Upset by the Bottom

Men’s Basketball Team fail to show up

SportsRichie Daly — Published February 12, 2012

The match-up between Concordia’s men’s basketball team and the Bishop’s University Gaiters on Feb. 10 had a plot line like a cheesy Disney sports flick.

The Gaiters, who will likely be missing the post-season, came into the Loyola Gym and defeated the top ranked Stingers, a feat that no other team in the Réseau du Sport Étudiant de Québec have done this season.

“There are not too many teams that come in and win here. We were fortunate; they made mistakes they don’t usually make,” said Gaiters head coach Rod Gilpin.

From the onset Bishop’s seemed determined to push the pace scoring 23 points in the first quarter off the shooting of Tim Hunter, who finished with a game high 20 points. In fact throughout the game the Stingers lacked a full effort as the Gaiters always seemed to keep pace.

This forced Concordia to respond in the second quarter, holding the Gaiters to a 39-31 lead into half time.

But the lead wouldn’t last come the second half. “We don’t start third quarters really well. We try to make the spectacular play instead of a solid play and we get complacent,” said Stingers guard Kyle Desmarais.

This was the case as the Gaiters eventually took over the lead, which they continued to build on in the fourth due to sloppy defensive play by the Stingers. With three minutes left to go and a 15-point lead, the Gaiters nearly had this game put away.

Yet the Stingers weren’t going to be embarrassed so easily. With the clock ticking Concordia went on a run that saw Desmarais score five points with help from forward Kafil Eyitayo, who closed the Gaiters lead to within two.

However, the Stingers got themselves into foul trouble resulting in only their second loss of the season.

Overall this was not an effort that pleased Stingers head coach John Dore. “We played really poorly, we had way too many turnovers, we missed defensive assignments and left some of their shooters open in the end,” said Dore. “We still had a chance to come back but really didn’t deserve to win this game.”

The Stingers will look to avenge this loss on Friday when they take on the Gaiters in Lennoxville, before coming home to take on the McGill Redmen for a Saturday matinee. The action begins at 8:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., respectively.