Stingers 80, Rouge et Or 76: Concordia victorious in a high intensity match

Timely shots from the Stingers put away Rouge et Or in back-and-forth-battle

SportsTrent Deschamps-Coinner — Published January 23, 2024 3 minutes

The first quarter began with a familiar sight from Stingers forward Jaheem Joseph. In only seven minutes of the first quarter, Joseph had two steals and nine points. Stingers point guard Junior Mercy similarly had a pair of steals and five points. Neither player missed a shot in the first quarter and helped the Stingers gain a 23-18 lead heading into the second quarter. 

Both players kept the heat coming in the second quarter. Joseph had the crowd on their feet with an impressive block from behind. Mercy brought intensity for the Stingers, defensively forcing turnovers and grabbing another steal, while continuing his exceptional shooting night on offense. 

Stingers starting point guard Alec Phaneuf praised Mercy’s ability to be a spark-plug for the team off the bench and was excited to see him step up for the Stingers. 

“He’s been doing it to us in practice for so long,” Phaneuf said.

The game was tied with ten seconds left in the half, Joseph had the ball and was poised to make a clutch shot. Instead, he made the unselfish play, passing it to third-year guard Owen Soontjens, who hit the buzzer beater three-pointer. The crowd was electrified, and the Stingers led 45-42 at halftime. 

“It feels good when everyone's eating,” said Alec. “When everyone’s making shots, it’s so good for the team vibe.”

Phaneuf, who had a quiet night so far, was on fire in the second half, scoring 17 points on multiple contested fadeaway jumpers. 

“Alec does what Alec does,” said Mercy. “I’m just there as a support point guard trying to play defense, and make sure he gets his rest [and], on offense, let him do his thing.”

A low scoring third quarter was filled with hustle plays from the Stingers. First-year centre Bradley Louidon fought through contact and Phaneuf drew a charge to force yet another turnover. 

While the game was exceedingly competitive with five ties and seven lead changes, Laval could only get within three points during the fourth quarter thanks to Stingers forward Tyrell Williams going a perfect six for six from the free throw line. The arena collectively took a sigh of relief when the final buzzer of this back-and-forth game sounded.

Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic kept it humble when asked about his team’s impressive six game win streak.

“We don’t talk much about that, we just play one game at a time,” he said. “Next game is against Bishop’s, and we are just looking at what we need to do to get better against Bishop’s”

The Stingers look to keep the win streak alive when they host the Gaiters on Feb. 1 at the John Dore Court. The tip-off is set after the women’s game, at 8 p.m.