SHERBROOKE – So close, and yet so far. The Bishop's Gaiters trailed for most of the night Wednesday in their RSEQ game against the Concordia Stingers, but came within inches of forcing overtime. However,
Joany Castor-Thadal (Saint-Leonard, Que./Champlain-St. Lambert)'s off-balance three-pointer hit the back of the rim and fell out, allowing the Stingers to escape with a 79-76 victory. With the win, the Stingers improve to 16-9 overall (10-5 RSEQ), while the Gaiters fall to 5-18 overall, 2-13 in league play.
The Gaiters'
Duncan Lambert (Kingston, Ont./Regiopolis-Notre Dame C.S.S.) hit a three-pointer to cut the Stingers lead to 79-76 with ten seconds left. After Concordia took a time out to advance the ball, the Gaiters played tough defence, deflecting the ball out of bounds twice. Finally, the defence paid off, as Castor-Thadal forced a turnover by Henderson Charles with three seconds to go, setting up the Gaiters' final shot.
After the Gaiters got off to an early 8-3 lead, the Stingers went on a 12-4 run to go up 15-12, a lead the never relinquished. They led 19-16 after the first quarter, 37-30 at halftime and 60-55 after three quarters.
In the fourth, a three-point play by
Jona Bermillo (Montreal, Que./Vanier College), playing in his last game at Mitchell Gym, pulled the Gaiters to within one at 64-63 with 8:18 to play. The Stingers held on to the lead, however, and led by seven points, 78-71, with 22 seconds left. But a quick basket by Castor-Thadal, a missed Stinger free-throw, and Lambert's triple, combined to pull Bishop's to within three with 10 seconds to go – setting up the final sequence.
Abdul Kamane (Montreal, Que./Vanier College ) led the Gaiters with 18 points on 7-for-16 shooting, while Bermillo scored 17,
Duncan Lambert (Kingston, Ont./Regiopolis-Notre Dame C.S.S.) scored 15 points – all on three-pointers - and Alex Boissé had 13. Bermillo had a game-high eight assists, and was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. Castor-Thadal finished with a team-high eight rebounds.
For Concordia, Nicholas Noble, Ricardo Monge and Olivier Simon each scored 12 points. The Stingers outrebounded Bishop's 49-40, led by T.J. Umar's 11. He was a point short of a double-double.
The Gaiters close out the 2016-17 season on Saturday night as they visit the UQAM Citadins in Montreal. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
