Execution, poise, and defensive intensity marked a hard fought win for McGill over Bishop’s. The Redmen beat the Gaiters 78-60 in Saturday’s battle between the RSEQ division leaders, played out in front of a packed and stuffy Love Competition Hall. A highly contested and entertaining game throughout, the Redmen—sparked by the leadership of Adrian Hynes-Guery, and Te’Jour Riley’s inspired play—pulled away in the fourth quarter, to seal a second victory over Bishop’s this season.
Both sides, having already secured playoff berths, played to gain home court advantage in the upcoming post-season. The weight of this matchup was evident from the get-go, as the teams started out fast in the early minutes with high energy and hot shooting.
The visiting side started off by applying aggressive full-court defence, which the Redmen calmly thwarted with their agile guards and ball-handling forwards. McGill operated its offensive set to a tee, patiently swinging the ball from side to side, and cutting from the perimeter. This execution was key in the Redmen victory.
“The guys really listened to the game plan,” Assistant Coach John Dangelas said. “They listened to [Head Coach Dave DeAveiro]. They were told to move and cut, and they did. [Our success came from] executing the plan.”
Riley was particularly impressive, and started off his great individual performance with seven points in the opening quarter. With the shot clock running down, he took charge, rambled into the lane, and scored in athletic fashion. In the hard-fought, high-energy first quarter, the back-and-forth action favoured the Redmen as they led 26-18.
With the starters on the bench, Bishop’s rallied in the second quarter, relying on their free throw shooting. Their 6’10’’ interior big man, Mike Andrews, scored 19 points on 8-16 shooting in the game. Andrews’ size presented the Redmen with unique challenges, and drew tons of fouls on McGill. With Aleksandar Mitrovic on the bench due to early foul trouble, other players were forced to play bigger roles and step up on defence.
By the end of the second quarter, the momentum was clearly beginning to shift in Bishop’s favour. However, McGill remained hot from the outside, led by Hynes-Guery, who canned two back-to-back corner three-pointers. The Redmen led 39-34 at the break.
The second half remained tight, with highlights coming on both ends. First-year guard Christian McCue—who went 4-4 from three-point range—hit a buzzer-beater near half court at the end of the third, capping a late charge by McGill and leaving them with an eight point lead.
The fourth quarter belonged to Hynes-Guery and McGill’s stifling team defence. It was a gutsy defensive performance—stepping in to take charges, collapsing in the paint, and providing help defence all-around—which distracted Bishop’s flow and shooting rhythm. An emphatic block by Vincent Dufort midway through the quarter sent the home crowd abuzz, and was emblematic of the defensive effort down the stretch.
“We just executed our strategy. It was a good team effort. And personally, I was able to hit the shots [I needed],” Hynes-Guery said. “Defensively, we stepped up to make key stops on [their big men]. And we never looked back from there.”
Indeed, they never did look back in the fourth quarter, pulling away convincingly with defensive stops and timely baskets, culminating in a 78-60 victory.
If there is anything to take away from the Redmen’s impressive performance, it’s that they seem ready to execute and pull together down the stretch in order to make a strong run in the RSEQ playoffs. McGill has two games remaining in the regular season and needs one last win to secure their first division title since 2001. The Redmen host Laval on Feb. 21, before closing out the regular season at UQAM on Feb. 23.
