SHERBROOKE, Que. – The 2016 RSEQ men's university basketball standings are wild. As of Thursday afternoon, McGill stands atop the conference at 5-1, trailed by Concordia, UQAM and Laval at 4-4 while Bishop's is at 1-5.  Thursday night McGill visits Concordia while Bishop's prepares for a home and home series with the Laval Rouge et Or this weekend.
 
Tipping off for the first time in 13 days, Bishop's will host Laval in Mitchell Gym on Friday night at 8 p.m. While the Gaiters rested a week ago, Laval gained confidence.  The Rouge et Or rolled over No. 2 McGill by a final score of 73-52, handing the Redmen their first defeat of the year.  That win came two days after falling 69-58 to McGill in Montreal.
 
Bishop's was last in action on Jan. 9 when they fell to the UQAM Citadins 83-72 in Mitchell Gym.  The loss came despite holding an advantage at halftime.  That game was also the back end of a home and home series with UQAM winning 70-44 in Montreal two days before.
 
Friday's contest will be the second of the season between the Rouge et Or and Gaiters.  In November Laval traveled to Lennoxville and squeaked out an 83-76 victory. Thibaud Dezutter (Namur, Belgium) took over that game scoring 33 points on 11-19 shooting including a 4-6 performance from three-point land. Dezutter currently sits in fifth place in the RSEQ in scoring at 15.5 points per game.  Teammate Alexandre Leclerc (Saguenay, Que.) leads the conference averaging 18.9 points per game; he netted 20 the last time these two squads tipped-off.
 
Transfer Peter Weston (Quebec City) led Bishop's in November's loss scoring 19 points.  He sits in tenth place in RSEQ scoring at 13 points per game. Veteran guard Jona Bermillo (Montreal) has taken a leadership role for the Gaiters. He's their leading scorer at 16.2 points per game (4^th in RSEQ).  Bermillo has also averaged more three-pointers made per game than anyone else in the conference (3.3) although Leclerc is right on his heels (2.9).
 
Rookie sensation Nick Harvey (Saint-Bruno, Que.) has transitioned well to the CIS game. After winning a championship with Champlain College, Saint-Lambert a season ago, Harvey has regularly found himself in the Gaiters starting line-up and leads the league averaging 9.5 rebounds per game.
 
"Laval is playing very well," said Gaiters bench boss Rod Gilpin. "They are a talented and athletic group and are very deep.  We are better than the last time we played against them but they are too.
 
"We are used to traveling and traditionally play well on the road" he added when asked about the home-and-home series. "It's not where we play, but who we play and how we play."
 
Bishop's and Laval will prepare to play two games in two nights.  Friday, the squads' tip-off in Lennoxville at 8 p.m. while Quebec City hosts on Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets for Friday's game are available at www.gaiters.ca/tickets.
 
Webcasts:
Friday: www.gaiters.ca/webcast
Saturday: https://www.youtube.com/user/RougeEtOr
 
Follow Bishop's as they look to vault up the RSEQ standings at www.gaiters.ca or on social media using @BishopsGaiters.

-30-