The Onslaught Continues

With early and late-game spurts, the Stingers walked away with an easy victory

SportsKevin Duarte — Published February 6, 2012

Boom! That was the figurative sound Concordia’s men’s basketball team made early and often in the game as they jumped to a 13 point lead before the first quarter was seven minutes old.

Yet, the Université de Québec à Montréal Citadins refused to get blown out in front of their home crowd on Feb. 4.

With nine points in two minutes, the Citadins narrowed Concordia’s lead down to three points by the end of the quarter.

With UQAM carrying momentum from the first, the Stingers had to find a way to step up defensively. Playing against a high-percentage shooting team like UQAM, Concordia did well to contest most shots. Stingers forward Evens Laroche managed to pull down five of his team’s 15 rebounds in the first alone.

With the clock ticking down on the half, the Stingers fought hard to keep a nine-point lead going into the break as guard Jean-Andre Moussignac drained a clutch three ball with one second remaining.

But the Citadins had some fight in them too—in the third quarter they were continuously pestering the Stingers with numerous counter-attacks. However, the Stingers found a way to keep up the tempo as Jerome Blake sunk two three-pointers to maintain their nine-point lead up 54-43 with one quarter remaining.

By the time the fourth rolled along, the Stingers jumped to a 17-point lead smothering any chances of a UQAM comeback. They tried but it wasn’t enough, giving the Stingers their tenth win of the season.

Stingers head coach John Dore credits the victory to some hard work behind the scenes. “In practice, we focus on moving the ball around on offense. Today we were able to find many

open shots,” said Dore. “Defensively, we gave them some open threes, but we played hard to get the win.”

With a loss last weekend to McGill, Concordia bounced back with two big wins this past weekend.

“That one little hick-up will not happen again,” said Stingers center Taylor Garner, who finished the game with seven points and five rebounds. “We let the league know that we’re finishing in first place, and we’ll finish big.”

The Concordia Stingers will face Bishop’s next, at home, on Feb. 10. The ball drops at 8:00 p.m.