Concordia 66, UQAM 58: Citadins’ Comeback Falls Short

Stingers Men’s Basketball Bounce Back After Double-Digit Loss to McGill

SportsWala Amara — Published February 20, 2018

With the Citadins mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic was aware that they could just be looking to play spoiler.

The Stingers appeared well prepared for the task at hand, though.

“I think the first half we were fantastic defensively,” said Popovic. And he was certainly right about that. The Stinger defense was stifling, allowing the Citadins to score just 19 points through the first two quarters.

Despite holding leads for the majority of the game, the Stingers suddenly found themselves in a tie game with two and a half minutes to play. Popovic turned to the veteran leadership of forwards Schneiders Suffrard and Ken Beaulieu to get him through the situation.

“He wanted me to give a little bit of my leadership through the game because we were a little bit unstable,” said Suffrard. “We had to communicate and set everybody up defensively first in order to get some stops and have some easy baskets.”

“Some of their guys had some big shots,” said Beaulieu. “We have to stay positive and poise and calm and not get too much stress and get nervous.”

“Yes, we showed some resilience,” said Popovic. “I would have preferred if it doesn’t come to that we controlled the game a little bit better but again hopefully these are all learning experiences so we can better prepare ourselves for the playoffs.”

Beaulieu scored a game-high 17 points while collecting a team-high nine rebounds. Monge chipped in with 12 points while Suffrard dropped 11.

The team will next head to Lennoxville to face the Bishop’s University Gaiters on Friday night before returning home to play the Université Laval Rouge et Or the following day.

Though they’re guaranteed a playoff spot, the Stingers will still be balling on a mission.

“Our goal is to win both upcoming games,” said Popovic. “We want to end the season and be as ready as possible, and we want to host that playoff game at home.”