Typically we do not have too many non-conference games at home, but this year is a bit of an anomaly as we host 5 games in Lennoxville before January 1st.
This weekend we open up Friday night vs. a mature & talented Queen's University team and follow that up on Sunday afternoon facing national power U of Ottawa. See the rest of our non-conference schedule below and the full schedule at: http://gaiters.ca/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
Gaiters' Non-Conference Home Schedule
Friday September 30th vs. Queen's at 7pm
Sunday October 1st vs. Ottawa at 1 pm
Friday October 20th vs. Wilfred Laurier at 7 pm
Friday December 29th vs. UNB @ 1 pm (at Alexander Galt Regional High School)
Saturday December 30th vs. UNB @ 5 pm
For our alumni & fans on the West Coast. Next week we will be in beautiful British Columbia:
Exhibition Game - Victoria, BC
Thursday October 5th vs. UVIC @ 7 pm (PST) (at Belmont Secondary School )
UBC Thunderbird Invitational
Friday October 6th vs. UBC @ 7 pm
Saturday October 7th vs. U of Alberta @ 5 pm
Thursday, 28 September 2017
Monday, 27 February 2017
Season Comes to an End...
Wednesday vs. Concordia
Abdul led us with 17 points, Jona had 13 and Joany completed an excellent freshman season with 11 points and 3 steals.
So, that completes a season with no shortage of struggles and was one of those where I could say if you coach long enough you will see everything. We realistically were not looking to challenge Carleton for a CIS championship, but with a little luck from an injury perspective we definitely would have been a playoff team and had a better than .500 record in non-conference play.
Definitely a 'what could of been' type of season, but injuries are part of the game as is attrition. Despite everything it was a season that will help our core move forward as all but 2 guys were 1st or 2nd year players. Lots of teachable moments and character building opportunities. As difficult as is to finish outside of the playoffs I felt very proud of how our guys played the last few weeks. They played hard every second, competed, played unselfishly and they learned to deal with adversity. I can say it was truly rewarding to coach the group of guys that finished the season together.
CIS basketball is now a major 12 month a year commitment for athletes. Attrition is much higher than it was even 8 - 10 years ago and you have to love it if you are going to make that commitment. Due to education, technology and increased expectations, athletes are better trained, coaches are better prepared and the game may even be played at a higher level, but a lot of what made the experience of being a CIS student-athlete special has disappeared unfortunately... for better or for worse.
Moving forward the only guy we lose from our core is Jona Bermillo. Jona has been a fantastic teammate and a great kid to coach. Certainly represents everything we want in a Gaiter and he will be a proud alum moving forward. He had an exceptional career at BU...RSEQ All-Rookie team, soon to be 3 time RSEQ Allstar, played in 3 RSEQ finals with 1 RSEQ championship and he hit several huge shots in his career. Not sure I have coached someone who has come up bigger than Jona when the game was on the line. This season Jona led the league in assists and steals while finishing 3rd in scoring...he will be missed!
Truly appreciate the support we receive from our alumni, family & friends of Gaiter Basketball. It has been nice to see our alumni in the crowd in Montreal recently despite that fact we were not in a championship run. There is always optimism for next season. With a little luck on the recruiting trail and from an injury perspective I feel sincerely that next season with be quite different from this one. Nothing to do, but get to work on making that happen!
I will keep you posted.
Rod
Score by Periods 1 2 3 4 Total Concordia........... 19 18 23 19 - 79 Bishop's............ 16 14 25 21 - 76
As has been the case for the past few weeks our guys really competed hard and played
to the final whistle. We were down a couple of more bodies as Owen got a concussion in theMcGill game last Saturday and Andrew Haworth, who had been starting in Dave Belanger's spot, blew out his ankle in practice last week. That left us with 8 healthy bodies and I'm
pretty sure I have never coached a game at this level with just 8 guys. The warm up
reminded me of a men's league game warm-up with just the 8 guys in the layup lines!
Despite being shorthanded our guys made it a game. Concordia had a brief run in the 3rd
pushing the lead up to 9 which was quickly trimmed down and the score remained tight.
With just under 15 seconds to go Concordia took a 6 point lead. We came down the floor
and Duncan Lambert knocked down his 5th three point shot of the game to cut the lead to 3
with 7.5 seconds to go. Concordia called timeout which automatically advances the ball to
the sideline in the front court. We have a line-up in that is pretty good at creating turnovers
in this situation. So we feel still have a chance. We nearly steal ConU's first inbound attempt, but we have a foot on the line as we recover the ball. We deflect the 2nd attempt back out of bounds and we steal the 3rd inbounding attempt where Joany ends up with a 3 pt attempt from 35 feet that narrowly misses. Tough loss, but proud of our effort!
Abdul led all scorers with 18 points. Jona, playing in his final game at BU, had 17 points & 8 assists (1 turnover! More on Jona later). 2nd year forward Duncan Lambert had a career high 15 points while freshman Alex Boisse added 13.
Saturday at UQAM
Score by Periods 1 2 3 4 Total
Bishop's............ 19 14 21 15 - 69
UQAM................ 19 18 16 25 - 78
Much like the last few games (excluding McGill) this game was tight and decided in the final minute. It was a 2 point game with less than 2 minutes to go and we just ran out of gas. Wednesday night took a lot of us and our guys were playing on fumes in the 2nd half. They did a great job hanging in, but UQAM was fresher and their size wore us down. |
| Fab Freshmen wearing #15, Onnex Blackwood & now Joany! |
So, that completes a season with no shortage of struggles and was one of those where I could say if you coach long enough you will see everything. We realistically were not looking to challenge Carleton for a CIS championship, but with a little luck from an injury perspective we definitely would have been a playoff team and had a better than .500 record in non-conference play.
Definitely a 'what could of been' type of season, but injuries are part of the game as is attrition. Despite everything it was a season that will help our core move forward as all but 2 guys were 1st or 2nd year players. Lots of teachable moments and character building opportunities. As difficult as is to finish outside of the playoffs I felt very proud of how our guys played the last few weeks. They played hard every second, competed, played unselfishly and they learned to deal with adversity. I can say it was truly rewarding to coach the group of guys that finished the season together.
CIS basketball is now a major 12 month a year commitment for athletes. Attrition is much higher than it was even 8 - 10 years ago and you have to love it if you are going to make that commitment. Due to education, technology and increased expectations, athletes are better trained, coaches are better prepared and the game may even be played at a higher level, but a lot of what made the experience of being a CIS student-athlete special has disappeared unfortunately... for better or for worse.
Moving forward the only guy we lose from our core is Jona Bermillo. Jona has been a fantastic teammate and a great kid to coach. Certainly represents everything we want in a Gaiter and he will be a proud alum moving forward. He had an exceptional career at BU...RSEQ All-Rookie team, soon to be 3 time RSEQ Allstar, played in 3 RSEQ finals with 1 RSEQ championship and he hit several huge shots in his career. Not sure I have coached someone who has come up bigger than Jona when the game was on the line. This season Jona led the league in assists and steals while finishing 3rd in scoring...he will be missed!
 |
| These guys were a big part of our last turnaround season! |
I will keep you posted.
Rod
Monday, 20 February 2017
Saturday @ McGill
Saturday @ McGill
Score by Periods 1 2 3 4 Total Bishop's............ 16 17 16 22 - 71 McGill.............. 27 24 23 15 - 89
McGill has been playing at a very high level the last few weeks. They defeated Concordia by 27 on Thursday and UQAM by 29 the weekend before. I am not really one for moral victories, but despite not having a chance to defeat McGill on Saturday I was proud of how hard our guys played until the final horn. This game could have easily been a 38 point loss instead of an 18 point loss. Especially when you consider that Laval beating UQAM Friday night eliminated us from the playoffs.
On the positive side of this game, we have 5 players score in double figures. Freshman point guard Alex Boisse had 14, Abdul had 13 and 12 rebounds, Joany had 12, Yassin had 11 and Jona chipped in with 10.
 |
| Jona Bermillo - 5th Year Captain |
We finish up the season hosting Concordia on Wednesday night and traveling to UQAM on Saturday for a 7 pm game. Wednesday night will make Jona Bermillo's final game at the Mitchell Gym. He has had an excellent career as a Gaiter being named an RSEQ Allstar 3 times, playing in 3 conference finals and winning 1 of those championship games. More importantly, he is a fantastic person and has been a great teammate. He graduated with a degree in Economics and is hoping to play professionally somewhere in Asia next year. We are wishing him the very best and would love to see him go out with a couple of victories!
I will keep you posted,
Rod
Tuesday, 14 February 2017
Falling Short vs. Laval
Saturday vs. Laval
Score by Periods 1 2 3 4 Total Laval............... 16 16 19 19 - 70 Bishop's............ 12 26 8 22 - 68
My apologies for getting this out a day late. I try to get it out at the same time each week win or lose. This week I was away recruiting from Sunday morning through Tuesday with no access to my laptop.
This loss puts us in a precarious situation. Any BU loss or Laval win now eliminates us from the playoffs. We played again with a bit of a depleted bench. Really missing Dave Belanger at times as he has been the only reliable inside scorer we have had since Big Jonah went out with his concussion in October. Regardless, I thought our guys played well, played hard and played together.
After a good first half we just could not score in the 3rd quarter. We missed numerous layups and did not actually score until 7 minutes into the quarter. From that point on we played very well on both sides of the ball. We pretty much played 5 guards the entire 4th quarter. What we lost from a rebounding perspective we made up with ball control and defensive pressure.
 |
| Rookie of the Year Candidate - Joany Thadal Castor |
Laval did have their largest lead of 9 points in the 4th, but our small line-up did a good job of getting stops and converting in transition for easy scores to gain a 2 point lead with just over a minute to go. However, the small line-up that got us the lead got over powered on Laval's last score when they scored off their 2nd offensive rebound of the possession. With score tied and the ball at our finger tips, Laval managed to grab the ball and score the winning basket with 15 seconds to go. Definitely a disappointing loss, but I am very proud of how our guys competed and played for each other. This season has seemed to have it's challenges every week, but despite the results it has only pulled our team closer together.
Jona led us with 16 points and 7 assists. Abdul & Joany added 14 and 12 respectively. Owen was solid off the bench and chipped in with 9 points.
This Saturday afternoon we travel to McGill for a 'do or die' game at 3 pm. Hope to see a few friends, fans and alumni out at that game!
I will keep you posted,
Rod
Monday, 6 February 2017
Tough Losses to McGill
Thursday at McGill
1 2 3 4 Total
Bishop's............ 13 17 12 20 - 62
McGill.............. 23 12 27 17 - 79
Playing McGill is never easy as they are a seasoned team that is very physical, defends well and
rebounds even better. They are in 1st place and nationally ranked for a reason.
After a tough first quarter where we could have been blown out we showed some toughnessand battled back to cut a 10 point lead to 5 at the half. During that time, we rebounded and guarded dribble penetration fairly well. That was not the case in the 3rd quarter and McGill pulled away.
We made a run in the 4th cutting a 20 point lead
to 8 at one point. With 1:50 to go McGill was up 11, but scored the final 6 points putting the game out of reach. Abdul had 19 points, Jona had 15 & Joany had 10. The telling stat was McGill
doubling our rebound total.
Saturday vs. McGill
1 2 3 4 Total McGill.............. 14 21 33 19 - 87 Bishop's............ 14 9 19 17 - 59We battled in the 1st quarter, but really made some tough shots to just score 14 points. McGill was locked in defensively we truly struggled to score all night. Defensively we were not good, but McGill's offense was ignited by their defense. They were just better and we were not going to beat them thisnight.
 |
| Freshman Alex Boisse |
Not a lot to speak of with regards to this game
unfortunately. One of the bright spots of the weekend was the play of freshman 6'9 centre Josh Daoust.
With Dave Belanger still out with a concussion Josh has been inserted into the line-up. Josh had expected
to redshirt this year, meaning he would only practice and never dress for games. However, with injuries
and defections he has gotten the opportunity to play. He was 4-4 from the floor with 6 rebounds in 2
games. He did score twice in the post over his big
brother who is a starting post at McGill.
In the Saturday game, our point guards led us in
scoring as Jona and freshman Alex Boisse each had
12. It was nice to have Alex back in the line-up after missing the last 2 weeks.
The 2 losses leave us in 5th place 2 games behind
Laval for the final playoff spot. A win against Laval
on Saturday at BU makes things interesting. Laval is talented, but has struggled mightily since Christmas
losing their last 8 RSEQ games. We host them at 6 pm on Saturday as the women play the 8 pm game on our Shoot for the Cure night.
I will keep you posted.
Rod
Monday, 30 January 2017
Home & Home with Concordia
Thursday at Concordia
As most people know Concordia does not have one of the premier facilities (yes, that is being generous) in the CIS, but we have been pretty comfortable playing there the past few years and usually come out of the season series with a split there. Unfortunately, that was not the case this season as we dropped both games at ConU. After a decent start we came undone and gave up a significant amount of points off turnovers. As a result, a close game was quickly a double
digit spread in Concordia's favour.
The way things were going we really could have been down 20 plus at the half, but we managed to keep it to 12 points. However, it seemed worse and we really never could make a run in the second half. It did not help that we lost Dave Belanger early in the 2nd quarter when he was taking a charge on the baseline (actually it was a no call should have been a charge). Dave ended up with 5 stitches to his chin and a mild concussion. In his limited minutes, Dave did make 5 of 6 shots. The only other bright spot was Jona who had 15 points & 6 assists.
Saturday vs. Concordia
A minute into the game and we were down 8-0. After a quick timeout we were back on track scoring the next 9 points and holding Concordia to 8 points over the next 12 minutes. In that time we started to play the best basketball we have played in a couple of weeks on both ends of the floor despite not having some key guys in the line-up. We did manage to build an 8 point lead in the 2nd quarter, but had a couple of lapses defensively and the half ended in a tie at 32.
We struggled in the 3rd quarter, but had a strong 4th quarter. We were able to cut an 11 point Concordia lead to 3 a bunch of times, but could not make shots when we had a chance to close the gap. Regardless, I thought our guys played hard and played together for 40 minutes. We did not have the depth we would normally have, but still gave ourselves a chance and may have been a little unlucky at times. Abdul played his best game of the year with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Jona had 14 points, 4 assists and 4 steals. Freshman guard Joany Thadal Castor continued his strong play 16 points and some solid defense.
Next up we are at McGill this Thursday evening and then host McGill on Saturday. At 2-8, we sit 2 games behind Laval for the last playoff spot. Not exactly in prime playoff position. Hopefully we can get back on track a bit this week.
I will keep you posted.
Rod
Bishop's............ 17 14 12 12 - 55 Concordia........... 26 18 13 19 - 76
As most people know Concordia does not have one of the premier facilities (yes, that is being generous) in the CIS, but we have been pretty comfortable playing there the past few years and usually come out of the season series with a split there. Unfortunately, that was not the case this season as we dropped both games at ConU. After a decent start we came undone and gave up a significant amount of points off turnovers. As a result, a close game was quickly a double
The way things were going we really could have been down 20 plus at the half, but we managed to keep it to 12 points. However, it seemed worse and we really never could make a run in the second half. It did not help that we lost Dave Belanger early in the 2nd quarter when he was taking a charge on the baseline (actually it was a no call should have been a charge). Dave ended up with 5 stitches to his chin and a mild concussion. In his limited minutes, Dave did make 5 of 6 shots. The only other bright spot was Jona who had 15 points & 6 assists.
Saturday vs. Concordia
Concordia........... 15 17 26 17 - 75 Bishop's............ 17 15 15 22 - 69
We struggled in the 3rd quarter, but had a strong 4th quarter. We were able to cut an 11 point Concordia lead to 3 a bunch of times, but could not make shots when we had a chance to close the gap. Regardless, I thought our guys played hard and played together for 40 minutes. We did not have the depth we would normally have, but still gave ourselves a chance and may have been a little unlucky at times. Abdul played his best game of the year with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Jona had 14 points, 4 assists and 4 steals. Freshman guard Joany Thadal Castor continued his strong play 16 points and some solid defense.
Next up we are at McGill this Thursday evening and then host McGill on Saturday. At 2-8, we sit 2 games behind Laval for the last playoff spot. Not exactly in prime playoff position. Hopefully we can get back on track a bit this week.
I will keep you posted.
Rod
Monday, 23 January 2017
What a Difference a Week Makes...
Friday vs. UQAM
BU 15 11 12 24 - 61
UQAM 24 10 17 18 - 70
After a good first 5 minutes UQAM dominated the next 25 minutes. Having things go our way early in the game only gave our guys a false sense of confidence. We were feeling too good about how we played last weekend and UQAM was coming with with something to prove after getting blown out twice by McGill. UQAM is more talented than people give them credit for, but more importantly they play hard and together. That was pretty much the whole weekend in a nutshell. They just played harder and were more cohesive. Full marks to them.
In the 4th quarter of this game we did reduce a 20 point deficit to 5 between the 7 minute mark and the 1 minute mark. However, the we paid a price the next night for having put forth such a sustained extreme effort with a short bench right now.
Saturday at UQAM
BU 11 20 20 28 - 79
UQAM 18 24 29 27 - 98
This is about double the number of points that is usually scored in a game in our league...only slightly exaggerated! We got smacked on the glass almost 2 to 1 and got outcompeted like had not happened in any game this year. There is simply not that much to report on this game. We missed some good shots early and could not find a rhythm. There were opportunities to make a run in the 2nd quarter, but could capitalize offensively. Then in the 2nd half when we were scoring we could not get a stop when we needed it.
All in all, a disappointing weekend and we did not do ourselves any favours with regards to a playoff position. However, strange things have been happening in our league all year. You just never know what is going to happen from one week to the next.
This Thursday we play at Concordia. We host them on Saturday and we definitely will have to get things together this week if we are going to have any success against them.
I will keep you posted.
Rod
BU 15 11 12 24 - 61
UQAM 24 10 17 18 - 70
After a good first 5 minutes UQAM dominated the next 25 minutes. Having things go our way early in the game only gave our guys a false sense of confidence. We were feeling too good about how we played last weekend and UQAM was coming with with something to prove after getting blown out twice by McGill. UQAM is more talented than people give them credit for, but more importantly they play hard and together. That was pretty much the whole weekend in a nutshell. They just played harder and were more cohesive. Full marks to them.
In the 4th quarter of this game we did reduce a 20 point deficit to 5 between the 7 minute mark and the 1 minute mark. However, the we paid a price the next night for having put forth such a sustained extreme effort with a short bench right now.
Saturday at UQAM
BU 11 20 20 28 - 79
UQAM 18 24 29 27 - 98
This is about double the number of points that is usually scored in a game in our league...only slightly exaggerated! We got smacked on the glass almost 2 to 1 and got outcompeted like had not happened in any game this year. There is simply not that much to report on this game. We missed some good shots early and could not find a rhythm. There were opportunities to make a run in the 2nd quarter, but could capitalize offensively. Then in the 2nd half when we were scoring we could not get a stop when we needed it.
All in all, a disappointing weekend and we did not do ourselves any favours with regards to a playoff position. However, strange things have been happening in our league all year. You just never know what is going to happen from one week to the next.
This Thursday we play at Concordia. We host them on Saturday and we definitely will have to get things together this week if we are going to have any success against them.
I will keep you posted.
Rod
Monday, 16 January 2017
In the Win Column...Finally!
Friday @ Laval
BU 8 17 22 17 - 64
UL 16 14 15 13 - 58
It was definitely nice to get into the win column in league play. We were not in a must win situation, but it was getting close to that. Regardless, we felt prepared heading into the game. We had practiced well in December and January, but were certainly not game sharp after a 7 week break from our last CIS game. That showed in the first quarter as we had 10 turnovers. We figured things out and had 8 the rest of the game.
We have been putting a lot of time into becoming better from a defensive and rebounding perspective. That showed this weekend as we were at a level higher than we had been in the first semester. That allowed us to stay in this game during a wretched offensive first quarter and during the 3rd quarter where we were down by as much as 11. It is never easy winning on the road, but if you defend & rebound you give yourself a chance.
Dave was just really solid all weekend and was especially good this game. He had 19 points & 8 rebounds while anchoring our defense. Jona did not shoot the ball well, but handled Laval's pressure well and provided stability. As our lone seniors, both these guys did a nice job leading this weekend.
Abdul struggled shooting the ball, but made a big 3 point shot that gave us a cushion in the final 3 minutes. He also had 13 rebounds and 5 assists.
Saturday vs. Laval
BU 23 25 17 19 - 84
UL 9 19 15 26 - 69
We are in the part of our schedule where we play teams in a back to back, home & home series. Winning 2 in a row is rare unless you are just that much better than your opponent. We are not that much better than any team in our conference and Laval is very formidable. Fortunately, we showed no complacency and came ready to compete Saturday night.
The first quarter might have been our best quarter of the year. We were very good in every aspect of the game, but we did not let up. We pushed our lead to 25 early in the 3rd quarter, but Laval made a run to get it back to 14. We held at that point got the lead back to a safer margin. We had the lead to 26 with 6 minutes go, but Laval made a final push to narrow the point spread.
We had great balance on offense with almost 7 guys in double figures...Dave 15 points, Nick 14 points, Joany & Owen with 12 points, Abdul 10 points, Jona 9 points, Yassin 8 points. We moved the ball well and handled Laval's 40 minutes pressure defense pretty well.
The 2 wins puts in a position where we are 1 win behind UQAM & Concordia for the final playoff spot and 2 wins out of 2nd place where Laval sits. We host UQAM Friday and travel there Saturday to play a 7 pm game. Hope to see a few our fans and alumni at both games!
I will keep you posted!
Rod
BU 8 17 22 17 - 64
UL 16 14 15 13 - 58
It was definitely nice to get into the win column in league play. We were not in a must win situation, but it was getting close to that. Regardless, we felt prepared heading into the game. We had practiced well in December and January, but were certainly not game sharp after a 7 week break from our last CIS game. That showed in the first quarter as we had 10 turnovers. We figured things out and had 8 the rest of the game.
 |
| BU Athlete of the Week - Big Dave |
Dave was just really solid all weekend and was especially good this game. He had 19 points & 8 rebounds while anchoring our defense. Jona did not shoot the ball well, but handled Laval's pressure well and provided stability. As our lone seniors, both these guys did a nice job leading this weekend.
Abdul struggled shooting the ball, but made a big 3 point shot that gave us a cushion in the final 3 minutes. He also had 13 rebounds and 5 assists.
Saturday vs. Laval
BU 23 25 17 19 - 84
UL 9 19 15 26 - 69
We are in the part of our schedule where we play teams in a back to back, home & home series. Winning 2 in a row is rare unless you are just that much better than your opponent. We are not that much better than any team in our conference and Laval is very formidable. Fortunately, we showed no complacency and came ready to compete Saturday night.
 |
| Sr Leader - Jona Bermillo |
We had great balance on offense with almost 7 guys in double figures...Dave 15 points, Nick 14 points, Joany & Owen with 12 points, Abdul 10 points, Jona 9 points, Yassin 8 points. We moved the ball well and handled Laval's 40 minutes pressure defense pretty well.
The 2 wins puts in a position where we are 1 win behind UQAM & Concordia for the final playoff spot and 2 wins out of 2nd place where Laval sits. We host UQAM Friday and travel there Saturday to play a 7 pm game. Hope to see a few our fans and alumni at both games!
I will keep you posted!
Rod
Monday, 28 November 2016
RSEQ Week #3
Saturday vs. McGill
BU 26 17 19 11 - 73
MU 15 26 20 20 - 81
It was an exciting day on campus. We were inducting former BU basketball stars Trevor Bennett & Cynthia Johnston, along with all time great athletic therapist, Steve King, into the BU-RBC Wall of Distinction. It was great to see so many alumni and friends of Gaiter basketball back to honour these 3 exceptional people. Along with that our women's team broke a multi year RSEQ game losing streak beating a very good McGill team by 22. I am very happy for the coaches & players, they deserved wins earlier in league, but had suffered the same fate as us.
Having very similar results as the women's team with some very close losses I was hopeful we would continue to follow the same path as them for at least one more day! McGill had their full complement of players this week and spanked Concordia by 40 on Thursday night. So, we knew this would be a tough game. It looked good early as we started well and played pretty good basketball for the better part of the game. It would have been an entertaining game to watch from the stands and both teams were playing at a high level.
We managed to hold onto a 2 point half time lead after a shaky 2nd quarter which included missing an open layup at point blank range with 5 seconds to go that McGill rebounded and turned into a running 1 footed take off 3 point hoop from 30 feet out at the buzzer. One play never decides a game, but that was key and one of a handful of possessions that hurt us. Despite that I thought we executed well, played hard and competed every possession.
The game had 14 lead changes and after half time no one really had more than a 4 point lead until the
last 90 seconds of the game. With about 5 minutes to go it looked like McGill had a chance to put us away then, but we put together a couple of defensive stops and scored 5 straight points to take a one point lead. Unfortunately we struggled to score in the final 3 minutes...part of it was McGill's defense and part of it was us just missing good shots. A couple of empty offensive possessions and a couple of possessions where McGill made big shots decided what was a closely played game. We have talked a lot about the importance of one possession with our guys. It is likely our season is not decided by a game, but by a possession. Top to bottom there is no league as competitive as ours.
So, that leaves us with a league record of 0-4 where we have lost 4 games in the final minutes or seconds. Getting that first victory will do a lot and when that happens we will be difficult to deal with. Dave led us in scoring with 16 points. Jona had 13 points and 5 assists while Nick chipped in 11 points. Abdul had a season high 5 assists.
We do not have a Christmas tournament again this year and will resume league play in January. Until then, I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!
Rod
BU 26 17 19 11 - 73
MU 15 26 20 20 - 81
It was an exciting day on campus. We were inducting former BU basketball stars Trevor Bennett & Cynthia Johnston, along with all time great athletic therapist, Steve King, into the BU-RBC Wall of Distinction. It was great to see so many alumni and friends of Gaiter basketball back to honour these 3 exceptional people. Along with that our women's team broke a multi year RSEQ game losing streak beating a very good McGill team by 22. I am very happy for the coaches & players, they deserved wins earlier in league, but had suffered the same fate as us.
 |
| Dave Belanger |
We managed to hold onto a 2 point half time lead after a shaky 2nd quarter which included missing an open layup at point blank range with 5 seconds to go that McGill rebounded and turned into a running 1 footed take off 3 point hoop from 30 feet out at the buzzer. One play never decides a game, but that was key and one of a handful of possessions that hurt us. Despite that I thought we executed well, played hard and competed every possession.
The game had 14 lead changes and after half time no one really had more than a 4 point lead until the
So, that leaves us with a league record of 0-4 where we have lost 4 games in the final minutes or seconds. Getting that first victory will do a lot and when that happens we will be difficult to deal with. Dave led us in scoring with 16 points. Jona had 13 points and 5 assists while Nick chipped in 11 points. Abdul had a season high 5 assists.
We do not have a Christmas tournament again this year and will resume league play in January. Until then, I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!
Rod
Monday, 21 November 2016
RSEQ Week #2
Friday @ Laval
BU 17 17 7 23 - 64
UL 20 14 20 20 - 74
It is pretty evident looking at the line score where our problem occurred! We were not exactly stellar in the 1st, 2nd or 4th quarters, but we struggled in the 3rd quarter. It seemed terrible when it was happening...and it was! However, it really was a matter of us missing some good shoots. We had good scoring opportunities on about 11 or 12 of our 18 offensive possessions in the 3rd quarter with 3 turnovers and 3 poor shot selections. We missed our last 10 shots of the quarter and at least 8 of them were decent quality looks.
We did manage to mount a comeback with about 7 or 8 minutes to go. We made some of the shots we missed in the previous quarter and narrowed the lead to 5 a few times. As a matter of fact it was a 5 point game with 1:45 left to go. Laval closed out the game well and they deserved the victory. We gave up 30 points off of turnovers and we did not rebound the ball well at all. Those were easily the
key factors in our loss. Hoping to cut our turnovers down this week and expect to be doing a lot more substituting if we don't!
There is not much to report on with regards to fine individual performances. Dave was solid with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman guard Alex Boisse is continually improving and sophomore forwards Owen Martel & Yassin Naji are coming along nicely.
This Saturday we host McGill to close out the 1st Semester. McGill is ranked #8 in the country and is the team to beat in our league as the defending champs.
The games on Saturday will be played at 2 & 4. It is a special day at BU as former BU star basketball players Cynthia Johnston & Trevor Bennett along with legendary BU Athletic Therapist Steve King all get inducted into the BU Royal Bank Wall of Distinction. There will be a reception following the game in the Sports Centre. There are still a few places left for friends/alumni of BU basketball who are interested in attending. Please contact me if would like to reserve a spot.
I will keep you posted,
Rod
BU 17 17 7 23 - 64
UL 20 14 20 20 - 74
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| Alex Boisse |
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| Owen Martel |
There is not much to report on with regards to fine individual performances. Dave was solid with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman guard Alex Boisse is continually improving and sophomore forwards Owen Martel & Yassin Naji are coming along nicely.
This Saturday we host McGill to close out the 1st Semester. McGill is ranked #8 in the country and is the team to beat in our league as the defending champs.
The games on Saturday will be played at 2 & 4. It is a special day at BU as former BU star basketball players Cynthia Johnston & Trevor Bennett along with legendary BU Athletic Therapist Steve King all get inducted into the BU Royal Bank Wall of Distinction. There will be a reception following the game in the Sports Centre. There are still a few places left for friends/alumni of BU basketball who are interested in attending. Please contact me if would like to reserve a spot.
I will keep you posted,
Rod
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