SHERBROOKE, Que. – Vanier College product Abdul Kamane cemented his status as one of the top rookies in the conference.  He led the Bishop's Gaiters men's basketball team in a pair of contests against the nation's seventh ranked team, the McGill Redmen over the weekend.  Unfortunately for Bishop's his efforts were not enough as they lost both games.
 
Thursday night in Montreal, Kamane in his hometown, netted 15 points and grabbed five rebounds in 27 minutes. Fellow rookie and Saint-Bruno native Nick Harvey chipped in with 12 points and grabbed seven boards.
 
Their efforts came in a losing cause to the Redmen, who snapped a three game losing streak with the 79-66 victory. For McGill five players reached double figures in scoring led by former RSEQ rookie of the year and reigning conference defensive player of the year Dele Ogundokun (Hamilton, Ont.) who scored 17. The Gaiters turned the ball over 26 times to the Redmen's 16.  McGill also hauled in 14 offensive rebounds resulting in 18 more shot attempts by the hosts.  McGill fired at rate of 39.2 percent while Bishop's was able to stay within reach by shooting 46.4 percent from the floor.
 
On Saturday as Dikembe Mutombo and the NBA visited Bishop's for their cross-Canada tour to promote the 2016 all-star game, Kamane again scored 15 points. He was joined in double figures by David Belanger of Sherbrooke and Montreal native Jona Bermillo who scored 17 and 12 points respectively in the losing cause. 
 
Bishop's seemed poised to send the 548 patrons' home happy with a stunning victory.  The back and forth affair saw Bishop's grab a 21-18 first quarter advantage before McGill turned things around and took a 32-30 lead into halftime. The third stanza was high scoring with Bishop's grabbing a two point lead with 10 minutes remaining.  McGill refused to lose as the conference's top team outscored the hosts 22-7 in the final frame to grab a 76-63 win, their third of the season over Bishop's. The loss leaves Bishop's with a 2-8 record while McGill improves to 7-3 with six games remaining in the regular season.
 
Turnovers again proved costly for the Gaiters as they gave the ball away 23 times compared to 13 by McGill.  The Redmen also out-rebound Bishop's 35-26 including a 13-8 advantage on the offensive glass.
 
Next up for the Gaiters are the Concordia Stingers (6-4). The foes will tip-off in Montreal on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. and re-new hostilities in Mitchell Gym on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m.  Bishop's will need to start chalking up victories as well as get some help in order to qualify for the post-season.
 
For everything on the Bishop's Gaiters stay tuned to www.gaiters.ca or follow @BishopsGaiters on social media.
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