SHERBROOKE, Que. – The Bishop's Gaiters men's basketball team is chasing Laval in the RSEQ playoff race, and has a chance to make up ground this week as the Rouge et Or visit the Mitchell Gym on Saturday. Tipoff is set for the special time of 6 p.m.
 
The Gaiters (5-15, 2-10 RSEQ) dropped a pair of games last weekend to the league-leading McGill Redmen, and are now two games back of Laval in the battle for the fourth and final RSEQ playoff spot. McGill, Concordia and UQAM have already clinched playoff berths.
 
Laval (6-16, 4-8 RSEQ) are on a seven-game losing streak, dating back to Jan. 4, and have failed to crack the 70-point barrier during that span. They dropped a pair of games to Concordia last week, 68-54 in Montreal and 57-55 in Quebec City.
 
This is the fourth and final regular season matchup between the two teams this season. The Gaiters have taken two of the three games, winning 64-58 on Jan. 13 in Quebec City and 84-69 in Lennoxville the next night, while Laval prevailed, 74-64 in the first game between the teams, back on Nov. 18.
 
With a win, the Gaiters would pull to within one game of the Rouge et Or, and would also clinch the season series, which is the first tie-breaker. The Gaiters currently hold an 11-point edge (202-211) in head-to-head points, which is the second tiebreaker.
 
The Gaiters' offence has been led by Jona Bermillo (Montreal, Que./Vanier College), who is averaging 13.2 points per game. He also leads the RSEQ with 3.6 assists per contest and 2.7 steals per game are also a league high. Sophomore Abdul Kamane (Montreal, Que./Vanier College ) is currently sixth in the province in both points per game (12.2) and rebounds per game (6.2).
 
The Laval offence is led by Alexandre Leclerc, who has averaged 11.5 points per game, while Karl Demers-Belanger has 9.8 points per game.
 
Saturday's game will be webcast at www.gaiters.ca/webcast.