Still Perfect

The Stingers Fend Off McGill Squad, Remain Undefeated

SportsRichie Daly — Published January 23, 2012

For most of the game it was in jeopardy. The McGill Redmen nearly handed Concordia their first loss of the season, but the men’s basketball team came back to win last Saturday’s matchup 69-61, keeping their undefeated record still intact at 7-0.

The Redmen, who suffered a demoralizing season-opening home loss at the hands of the Stingers, were determined not to repeat the same mistakes as they came flying right out of the gate, outplaying Concordia and going up by 10 at the first break.

“The other team knows they’re playing the number nine team in the country, so we get every team’s best game,” said Concordia guard Kyle Desmarais of the Stingers’ reputation.

The game was still close at the half, with the Stingers only being down by six, to the tune of a 31-25 score, but it all changed in the third quarter.

“It was an ugly game. We were awful but we won ugly and sometimes you have to win ugly and we were lucky to win this game.” Stingers head coach John Dore

ConU started off the second half struggling to close the gap, but as McGill surged forward the Stingers clamped down and started forcing turnovers and limiting ball movement, energizing their own running game.

“We have a lot of quickness and a lot of speed. As soon as we start pressuring the ball for the full length of the court, we create the turnovers,” said Desmarais about the Maroon and Gold’s defensive efforts.

Stingers guard Decee Krah created the highlight of the game with one second left in the third quarter when he managed to catch and shoot a three-pointer with two defenders draped on him, giving Concordia the lead for the first time in the game.

Despite Krah’s shot, the Redmen were determined not to suffer another defeat and fought back, resulting in a see-saw of lead changes in the final quarter.

The opposition were faced with the difficulty of manoeuvring around the Stingers’ full-court press and found themselves turning over the ball three times in the game’s waning minutes, which lead to a game-deciding 9-0 run for Concordia.

“We had young kids on the floor in crucial situations. We turned it over way too many times and part of that was the Concordia defensive press, but it was also because of our inexperience,” said Redmen head coach David DeAveiro.

On a night when the Stingers admittedly weren’t at their best, Concordia head coach John Dore still had faith in his team.

“It was an ugly game. We were awful but we won ugly and sometimes you have to win ugly and we were lucky to win this game,” said Dore. “These guys believe in themselves and we executed in the end when we didn’t in the beginning.”

The Stingers will cross town to face the Redmen again this Saturday, after a trip to Lennoxville to take on the Bishop’s University Gaiters Friday. Both games are at 8:00 p.m.