‘S’ for Spoilers

Stingers Win Season Opener in Dramatic Fashion

SportsYacine Bouhali — Published November 12, 2012

Down by 19 points entering the fourth period, the Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team orchestrated an improbable 74-69 comeback win to ruin the Université du Québec à Montréal Citadins’ home opener.

For the first three periods, the 2011-RSEQ-champion Stingers looked more like a team deserving of a last-place finish. Missing shots, forcing plays and piling up turnovers, they seemed poised for a humiliating loss.

But the team managed to play a miraculous fourth period, dominating the Citadins 33-9 to win the game.

“We really stole the game,” said head coach John Dore. “We were really sloppy and out of sync; for three [periods] nothing seemed to be working.”

At first, the Stingers were unable to contain Citadins point guard Richard Addai, who put on a shooting clinic. In a sold-out Centre Sportif, Addai amazed the home crowd with seven three-point shots, finishing the game with 25 total points.

“We won last year and the year before; we know what it takes to win, and we know that you don’t stop playing hard ‘til the end.”
—Evens Laroche

But Addai only seemed unstoppable until veteran Stingers forward Evens Laroche made his presence felt.

Laroche, who sat on the bench for much of the second period, was the catalyst of a key game-changing moment when he stole the ball from his opponent and managed to leave everybody behind en route to performing a massive dunk that gave a huge boost to the Stingers.

But those kind of plays are to be expected from last year’s league MVP, who was able to lead his teammates to victory despite being down at one time by 23 points.

“It’s my fifth year and I have to use my leadership to tell the guys to not give up,” said Laroche. “We won last year and the year before; we know what it takes to win, and we know that you don’t stop playing hard ‘til the end.”

The Stingers’ home opener is Nov. 15 against the Laval Rouge et Or. Tipoff is at 8:00 p.m.