SHERBROOKE, Que. – For the first time ever the RSEQ University men's basketball champion will be determined by a Final Four tournament.  It will be held at the brand new PEPS Gym in Quebec City on the Laval University campus on March 1-2. The Bishop's Gaiters enter as the second seed and will face Concordia in the opening round on Saturday, Mar. 1 at 1 p.m.
 
It is a semi-final rematch of a year ago where the Gaiters won on their home court, only to be devastated days later, falling 77-74 to McGill in Montreal in the RSEQ Final.  This year the Gaiters are looking for one more win to propel them to the CIS Championship for the first time since 1999.
 
The state-of-the-art 3,400-seat PEPS gym will host the inaugural Final Four that will also see the women also competing on Feb. 28 and Mar. 1.  The Bishop's men (9-7) enter having beaten Concordia (8-8) each of the four times they met in 2013-14, however hold a 0-2 record in the new facility in Quebec City.  Concordia conversely did taste success in the gym, topping Laval in mid-February.
 
Of the four contests between the Stingers and the Gaiters, two of them were decided by a single possession.  Before the Christmas break, the Gaiters won 70-55 in Montreal as the Stingers got off to a slow start. Concordia built momentum after Christmas but could not solve the Gaiters.  Bishop's won 73-64 in early February, the first time the foes met in Mitchell Gym.  The next day Bishop's snuck out a tight 64-61 victory in an afternoon tilt at Concordia.  Finally, Bishop's locked up second place in the RSEQ with a 78-76 victory in Lennoxville on the last Friday of the regular season.
 
In the four contests this season four different players led the purple and silver in scoring. Mike Andrews (Oakville, Ont.) netted 16 in the first meeting, Jona Bermillo (Montreal) set a career high with 26 points in the second game, Majid Naji (Lunel, France) scored 14 in game three and fifth-year senior Onnex Blackwood (Scarborough, Ont.) had 19 in his final home game, the fourth meeting of the two squads.
 
For Concordia Mukiya Post (Victoria) led the way in two of the four games, including scoring 31 on Friday, Feb. 21, a week after being named CIS Athlete of the Week.  Post, a former Gaiter also had 20 in game two of the season series.  Adam Chmielewski (Montreal) scored 17 and Jean-Andrew Moussignac (Montreal) had 19 in the Stingers game one and three losses respectively.  
 
 
"It's exciting to play a game that counts," said Gaiters head coach Rod Gilpin. "The last three weeks we've had a good idea of how the season was going to play out and it did. It all comes down to two games in Quebec City.
 
"Concordia is a balanced team, and I think their big guys are under-rated.  They also have guards that can score.
 
"The Final Four has its pros and cons.  We will have to let it run its course and evaluate it.  One year is probably not enough to evaluate if this is good for our game and good for our league long-term.
 
"They have a wonderful facility up there and despite losing on Saturday (the Gaiters lost 73-71 to Laval in the last game of the season) it was a positive experience for us. Our complimentary players are really coming on and I have faith in our returning guys to carry us."
 
The winner of Saturday afternoon's tilt will face the winner the McGill Redmen (14-2) and Laval Rouge et Or (6-10) semi-final that is set to take place immediately following the Gaiters-Stingers game.  The RSEQ Final is slated for Sunday, Mar. 2 at 3 p.m. in Quebec City.  All the tournament games will be available live online at:
http://www.rseq.tv/html/basketball.php.
 
Follow the Gaiters as they look to dribble and drive to the CIS Championships on twitter (@BishopsGaiters) or on their website at www.gaiters.ca.
 
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