After a difficult loss to Bishop’s on Wednesday, the McGill Redmen were hungry to bounce back. The team battled the No. 10 Concordia Stingers on Friday night at Love Competition Hall. McGill Athletics chose the right contest for its annual “Pack the House” game, and the capacity crowd experienced a thriller.

McGill edged out their opponents 63-61 after Concordia guard Kyle Desmarais missed a last second shot that would have pushed the contest into overtime.

The matchup got off to a fastpaced start, with both teams’ raw athleticism on display. McGill dictated the flow of play early on, clearly inspired—while the Stingers appeared sluggish. The Redmen really took off after McGill third-year guard Simon Bibeau launched the offence with a three pointer. They continued to make most of their shots, while Concordia’s typically dynamic offence struggled to penetrate McGill’s defensive interior.

The crowd propelled the Redmen in the second quarter, as the team built a 13-point lead by the midway point. Concordia picked up their play by the end, but the Redmen held a 34-25 lead heading into the half. Bibeau, Vincent Dufort, and Aleks Mitrovic were all key to McGill’s dominant start.

The final half, however, played out very differently for the Redmen, as the Stingers slowly clawed their way back into the game. Despite McGill’s consistent defensive stands for McGill, the Stingers shots started to fall, and the crowd was taken out of the game for a stretch. Concordia second-year point guard Jerome Blake and fifth-year forward Evens Laroche led the Stingers comeback, which seemed to light a fire under the rest of the team.

The game’s turning point was in part, thanks to Concordia coach John Dore, who implemented a full-court press. As the game grew closer, the animosity between the two sides became apparent, and the contest grew more physical.

Redmen shooting guard Te’Jour Riley—by far the most effective player on the court in the second half—took his game to another level when the Stingers started their run. He was everywhere—diving on loose balls, stymieing Concordia’s offence in the paint, and contributing to the Redmen offence. Without his effort, the Stingers would have sealed the victory. Riley spoke after the game about what inspired his performance.

“It was all the crowd. It really lights a fire under the whole team when the fans get into the game like they did,” Riley said. “Especially because I am an emotional player, I really feed off of that energy.”

As the game went down to the wire, there was frantic play at both ends of the court, with McGill attempting to hold onto their twopoint lead. On the last possession, Riley got just enough of his hand in Desmarais’ face as he put up the game-tying shot, which clanked off the rim, ensuring a Redmen victory.

Other than a Concordia blowout in January, just five total points in their other three meetings this season have separated the two teams. Second-year guard Ave Bross, who has been increasingly reliable this year, commented on the great rivalry between the two up-and-coming programs.

“The dynamic of McGill [versus] Concordia games has changed this year. We used to feel like we needed to play above ourselves to win. We still respect them, but now we go in knowing we can, and should, win these games,” Bross said. “I think our team has really grown this year and our play on the court, especially against Concordia, shows it.”

The win puts the Redmen back into uncontested first place in the RSEQ, but they have a lot of work ahead of them, with a busy second half of the season looming. The Redmen will need to put together some similar performances if they hope to win the RSEQ, and make an underdog push at the CIS Championship in March.