Following a tough 83-65 blowout loss to Concordia on Thursday night, the McGill Redmen took to the court again on Saturday at Love Competition Hall to face-off against another Quebec rival—the Laval Rouge-et-Or. The Redmen bounced back in a big way, with 17 points from Adrian Hynes-Guery to defeat the Rouge-et-Or 72-64, moving them into second place in RSEQ conference play.
Laval started off strong, dominating McGill defensively and leading throughout the first half. The Rouge-et-Or played tenacious defence, forcing turnovers and breaking the flow of the Redmen offence. The club effectively used screens to free up their guards for some quality shots, resulting in a 33-27 advantage for the Rouge-et-Or at halftime.
“[In the] first half, we were slow, both offensively and defensively … we just couldn’t hit shots. … [At half-time,] we got back together, regrouped in the locker room, and we were ready to go,” Redmen captain Winn Clark said.
McGill certainly was ready to go, as the team came into the second half a completely different team. On defence, the Redmen applied airtight pressure and forced Laval into awkward shots and turnovers, which McGill promptly converted into easy buckets on the other end.
Clark, along with guard Simon Bibeau and forward Rodrigo Imperador, led the comeback for McGill, highlighted by incredible defensive efforts and hustle. With 3:11 remaining in the third quarter, Imperador stole the ball off of an errant Laval pass and layed it into the basket to give McGill its first lead of the game.
The Redmen continued their stellar play into the last quarter, immediately getting off to a hot 7-0 scoring run to start the fourth. However, their offence quickly cooled down, and allowed the Rouge-et-Or to mount a rally halfway through the period, spearheaded by Laval’s Antoine Beaumier. Nonetheless, McGill managed to close out the contest, thanks to Hynes-Guery’s clutch late baskets. Bibeau sealed the game at the free throw line and McGill claimed the win.
The decisive factor in the victory was McGill’s second half resurgence—an effort that the team was missing against the Stingers on Thursday. As seen in this recent slate of games, defence, rebounding, and precise offensive execution are crucial for success.
“Concordia dominated us on the glass [Thursday]. I thought we did a better job rebounding the ball today. We did a better job moving the ball and sharing the ball,” McGill Head Coach David DeAveiro said. “We missed a lot of open shots today that are going to drop for us. I was pretty pleased with the ball movement.”
“In the second half [today] we really picked it up, [but] against Concordia, we couldn’t pick it up in the second half. That was our key difference,” Clark added.
Looking forward, it is essential that the Redmen establish their identity in the next couple of weeks and put together some consistent efforts on both ends of the floor every night. They must peak in time for the playoffs, especially if they are to make a deep run in the postseason. Signs are pointing in a positive direction at the moment, as the team works itself towards competitive playoff shape.
“[Our] team chemistry is awesome. We do basically everything together, whether it’s on or off the court. We’re always hanging out … We’re just really close on this team,” second-year shooting guard Vincent Dufort said.
McGill squares off against the first place Bishop’s Gaiters on Jan. 16 in a game that will have heavy playoff implications. The Redmen then battle fourth placed UQAM on Jan 19.
