January 26, 2017
 
SHERBROOKE, Que. – The Bishop's Gaiters men's basketball team will look to get back on the winning track this weekend, as they face the Concordia Stingers in a pair of RSEQ university basketball contests. The teams will square off on Thursday in the tiny Concordia Gym and Saturday in the friendly confines of Lennoxville's Mitchell Gym. Both games start at 8 p.m.
 
The Gaiters (5-11, 2-6 RSEQ) were swept by the UQAM Citadins last weekend. UQAM picked up a 70-61 win in Lennoxville last Friday, followed by a 98-79 victory the next day in Montreal. Jona Bermillo (Montreal, Que./Vanier College) led the Gaiters on Saturday with a season-high 26 points, and was named BU Athlete of the Week for his efforts.
 
Concordia (10-8, 4-4 RSEQ), split their home-and-home series last weekend with the McGill Redmen. The Stingers picked up a 66-56 home win last Thursday, but fell 63-51 in Saturday's return game. The Stingers have alternated wins and losses throughout the regular season. Concordia is in a three-way tie with UQAM and Laval for second place in the conference. All three teams are two games back of McGill and two up on the Gaiters.
 
Concordia won the first meeting between the teams this year, after a narrow 70-67 season-opening win in Montreal on Nov. 10. In that game, the Gaiters led 36-32 at halftime and 58-57 after the third quarter. The Gaiters tied the game at 60-60 midway through the quarter, but a pair of late three-pointers lifted the Stingers to the win. Nick Harvey (Saint-Bruno, Que. /Champlain-St. Lambert) led Bishop's with 16 points, while Abdul Kamane (Montreal, Que./Vanier College ) had 15.
 
Bermillo is now fifth in the conference with an average of 12.8 points per game, one of four Gaiters in the league's top 10 scorers. He is followed by David Belanger (Sherbrooke, Que./Champlain-St. Lambert) (7th, 11.5 ppg), Abdul Kamane (Montreal, Que./Vanier College ) (8th, 11.3 ppg) and Nick Harvey (Saint-Bruno, Que. /Champlain-St. Lambert) (t-9th, 11.0 ppg). In total, the Gaiters have the league's third-rated offence, scoring 70.5 points per game. On the other side of the floor, Bishop's is fourth in the league, allowing 74.5 points per game.
 
Concordia, meanwhile, is scoring 65.8 points and giving up 69.1 points per game this season.
 
Both of this weekend's games will be webcast, with Thursday's contest available at portal.stretchinternet.com/cumo/ and Saturday's at www.gaiters.ca/webcast.