awards as Jona was selected as the Most Outstanding Freshman Male Athlete @ BU while Mike was named BU's Male Athlete of the Year. 

2012-13 Season In Review

Our Season By the Numbers: 

Lost in RSEQ Final: 77-74 @ McGill.
2nd place finish in league standings: 10 wins & 6 losses.
Overall Record: 21 wins & 10 losses, 18 wins & 9 losses vs. CIS Competition
Record vs. teams in 'CIS Final 8' : 5 wins & 4 losses
Highest Ranking in CIS Coach's Poll: #9 (1st ranking since 1999)
Final Ranking in CIShoops.ca Ratings Percentage Index Poll: #8

Awards: 
Mike Andrews: 2nd Team All Canadian, RSEQ MVP, Defensive Player of Year & 1st Team Allstar
Jeremy Leonard-Smith: 1st Team RSEQ Allstar
Jona Bermillo: RSEQ All Rookie Team
BU Coaching Staff: RSEQ Coach of the Year

The season started out with some uncertainty and a very difficult schedule. In our first 4 games we faced 3 teams who would end up in the CIS Final 8 with 3 of those games on the road & one at a neutral site. We could have easily played very well and started the season 0-4. However, our team's hard work in September and their strong chemistry propelled us to a 3-1 start with wins over Ottawa (Bronze Medalists @ CIS Final 8), @ Victoria (6th place @ CIS Final 8) and vs. a talented Trinity Western team on our BC trip. Our only loss was @ UBC in a game that was definitely tighter than the final 12 point spread would indicate. UBC made it to the CIS Final 8 and was a top 4 team all season.

From there we continued to play well winning the UOttawa tournament & beating the GeeGees again, but on their own floor in a very tight game this time. We were down big at the half and ended up taking our 1st lead with 30 seconds to go. The crowd was fantastic...very heavy BU contingent & it literally felt like we were in our home gym in the 2nd half of that game!

From there we played well finishing the 1st semester with a 5 point win at McGill handing the then CIS #3 ranked Redmen their first loss of the year. The win left us with 2 wins & a loss in league play heading into the break. Over Christmas we won 3 out of 3 games at the UQAM Tournament before starting into league play again. We managed to win our first 3 games and broke into the national rankings for the first time in 14 years coming in at #9. That was short lived as our stumble occurred just after that with consecutive losses to McGill and at Concordia. Regardless, we managed to be on the radar all year & were consistently ranked in the top 12.

After finishing the season 10-6 in league we finished in 2nd place and hosted Concordia in a RSEQ semifinal. Despite foul trouble and injuries we hung on for a hard fought 7 point victory in front of a loud & large home crowd. Very much appreciated the support we received from our fans this season. The community was fantastic throughout as usual.

From there we headed to McGill for the league final where we played some very good basketball before having a 14 point halftime lead slowly slip away culminating in the final minute on a contested straight-on banked 3 pt shot at the end of the shot clock! Proud of how our guys played and once again an incredible crowd of BU fans there to support us.

A disappointing ending to the season that still stings. Regardless, our team and program made great strides this year and it was nice to bring the pride back to Gaiter Basketball. Next season looks promising as the only core player not returning is 5th year captain, Tim Hunter  aka Bones. Bones will be hard to replace, but the opportunity will be there for other guys to show what they can do. The season was fantastic from a coach's perspective not because of the wins, but because of the group of guys we coached...a fun, unselfish & hard working group. If they continue to work hard & never forget that we had success because WE were ALL IN then we will be very tough again next season!

We expect to play another very competitive non-conference schedule and hope to finish next year's season about 375 km east of our campus in mid-March!

I will keep you posted...GO GAITERS!!

Heartbreaking Loss in League Final

Saturday @ McGill - RSEQ Championship FINAL


BU        23   19   19   13  -  74
MU       14   14   27   22  -  77

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for all their support over the course of this season. We had great fan support at home games and on the road as well. Saturday at McGill in a packed house the BU fans rivaled the McGill fans in numbers and crushed them from a spirit perspective...somethings never change! It feels good to know that Gaiter Basketball is relevant again.

To say this loss is heartbreaking is an understatement. Our guys have put so much into this season and I feel they deserved a better fate. Regardless, they have nothing to hang their heads about and they represented all of us terrifically well!

We came to play on Saturday and really jumped on McGill in the first half. 5th yr senior Tim Hunter dropped five 3 pointers in the first half playing the way you need a senior to play. We did a fantastic job defensively, we rebounded the ball and we did not foul. Our ball pressure was excellent & we played like a championship team.

However, the wheels fell off a bit in the 2nd half. McGill came out in attack mode as they were down 14. We withstood that early and had our lead up to 15 points. Unfortunately our lack of depth(both Scott & PK played through injuries & were less effective than usual) combined with the fact the temperature in the gym was literally 90 degrees contributed to us wearing down and fouling way too much. After shooting 2 free throws in 1st half, McGill shot 28 in the 2nd half.We committed those fouls, but after watching the video I feel we could have shot another 8-10 free throws ourselves.

Fast forward to the final minutes. Down 1 with 2:30 to go and Jeremy hits a 3 point shot to put us up 2, we get a stop on the defensive end and follow that with a Big Mike score inside. McGill replies with a 2 and a defensive stop of their own. Then the dagger...with the shot clock running out McGill hits a contested 3 pointer off the glass from the top of the key to go ahead by 1. We come down and Jona Bermillo has his 3 point shot hit the front of the rim, the back board, the front of the rim, the back of the rim and the front of the rim before it falls off...Big Mike's tip back rolls off the rim! We are down 1 and end up fouling, McGill makes 2 free throws and our 3 pointer to tie rims out...game over...season over!

We held McGill to 35% shooting, we shot 41%, only gave up 6 offensive rebounds, forced 18 turnovers & committed 11, but were outscored by 15 points at the foul line. That was the game! Big Mike led us with 22 points & 7 rebounds despite McGill defenders doing chin-ups on his arms all night! Apparently if you are the biggest guy on the floor the defense can take liberties on you...I digress. Tim had a fantastic playoff performance scoring 17 in this game while Jeremy & Onnex added 14 & 10 respectively. Scott Ring was held scoreless & fouled out. However, he was on crutches on Thursday & Friday with a knee injury. The fact he played was a credit to his character, toughness & determination. Freshman Jona Bermillo played as well as a 1st year kid could in that environment & gave us a chance to compete with Scott playing on 1 leg.

McGill heads into the CIS tournament this week as the 6th seed facing a very good Ottawa team we have beaten twice. We have a 5-4 record vs. teams that will be in this year's National Tournament and it stings not to be there. Can only imagine the great fan support we would have had at Scotia Bank Place! Next season!!

We will have more news to report and a season review next week. Thanks again to all who supported us through the good and bad of the last few seasons.
Rod

Go Gaiters!!

BU Sports Info Release on RSEQ Awards

GAITERS WELL REPRESENTED IN RSEQ AWARDS

February 27, 2013

MONTREAL – The RSEQ announced the men’s basketball all-star teams and major award winners on Wednesday and the Bishop’s Gaiters were well represented.  Mike Andrews was named player of the year and defensive player of the year, Rod Gilpin was the coach of the year and Tim Hunter received the RSEQ’s nomination for the Ken Shields award.  Andrews and Jeremy Leonard-Smith were both first team all-stars while Jonathan Bermillo cracked a spot on the all-rookie team.

Andrews an Oakville, Ontario native was a force in the RSEQ.  He was second in the conference in scoring averaging 15.3 points per game on a league leading 53.8 percent shooting.  He averaged 6.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists and was second in the country with 2.0 blocks per game all the while averaging 24.9 minutes off the bench. The 6-foot-10, third year centre was named Provigo Robert Lafond Bishop’s Athlete of the Week three times during the season.

Gilpin from originally Sudbury, Ontario is in his fifth year at the helm of the storied Gaiters men’s program.  This season was without a doubt his most successful.  The Gaiters posted a 17-8 overall record and 10-6 RSEQ league record en route to a second place finish.  A year ago Bishop’s missed the playoffs with a 4-12 record (9-16 overall). This is his first RSEQ men’s coach of the year award to go along with his five RSEQ women’s coach of the year awards (1994-95, 97-98 and three straight from 2002-2005), all with Bishop’s.

Hunter earns his second consecutive Ken Shields Award nomination for excelling on the court while performing well in the classroom and being heavily involved in the Bishop’s and Lennoxville communities.

On the hardwood the 6-foot-7 forward was solid.  He averaged 9.9 points per game, while shooting 41.1 percent from the field.  His 2.3 steals per game was second in the RSEQ and 10th in the CIS.  He played 30.7 minutes per game while starting every game in his final university season.

Off the court the Baie D’Urfe, Quebec native was a true leader.  He spearheaded many different team initiatives giving back to the Lennoxville community.  He started ‘Terry’s Cause on Campus’, is the LAMPE Foundation student representative, has been involved with the ‘Barrage Routier’ that benefits the Heart and Stroke Foundation for the past two winters, has coached at countless basketball camps and clinics and was a driving force in the Alexander Galt Christmas Basket Campaign where the Gaiters bagged groceries while raising funds for the local high school.

Leonard-Smith (Ottawa) earned a first team all-star selection while Bermillo (Montreal) put up strong numbers in his first university season and was named to the all-rookie team.

First all-star team

Mike Andrews, Bishop’s

Alexandre Bernard, UQAM

Evens Laroche, Concordia

Simon Bibeau, McGill

Jeremy Leonard-Smith, Bishop’s

Second all-star team

Aleks Mitrovic, McGill

Thibaud Dezutter, Laval

Kyle Desmarais, Concordia

Richard Addai, UQAM

Vincent Dufort, McGill

All-rookie team

Karl Demers-Bélanger, Laval

Jona Bermillo, Bishop’s

Christian McCue, McGill

Nicolas Audet, UQAM

Antoine Beaumier, Laval

Player of the year

Mike Andrews, Bishop’s

Rookie of the year

Karl Demers-Bélanger, Laval

Defensive player of the year

Mike Andrews, Bishop’s

Leadership award (RSEQ representative for Ken Shields)

Tim Hunter, Bishop’s

Coach of the year

Rod Gilpin, Bishop’s

Official of the year

Mike Homsy

-30-

For More Information:

Marty Rourke

Recreation & Sports Information

Coordinator

Bishop’s University

mrourke@ubishops.ca

819-822-9600 ext. 2507

819-574-4498 (cell)

www.gaiters.ca

On to the RSEQ Final!

Wednesday @ BU - RSEQ Semi-Final

BU        18   19   12   21  -  70
CU        18   15   15   15  -  63

Great win for our program. Winning a championship in our conference means going through Concordia at some point & that is never easy. Having a great home crowd supporting us made that a little easier as our fans were outstanding last night! It's funny, but part of me really wanted to face Concordia in their gym...some demons to slay there I guess.

The game was tight throughout once we rebounded from Concordia's 8-0 start. We played with composure, but made some defensive mistakes early & got ourselves into what seemed like perpetual foul trouble. The foul problems were not the worst of it though. Our starting point guard, Scott Ring, went down with a knee injury in the 2nd quarter. Not sure how serious it is, but at this point we are hopeful it is not ligament damage. In a sad coincidence, Scott's sister who is a star guard for Ottawa U, blew her knee out a couple of weeks ago. I will post our league awards next & you will notice Scott did not receive any league accolades. However, he is arguably our team MVP. Despite that we took a 4 point lead into the locker room at halftime.

Jona Bermillo

 Freshman guard Jonathan Bermillo was outstanding in Scott's absence & looked like anything but a 1st year kid. He played with poise & was aggressive throughout. He is no stranger to big games though as he has played in 2 National Championship tournaments with Vanier College. Jona attacked & got to the foul line when we needed points & instilled confidence in his teammates. He kept us in it when ConU made their runs at us. Jamil Abiad came in to give us some quality minutes at the point guard position that were crucial as well. He has not played much & even less at the point. Very key contribution!

With a slim 2 point lead a thunderous dunk by 'Big Mike' put us up 55-51 in the 4th. We never really stretched the lead out, but ConU never got any closer either. We played with composure & made big plays on the defensive end when we needed to. Tim ensured this was not his finale as he had 7 blocked shots...stats say 3, but they are wrong! He had some great sequences defensively...thought I would never say that about Tim...lol! He was a warrior & competed his butt off! Proud of how he stepped up.

We had important contributions from many...Patrik Kabongo 8 rebounds off the bench, 9 pts from a foul ridden Jeremy Leonard-Smith, 14 pts & 4 blocks from Big Mike, 12 pts, 6 rebounds & 3 assists from Onnex who finally is back in form after his month long ankle injury, 14 pts, 5 rebounds, 4 steals & 3 assists from Jona and finally 13 pts & 7 blocks from Tim.

McGill defeated UQAM & will host the final. Game time is 5 pm at the 'Competition Hall' at McGill this Saturday. Hope to see as many PURPLE clad fans as possible at the game!

Go Gaiters!!!

Message for Gaiter Club Supporters

Gaiter Club Supporters,

If you haven’t heard already we have some great news to share!  Our men’s basketball team will be hosting the Concordia Stingers on Wednesday, February 27 at 7 p.m. in an RSEQ semi-final. This game will mark the first time the Bishop’s men have played at home in the post season since March 2006.  We are excited as the Mitchell Gymnasium is one of the best home courts in Canada and we hope to see you out there to cheer on our Gaiters.

As this is a playoff game VIP passes will not be accepted at the door.  Adult tickets are $8, non-BU students $3, BU Students and children $2.  Tickets will be available at the John H. Price Sports Centre one hour before tip-off.  Arrive early to secure your place in the stands as we anticipate a great crowd.  After the game you can head to the Golden Lion and receive a large draft for the price of a pint with your ticket stub.

We hope to see many of you in the Mitchell Gym on Wednesday night.

Go Gaiters!

Brian Breckles

Director of Athletics & Recreation

Bishop’s University

819-822-9600 ext. 2668

BU to Host ConU Wednesday in RSEQ Semi-final

Playoff  basketball is back at BU as we have finished 2nd in our conference thanks to Laval knocking off Concordia Saturday night  in Qc City. Merci Laval! We finish with a league record of 10-6 while ConU is 9-7. Regardless of anything, the game Wednesday will be hard fought and very competitive...possibly more if the referees assume a let them play mentality!

Game time is 7 pm at the Mitchell Gymnasium. It will be webcasted on www.ssncanada.ca.

Go Gaiters!

Thursday @ Concordia

BU        13   20   16   14  -  63
CU        20   13   15   24  -  72

Lost to  a very talented Concordia team last night in their own gym where they are always tremendously tough to beat. Looks like we will play them there next Wednesday unless Laval can upset Concordia Saturday night in Ste. Foy.

Below is our write-up from our Sports Info Dept....I apologize for the brevity of my write-up...busy day with prep and recruits on campus. Next week's post will be as  usual!
Rod

http://www.gaiters.ca/article/gaiters_fall_to_stingers_in_their_last_games_of_the_regular_season

Gaiters Dropped at McGill

Saturday @ McGill

BU        18   16   14   12  -  60
MU       26   13   17   22  -  78

 McGill played very well and looked like a team that had a week to prepare to play us...which they did. They shot the ball very well, did a very good job defensively and had worn us down by the 4th quarter. McGill's play, injuries, foul trouble & the  fact that it was our 3rd game of the week all contributed to this. We have split 4 games with McGill this year and the total point difference in 4 games is a mere 2 points. Lost is the opportunity to finish in 1st place, but with our league home court advantage guarantees nothing in the playoffs.

McGill shot the ball well all game (11-21 from the 3 point line), but were particularly good in the 1st quarter. They opened up an 8 point lead, but we held them scoreless for the 1st 6 minutes of the 2nd quarter before letting things slip a bit in the final few minutes of the 2nd quarter finding ourselves down by 5 at the half.

Co-captain Jeremy Leonard-Smith

The 3rd quarter went back and forth before the final seconds of the quarter. We executed well out of a time out to score with 3 seconds left before McGill launched a 3 point shot from their own 3 pt line that was nothing but net. We found ourselves down 8 once again after they made a 70 foot bomb. We cut into the lead to start the the 4th, but McGill pulled ahead by 11 with about 5 minutes left with a long 3 pointer at the end of the shot clock. From that point we could never re-group.

Mike, Jeremy & Tim were our double digit scorers with 19, 13 & 11 respectively. We struggled to much production anywhere else. Onnex played  for the first time in close to a month, but failed to score in 13 minutes off the bench. We also missed having PK (Patrik Kabongo) in the line-up with an ankle sprain. We will need these guys back to make our push in the playoffs.

This coming Thursday we will play our final regular season game at Concordia and will likely play them in the first round of the playoffs as well the following Wednesday. However, this game should determine where the playoff game will be played...win and we will finish second at host at least the first round.

Hope to see a few more Gaiter fans out at ConU!
Go Gaiters!!

Gaiters Hold Serve at Home

Wednesday vs. Laval

BU        19   19   16   15  -  69
UL         4    14   16   19  -  53

We were able to hold serve in our 'match' (inside joke directed at a 'football guy'...of course!) vs. Laval and keep pace with McGill for 1st place. We sit a half a game ahead of McGill and a win at McGill on Saturday would clinch 1st place and home court advantage through the playoffs. I feel we are very capable of winning on the road in the playoffs, but we will be very tough to beat at home!

'Big Mike' Andrews

As you can see by the line score we had a strong 1st quarter. Defensively we were solid and did most things pretty well. Big Mike was dominant in the first half scoring 15 points. He really has developed into a quality player who is can be very challenging to stop on the low block or on rim runs in transition. Scary to think how good he can be with 2 years remaining because he really has only scratched the surface of his potential.

Throughout the game we were able to play a deep bench with 10 players seeing action in the 1st half and 12 guys seeing action before the game was over. We maintained a comfortable lead throughout the 2nd half and were able to sub out 5th year Sr Tim Hunter with a minute to go for an ovation in his final home regular season game.

Big Mike led all scorers with 21 points & 9 rebounds to go with 2 blocks...he also leads the CIS in blocked shots. Jeremy continues to shoot the ball well as he was 5-6 from the 3 point line scoring 15 points. He has been very solid lately and we need that to continue...nice to see his game mature. Freshman Jona Bermillo continues to shine in his starting role (replacing injured Onnex Blackwood...still out with an ankle!) as he scored  10 points and did a nice job playing both guard positions. Tim, Scott & Matt continue to produce in various ways each game even if they are not scoring...the stability they provide has created very good consistency in our game.

Freshman Guard Jona Bermillo

Saturday we travel to McGill to play for 1st place. Could not  ask for anything more at this point. Check the blog  entry below  this story for details on the BU Alumni reception before the games on Saturday. Hope  to see you there! As well, in case you have not been keeping up with Tim's 'monthly' blog  updates, check the  Captain's Corner link  on the right side of this page!

Go Gaiters!