Jack Donahue Tourney Results

Jack Donahue Tournament @ U of Ottawa

Friday @ Ottawa

BU        10       8      23      15    -    56

UO        27      14    24      24    -    89

This was a tough one from the start. We lost Abdul for the weekend a couple of minutes into the game with a sprained ankle. That did not help, but it was not going to make a difference in this game.   Ottawa is an experienced and well coached team that played well all weekend. We did a poor job of defending dribble penetration which gave a very good shooting team way too many open looks from the 3 point line. That is something we are working to get better at.

Freshman Guard - Joany Thadal Castor

Not a lot of positives in this game to report on. Freshman Joany Thadal Castor led us with 11 points and he played very well all weekend. Joany would be referred to as a ‘3 and D’ kind of player...(I will give you the credit on that one Bones!!)  A good 3 point shooter who is also a defensive specialist. He did a nice job on both of those aspects of the game this weekend. Jona added 10 points as our only other double digit scorer.

Saturday vs. Waterloo - Overtime

BU          26      15      24      14      13   -   92

UW         10      25      23      21      17   -   96

After getting kicked the night before our guys came out very focused and did a great job of following the game plan in the first quarter and early in the 2^nd quarter. We played well enough to build a 20 point lead before we stopped doing the things that got us the lead. Waterloo to their credit hung tough and did a good job of being opportunistic throughout the game.

The story of the game was at the foul line where Waterloo shot 43 free throws to our 24. I may not have agreed with some of the officiating, but we were simply undisciplined with some of our fouls and did not adjust to how the game was being officiated. If we had looked after that we don’t go to overtime and we do not lose this game.

Freshman Point Guard - Alex Boisse

Late in regulation Waterloo took a 1 point lead with 3.6 seconds to go. Out of the timeout our guys executed well and found Jona who drew a 2 shot foul with 1.5 seconds left to go. So, Jona was heading to the line with a chance to win the game and there is no one I would rather have at the line other than him. Unfortunately, he missed the first, but made the 2^nd to send it to overtime.

In the later part of the game we lost Joany & Nick as they both fouled out. Without them we just did not have enough to hold off Waterloo in overtime as we suffered another close loss. Dave & Jona had 24 & 23 points respectively while Joany added another 14. Owen had 10 points & 6 rebounds in the losing cause.

Sunday vs. Toronto

BU               14      23      22      19   -   78

UofT            15      15      33      13   -   76

I thought we expended a lot of energy in the overtime game the day before and a couple of the guys playing were a little more nicked up. A Noon time start made it a short turnaround between games and with a thin line-up my main concern was to get out of the weekend with no more injuries as league play is fast approaching.

To our guy’s credit, they did not enter the game with any excuses in hand. After a slow start offensively we started to find our flow and built a 7 point half time lead. The 3^rd quarter was a combination of us turning the ball over and Toronto making some adjustments at half time that helped them put 33 points up in just 10 minutes.

2nd Year Forward - Nick Harvey

Throughout the 4^th quarter it was close, but they had built up a 5 point lead with about a minute to go. Freshman point guard Alex Boisse, who was a spark in the 2^nd half,  found his fellow Freshman Joany in the corner for his 5^th 3 point hoop of the game to cut the lead to 2. We managed to hold defensively and got the ball back with 24 seconds left. We did get a decent look initially to tie, but missed. Fortunately Nick grabbed his 18^th rebound of the game and kicked out the offensive rebound to Jona who knocked down the winning shot with 8 seconds to go. Great to get the win, but very happy to see Jona cash in on an opportunity to redeem himself in a late game situation after missing a chance to ice the game the day before. Toronto had one last shot and Nick rebounded the miss to finish the game with his 19^th rebound.

Dave led us in scoring with 20 points while grabbing 8 rebounds. Jona had 18 points and 5 assists. Nick added 17 points and an impressive 19 rebounds. When he is locked in he is very difficult to contain on the glass. He has a great combination of speed, quickness & strength for a kid who is 6’6 and 230 pounds! Joany completed his best weekend as a Gaiter with 15 points and some excellent defense.

Thanks to the BU alumni who came out to support us. It was nice to see Tommy Van Alstine, Grafton Timothy, Jeremy Leonard-Smith, Tim Hunter and Blair Shier out at the games. A special thank you again to Blair who provided the pics in this post along with more that will follow throughout the year. Blair finds the time each year to get to one of pre-season tournaments where he treats our guys to a meal and takes literally hundreds of game action shots of our team. So very much appreciated! Especially since we are not often in BC where he resides. 

That completes our CIS non-conference/exhibition play for the year. We finish that portion with a record of 3-5 vs. CIS opponents. Easily a couple of bounces and calls away from being 5-3 or better, but we are not the only team who could be saying that!

This week we head to the US to face a perennial championship level NCAA D2 team in Southern New Hampshire U at 6 pm on Friday. On the way back home through Vermont on Saturday we catch Lyndon State at 4 pm. SNHU should be on par with the likes of Ottawa and we will definitely have our hands full. I do not know too much about Lyndon, but both games will help us prepare for RSEQ play which opens the following week.

I will keep you posted,

Rod

Gaiters Tour of Alberta

Thursday vs. Mount Royal U

BU          18    23    30    18     -     89

MRU      12    17    19     21     -    69

As I watched our guys warm-up in pre-game I lamented the fact that I had tried to make this trip more budget friendly by traveling on the same day we played. We had a direct flight and we are used to traveling on days we play.  I figured we would be fine. However, I was seeing a sluggish team that did not have the usual hop in their step.

My worries were quelled fairly quickly. We competed from the start, but were a bit sloppy defensively. We did clean things up and dominated the glass. We have not received stats yet, but I would guess we had to be +10 in the rebounding department for the game. 

We pushed the lead up to about 30 points with around 4 minutes left in the game, but gave some of that back to finish the game with a 20 point win. I would estimate that we had at least 4 guys in double figures with Jona, Nick, Abdul & Dave leading the way. Freshmen point guard Alex Boisse was very good in this game as well and may have reached double digits.

Friday @ Lethbridge - Game 1

BU          20     9     18    22   -   69

UL          15    20    21    15   -   71

Lethbridge is a notoriously difficult place to win and we did experience this first hand!  After a good first 8 minutes or so we got into a bit of a funk which lasted through the 2^nd quarter. We struggled with some foul trouble and did not do a great job adjusting to how the game was being officiated. It was much less physical than what we are used to in our league. Frustrating at the time, but it allowed for teachable moments.

Despite not playing our best basketball we managed to hang  around and stay within striking distance. That would not have happened last year, but this team is light years ahead of where were last year at this time. Same guys…but, as the they say, the best thing about Freshmen is they turn into Sophomores! 

Lethbridge opened up an 11 point lead in the 3^rd quarter and led by as much as 7 with about 3 or 4 minutes to go. We managed to put together a bunch of good possessions on both sides of the ball in the final minutes and tied the game up at 69 with under a minute  to go on a 3 by 2^nd year wing Owen Martel. We got a defensive stop the next possession and followed that with an offensive possession where we had a decent look that did not hit it’s mark. That left Lethbridge with the last possession with 16 seconds to go. Our guys defended flawlessly, but unfortunately for us the Basketball Gods were shining on Lethbridge as they hit a tough contested off balance shot from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded! I am not sure we deserved to win this game as we did struggle through a long stretch in the middle. Regardless, I was pleased with the poise we played with down the stretch.

If Dave Belanger has not been our best player this year, he certainly has been our most consistent. Dave spearheaded our 2^nd half comeback and anchored our defense grabbing 14 rebounds while scoring a hard earned 18 points in the paint. He did hurt his knee late in the game and was not able to play Saturday and is doubtful for next week at Ottawa U. Owen and Abdul added 12 & 11 respectively while Jona had 9 points & 7 assists.

Saturday @ Lethbridge - Game 2

BU          17     25     12     17   -   71

UL           6      18     27     26   -   77

The loss from the night before did not sit well with our guys and they showed up focused on both ends of the court in the first half. We communicated very well on defense and everybody did their jobs. Offensively we moved the ball and  we had some great looks. We were up 18 at the break despite shooting the ball poorly. Had we knocked down some shots I feel we would have put the game out of reach by half time.

However, we did not make those shots and the game is 40 minutes long! Lethbridge came out aggressively in the 2^nd half and quickly narrowed the gap  cutting the lead to 3 at the end of the 3^rd quarter. We managed to hang tough in the 4^th and pushed our lead back up to 11 with just under 5 minutes  to go before the wheels just fell off. We stopped talking defensively, missed assignments in transition and could not score at the other end. That is where we really missed not having Dave or Big Jonah in the line-up. Having a big you can go to for a paint score is not only a luxury, but a necessity when you are playing on tired legs. 

We simply ran out of gas in the 2^nd half of this game. Our greatest asset is our depth and we just did not have that due to injuries. Regardless, it was great experience to face the adversity of a short bench, travel and playing on the road in a gym where it is tough to get a win. It does not take the sting out of losing, but I feel pretty confident that this group will be a tough out as the season progresses.

Jona led us with 18 points despite struggling from the 3 point line. Abdul had a quiet 12 points while Owen continues his positive ascent scoring 10. Nick & Duncan Lambert eached grabbed 9 rebounds.

Special thanks to Lethbridge’s native son, Dave Wells, or Wellsie as he is affectionately known nation wide in the basketball community for taking the time to show me around Lethbridge Saturday afternoon.

Next up for us is the U of Ottawa – Jack Donahue Tournament which starts Friday. We open up against the host Gee Gees Friday night at 8 pm. It is our first meeting since facing them in that heartbreaking overtime loss at the CIS Final 8 two years ago. We are both very different teams now and this will be a very tough game for us. Aside from Carleton, Ottawa has been the top program in the CIS over the past 5 years. Saturday @ 6pm we face and young, but talented Waterloo team and finish Sunday @ Noon vs. a very good U of Toronto team that already has some quality wins including a marquee win vs. UNLV in the Bahamas in August.

For our BU Alumni and Friends of Gaiter Basketball, there will be reception at the Royal Oak Pub next to the U of Ottawa on Friday evening before our 8 pm game. Hopefully a few of you can make it out! 

I will keep you posted,

Rod

Results from UNB's Eric Garland Tourney

Friday vs. UMaine-Fort Kent

BU          19       8      13      27   -   67
UMFK    16      16     24      18   -   74


After a good 1st quarter where we executed on both ends of the floor we struggled through much of the rest of the game. We did not capitalize on our opportunities and could not make open jump shots or layups while UMFK showed the ability to make some tough shots. They had a mature and talented core who was very opportunistic. They deserved the win and despite not playing our best we did learn a lot from it.

We managed to play 11 guys almost 10 minutes each. We have some depth and are trying to figure out what line-ups work best at this point in the season. We did have 4 guys score in double figures with Dave Belanger leading with 15 points. He also added 7 rebounds. Dave was our best player this weekend and was selected to the tournament allstar team. Abdul Kamane, freshman Joany Thadal Castor and Jona Bermillo scored 13,12 & 11 respectively.


Saturday vs. UNB

BU        14      26      14      15   -   69
UNB     14      14      21      11   -   60

Playing the host on their Homecoming weekend is always a fun challenge. There was a pretty decent crowd and UNB is very athletic. We were much improved over the day before and our guys played very hard on the defensive end. It felt good to see the guys bounce back with a better effort even if we were still unsure of ourselves.

We managed to build a 13 point lead in the 3rd quarter before UNB came back to tie the game at 54-54 with about 6 minutes to go in the game. From there our guys were solid at both ends of the court as we finished the game on a 13-2 run to get the victory.

We did a good job getting to the foul line as we shot 38 free throws...22 by Abdul who converted on 16 of those. We still did not shoot the ball well from the field, but defended, rebounded and converted enough free throws to get the win. Abdul ended up with 22 points and 9 rebounds. Yassin Naji had a nice game off the bench with some excellent defense to go along with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Dave was solid again with 10 points and 7 rebounds.


Sunday vs. Saint Mary's

BU      12      16      18      20   -   66
SMU   28      13      28      13   -   82

Saint Mary's was not going to be beat this weekend. They did not struggle too much vs. any of the other 3 teams. They are one of the better teams in the CIS in my estimation. We are just not ready to beat a team like that right now, but could definitely give them a game later in the year. They came out focused and competed harder than us right from the start. They set the tone early and before we were ready to play we were down 16. We had some good moments after that, but never threatened them.

Dave and Nick Harvey were are only double digit scorers. Big Jonah Fogg started to come on this weekend. Played well against UNB and was better vs. SMU scoring 8 points. Jona Bermillo led us in assists with 9 vs. SMU.

All in all we got a lot out of the tournament. We would have liked another win or 2. However, we are still young enough that we are lacking in some key areas. Those areas can be addressed in the coming weeks and we expect to be more than competitive. Our lack of experience won't be an excuse moving forward.

Next up, we play NCAA D3 Maine Maritime Academy at La Ruche Secondary School in Magog on Thanksgiving Monday at 4 pm. 

Have a great week and nice Thanksgiving holiday!
Rod

Gaiter Year End Awards

This past Monday was our yearly BU Athletic Awards Night. Below is a summary of the 4 award winners from our team.

Men’s Basketball Team Awards 2015-16

Bradley Jones  Rookie of the Year Award– Abdul Kamane

This freshman was a model of consisitency as he scored in double figures 15 of 16 RSEQ games. He finished 6th in the RSEQ in scoring with 13.3 ppg and 3rd in rebounding with 7.3 ppg. This made him an unanimous choice for the RSEQ Rookie of the Year and secured him a spot on the CIS All Rookie team where he finished 3rd in the voting for Rookie of the Year in the CIS.  Abdul is the first Gaiter to be named RSEQ Rookie of the Year since Ricardo Telamon received the reward in 2002-03. 

Abdul was also named the BU FRESHMAN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR! 

Michel Fontaine Memorial Award - Most Improved Player – Jonah Fogg

Jonah made tremendous improvements in many areas in his freshman season. His commitment to training & nutrition was obvious to all and this was a major part of his improvement. (This picture does not do him justice as he has radically changed his physique over the course of the season.) He also put extra time into his game, improving skills and gaining a better understanding of the CIS game which allowed him to make significant on-court contributions to the team in February.  At 7'0 tall with a good feel for the game, Jonah could be a significant contributor for years to come. 

Garth Smith Team Award – Mathew Van Doorn

A 2nd year guard, White Chocolate aka 'Choco' as he is affectionately referred to, worked hard every day in practice and was ready & willing to contribute in any way the team needed either in practices or games.  He showed an ability to provide a spark off  the bench in any game as he is definitely a player who is capable of making something happen on the floor. Very well liked, he was always there to cheer on his teammates.   

Most Valuable Player – Jona Bermillo

Jona, a 4^th year captain had the challenge of carrying the youngest team in the CIS game in & game out and was consistently the focus of the opposition's defensive game plan. He played his best in the 4th quarters and at times kept the team in  games single handedly. He was rewarded by being recognized as a RSEQ 2nd Team Allstar for the 2nd time in his career. He led the team in minutes played,  assists, steals and 3 point shooting. Jona will graduate with a degree in Economics this spring, but is considering returning to BU to play his 5th & final year of CIS eligibility. 

No Further This March

Thursday @ Laval

BU          18      9     21     19   -   67
UL          16     26    21     19   -   82


The second quarter was our undoing. It has kind of been a theme the last couple of games after solid first quarters. After executing well in the first, we got a little sloppy with our passing & shot selection in the 2nd quarter. Laval capitalized and put us into a bit of a hole.

The beginning of the 3rd quarter was a continuation of the 2nd as we struggled defensively and Laval went on a 3 point shooting barrage. They pushed their lead up to 23 points with about 2 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. Much like the last time we played there we went on a run to close the lead to 9 in a 6 minute span before missing an open lay-up that would have cut the lead to 7 and may have changed the course of the game. On the ensuing possession Laval came down and knocked in a 3 point shot which effectively ended our run. We never challenged the lead again, but our guys continued to play hard.

All in all, the effort was good, but we did not have much left in the tank. Can you call not making the playoffs a successful season? Maybe...this group was very young, got better with each passing week and showed flashes of brilliance at times. If we don't stand pat and come back a much better team next season then I think we can say this past season was definitely a success!

Abdul...17 pts, 6 rebounds, 4 assists

Freshman sensation Abdul Kamane led us with 17 points, 6 rebounds, a season high 4 assists (could have been more if we made a few more shots!) and zero turnovers. Abdul is starting to figure some things out and should be a dominant player for seasons to come. Pete & Jona added 14 & 11 respectively. Nick had 10 points and 12 rebounds to end his freshman season with a double-double. By the way, Nick finished 2nd in the league in rebounding at 7.6 per game while Abdul was 3rd with 7.3 per game.

This completes our season...4-12 in league play + 3 other CIS wins that all came against teams that made the playoffs in other conferences along with 2 wins over NCAA D3 schools. A 9 win season was not what we were looking for, but it could have been worse! It is actually much better than the first season for the core of last year's championship team. Regardless, it was a fun group to coach and our best days should be ahead of us.

I will keep you updated on post season awards & recruiting updates etc...
Rod

Playoffs Out of Reach for 15-16

Saturday @ McGill

BU          17      5     15     9    -   46
MU         15     20    22    19   -   76

This loss eliminated us from the playoff race. You are definitely playing with fire when you are depending on beating the best team in your conference in their gym to keep your playoff hopes alive.

In the first quarter, we played pretty well and played the way we wanted to play. Unfortunately, that changed in the 2nd quarter as we allowed McGill to force us to play the way they wanted us to play. They took us out of our rhythm offensively and we ended up either turning over the ball on forced plays or taking contested shots. Lots to learn from a game like this!

The game was decided in the 2nd quarter and the first 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter. We never could bounce back in that time and could not find an answer for McGill. A quick timeout in the 3rd quarter did not help and we found ourselves in a situation trying to shake things up with different line-ups. We ended subbing 5 guys at a time to essentially run time-outs on the bench as the game was being played before subbing the same 5 guys back into the game in the hopes that we could stay close enough to make a run at them in the 4th. We did get a 25 point deficit back to 15 at one point, but the success was brief. Bottom line is we lost to a better team. It is a process and not always an easy one.

Abdul & Duncan led us in scoring with 11 points apiece. Abdul had 7 rebounds while Big Jonah added 6. Not much else to speak of statistically as the score would suggest. We shot 20% for the game and McGill had a lot to do with that.

Thursday we finish our season at Laval. The game means nothing to either team with regards to playoff match-ups. Laval finishes 4th and we finish 5th. Laval will face McGill in the opening round of the playoff and might be McGill's toughest match up based on how their games have gone this season. Regardless, we will be playing for pride on Thursday!

I will keep you posted!
Rod

Still Hanging In!

Saturday vs. Concordia

BU          18    19    19    18   -   74
CU          33    11     8     14   -   66

Sr Captain - Jona Bermillo

Saturday was Senior Night with Jona Bermillo being the only graduating potential non-returner on our team. Jona has had a very successful 4 years here...played in 3 league finals, won the league title last year, has been a league allstar once already and will be again this year. Great person and key player on our team...really hoping he comes back for his 5th year even though he will be graduating in the Spring with a degree in Economics. I think there is a decent chance he will return...fingers are crossed!

With Saturday being our last home game, I wanted to thank our fans as they have supported this young squad through more losses than wins this year. The best has yet to come for this group and that is pretty evident to anyone who has seen us play. The atmosphere was fantastic Saturday, there was the usual & appreciated community support along with the students being very loud!

On to the game, we did not have the start we had planned! We felt if we were ready to defend we could hold ConU to a relatively low number offensively...33 in the 1st quarter was not the number we were looking for! We did not panic, cleaned some things up and held them to 33 for the next 3 quarters. Offensively we were pretty consistent as the line score would attest to.

Down 7 at the half, we came out strong in the 3rd quarter. We moved the ball and were sound defensively leading to 15 ConU 2nd half turnovers. We continued to play pretty well in the 4th quarter and took the lead for good with about 4 minutes to go.

Freshmen Forward, Duncan Lambert

We had 5 guys score in double figures which was a first for us this season. Jona had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists & 3 steals with 1 turnover in a very senior like outing. Freshman Duncan Lambert was a spark off the bench with 13 points and some excellent defense. Pete & Abdul chipped in 12 a piece while Nick added 10 points & 8 rebounds. Big Jonah Fogg started in the place of injured captain Dave Belanger. Jonah had 8 points & 5 rebounds. He really has come along in the 2nd semester. Gaiter great, Rob Burns, has been putting some extra time in the gym with Jonah and it is certainly showing. Thanks Rob!

So, the win keeps us alive in the playoff race! Any BU loss or Laval win ends our playoff chances...that's been the case for 2 weeks now. McGill did us a huge favour by winning at Laval by 1 on Friday night. Laval was actually up 23 points with 3:30 to go in the 3rd quarter in that game! As I watched, I was sure our doom was imminent. However, I barely had time to go through the 7 stages of grieving before McGill went on a 19-2 run to make it a game again and go on to win!

Saturday we play at McGill at 4PM...Laval is at UQAM Saturday. We need to win and hope Laval loses to set up decisive final league game at Laval the following week. Still a very precarious situation, but much more viable than it was 2 weeks ago. We are hoping to get a little support on Saturday at McGill from our friends and alumni in Montreal as we play in this do or die game vs. the top team in our league!

I will keep you posted,
Rod

Still Alive

Friday vs. UQAM

BU            19    21    22    21  -  83
UQAM       8    22    20    25  -  75

Finally a home win in league play! We have been in position a few times to win a home league game this season, but have managed to find ways to allow teams the opportunity to come back on us or were just unfortunate with our opponents making some clutch shots at key moments. After building a 19 point 3rd quarter lead there was certainly a threat of our opponent overtaking us again.  We did not help ourselves missing some lay-ups which often provide the same result as a turnover...a quick counter attack by your opponent. UQAM took full advantage of that and erased a comfortable lead pretty quickly. We allowed UQAM to cut the lead to 4 points very briefly with about 7 minutes left. Fortunately, we quickly restored the lead to 7 and UQAM never got any closer than that.

 Pete Weston  24 pts vs. UQAM

We played hard, but it also helped that UQAM's best player was in foul trouble. Like most teams in our conference, if you take one of their top guys out of the line-up it can really impact the game! Speaking of which, Pete Weston who missed the month of January with a foot injury came back into form in this game scoring 24 points. Not having Pete had a significant effect on our team as we are just not quite good enough yet to absorb the loss of one of best players.

Jona & Abdul were solid as well, each scored 15 points. Jona had 4 assists & Abdul added 9

Freshmen Guard, Austin Macklem

rebounds. Freshmen Yassin Naji & Austin Macklem were key contributors. Yas had 7 points, 7 rebounds & 3 assists. He is a 6'8 kid who can play just about any position defensively & is pretty versatile offensively. He has a chance to be very good. Austin gave us a huge boost in the 2nd half knocking down three 3 point shots and scoring 11 points. We see flashes from him and hopefully this game was sign of things to come.

Once again we had a  very good home crowd. It was the Shoot for the Cure night in support of the fight against Breast Cancer. Thanks to everyone in our community who have done such a great job helping us support this cause over the years.

Freshmen Forward, Yassin Naji

We currently sit in 5th place and not in a playoff position. However, Laval did lose & we did win so we are still alive for another week. Friday Laval hosts McGill and Saturday we host ConU. We need to have Laval lose and our team beat Concordia to stay in playoff contention. Each week we can play meaningful games is a bonus for our team at this point!

Stay tuned!
Rod

No One Said It Would Be Easy!

Thursday at Concordia

BU         8    19    13   13   -   53
CU        12   24    20   16   -   72

Last week our opponent had many more shot attempts due to our turnovers & lack of offensive rebounding. This week was the opposite...we had 11 turnovers this game, the same number of free throws as Concordia & 9 more shot attempts. It should have provided better offensive numbers considering we were decently efficient last week. However, it did not work out that way. Part of it was our doing and you have to give ConU some credit.

Abdul Kamane, 13 points & 9 rebounds

We never did really build much momentum until the 3rd quarter, but that was squashed by ConU making 2 contested buzzer beater 3's at the end of the shot clock & quarter in the last minute of the 3rd Q that ended our run. We never recovered from that and never threatened them the rest of the way despite playing with great effort.

Abdul was our only double digit scorer with 13 points to go along with 9 rebounds. Pete Weston was back in the line-up, but he and Jona struggled all weekend. We are at a point where we need them to provide some scoring if we are going to win. The young guys just are not quite ready to pick up the slack for our top 2 scorers being shut down.


Saturday vs. Concordia

BU        15    12    16    18   -   61
CU        19    15    12    18   -   64

This was a better overall performance, but we had a couple of stretches that cost us dearly. Defensively we were not sharp to start the game and then in the final 4 minutes of the first half we allowed ConU to go on a bit of a run.

We continuously fought back, but they always seemed to have an answer. In this game ConU made three contested 3 pointers at the end of the shot clock and that certainly impacted the game. Sometimes you need a little luck going your way, but I feel in most cases you do create your own luck! Despite that, we did show toughness and never did let Concordia get away from us. We had a chance to tie up the game at 60 with 30 seconds to go, but went 1-2 from the foul line. Concordia closed out the game going 4-4 from the foul line and we went 2-4, but had to miss 2 free throws on purpose to  create an opportunity to erase a 3 point lead in the final 8 seconds. Nice effort and add it to our library of game experiences for this team.

Nick Harvey, 12 points & 10 rebounds

Nick had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Abdul chipped in 11 points and 5 rebounds. Jona had 11 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. All his points came in the 2nd half and he did not score in game Thursday. Not sure if I remember him going scoreless since his 1st year. Despite that he battled through the adversity and kept us close.


We now sit at 2-10 in league play. Our chances of making the playoffs sit somewhere between slim & none. We basically need to win our last 4 games and hope Laval loses all 4. I like our chances of winning all 4 better than Laval losing all 4 though. We host UQAM Friday night in our only game of the week. Our only focus is the next game and getting better each week.

Thanks to our alumni who were able to support us Thursday at Concordia. We always appreciate seeing some friendly faces wearing purple when we are on the road!
Rod

Improvement Not Translating to Wins Yet

Thursday @ McGill 

BU        18    13    15    20   -   66
MU       27    16    22    14   -   79

We knew this would be a tough game. McGill was coming off of a couple of weeks where they were not playing their best basketball. I was sure that was not going to last and they we would have to be up to the task. We knew we would have to weather the storm early and we did not do that as we got down 19-4 after about 6 minutes or so. However, we showed resilience and had cut the lead to 27-26 over the next 10 minutes. We have some stretches where we can play some very good basketball...just have to make those stretches last longer! Anyhow, we relented somewhat in the final few minutes of the 2nd quarter with some unforced turnovers and McGill capitalized building up a 12 point lead going into half time.

Rookie of the Yr Candidate Abdul Kamane

In the second half, we once again had some good moments, but never really did make a run at McGill with a threat to win. Too many turnovers and keeping them off our backboard was an issue all night. They are a premier offensive rebounding team and we struggled with the physicality of the game. In most games in our league the refs really let a lot go...not so much to our advantage just yet. Collectively, we are decently athletic and long, but most of guys could use another year or two in the weight room to compete physical in these types of games. Regardless, many positives and lots of teachable moments.

Abdul led us with 15 points & 5 rebounds. Nick had 12 points & 7 rebounds while Jona chipped in 8 points & 5 assists. Jona gets a lot of defensive attention these days without Pete Weston in the line-up. We hope to have Pete back in a couple of weeks which should help both Jona & our team. Big Jonah Fogg had some quality minutes off the bench with 6 points and 3 rebounds. He continues to get better each week.


Saturday vs. McGill 

BU        21     9    26     7   -   63
MU       18    14   22    22  -   76

Same point spread as Thursday, but a different game in that we were legitimately in a position where a win was possible later in the game. We still struggled with turnovers and rebounding, but were marginally better in those areas. However, they were still our undoing.

Freshmen wing, Owen Martel

After a decent first half, we had a strong 3rd quarter and executed very well on both ends of the court at times...especially offensively. We had built a 7 point lead, but McGill made some shots that would not allow us to extend that lead. We started the 4th with a 56-54 lead and it was a 1 point game with 4 minutes to go. However, throughout the 4th we missed some good looks on offence, but more importantly had 7 costly turnovers. McGill made the best of their chances in the final minutes and put the game away. Again, we played 35 minutes of pretty good basketball against a nationally ranked team, but we could not close them out for the win.

Abdul was strong once again scoring 15 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. He is 9th in scoring (13.3 ppg) in our league & second in rebounding (7.4 rpg). He is the front runner for Rookie of the Year in our conference and will receive some serious consideration for Rookie of the Year in the CIS.  Dave added 17 points and 6 rebounds while Jona chipped in with 12 points. Freshmen Owen Martel had some very good minutes off the bench again knocking down a couple of key 3 point shots in the 2nd half along with a highlight reel follow up dunk that was just after the whistle.

Next up is our final Home & Home of the season with Concordia. We are getting into some must win situations and we could really use your support this Thursday at Concordia. We will have an alumni reception before the game. See the details below...hope you can make it!
Rod

Gaiter Basketball Alumni Reception – BU vs. Concordia

Bishop’s Men’s Gaiters Basketball has enjoyed a special relationship with its alumni over the years. The support given to the program is unique. Home games are special. This semester, we are looking to take that spirit on the road.

On Thursday February 4, our Lennoxville alumni will be traveling with the team to Concordia. The group will meet at the Olde Orchard Pub (5563 Monkland, NDG, at 6:00 PM). 

From there we will make our way to support the Gaiters as they play the Stingers at 8:00 PM. Our Montreal and Ottawa alumni are invited to join us to renew old friendships.

For more information, please contact:

Keith Kobelt       kobelt@videotron.ca

Rod Gilpin            rgilpin@ubishops.ca

Rob Burns             rburns@ubishops.ca