SHERBROOKE, Que. – It's tough to think at this point in the season the Bishop's Gaiters and UQAM Citadins men's basketball teams are playing a pair of games with major playoff implications, but that is exactly what will happen. The foes tip-off in Montreal on Thursday at 8 p.m. and in Lennoxville on Saturday at 8 p.m. with perhaps their seasons on the line.
Where we stand
Bishop's (1-4 RSEQ, 1-14) is currently in the fourth and final playoff spot in the RSEQ, leading UQAM (0-6, 3-13) by two points. Bishop's won the lone contest between the two teams earlier this season. The conference's other three teams all have one loss with McGill leading the way at 5-1 followed by Laval at 4-1 and Concordia at 3-1.
Last Time Out
The Gaiters were scheduled to head to the provincial capital last Friday for a game with the Laval Rouge et Or, however inclement weather forced that game to be postponed (no makeup date has been scheduled yet). That means the last time Bishop's stepped on the floor was
their pair of non-conference games with UNB over the holidays. The Gaiters lost both those contests.
UQAM started 2018 with two losses against No.6 McGill last weekend. They lost by a combined 94 points to the Redmen, 95-47 and 105-59.
Mano a Mano
Bishop's and UQAM opened the 2017-18 regular season campaign
against each other in Mitchell Gym. The Gaiters led wire-to-wire thanks to a pair of 20-point performances from
Abdul Kamane (Montreal, Que./Vanier College) and
Joany Castor Thadal (Saint-Leonard, Que./Champlain-St. Lambert). Kamane scored 24 points while Castor Thadal chalked up 22.
David Belanger (Sherbrooke, Que./Champlain-St. Lambert) grabbed 13 rebounds in the win.
Three UQAM players reached double figures with Ibrahima Sylla scoring 19 to lead the way. He also had 13 rebounds for the double-double in 39 minutes of court time. Misi boye Jeanneau scored 15 and Herman Toussaint chipped in with 10.
Statistically Speaking
Bishop's
Abdul Kamane (Montreal, Que./Vanier College) leads the conference in scoring with 21.8 points per game, that is good for 9
th in the country. He is also 9
th in the RSEQ in rebounds, 5.2 per game, and 3
rd in assists.
Joany Castor Thadal (Saint-Leonard, Que./Champlain-St. Lambert) sits in 7
th in scoring in the RSEQ at 11.8 points per game
David Belanger's 8.4 rebounds per game place him second in the RSEQ, he's 12
th in scoring at 10.8 points per game and 7
th in field goal percentage (53.2 percent)
UQAM
Ibrahima Sylla is third in the conference in rebounding at 7 per game and 15
th in scoring averaging 10 points per game
Charles Miller leads the way at the offensive end for the Citadins at 10.8 points per game, placing him 10
th in the league
Coach's Corner
"I think UQAM struggled last week against McGill, but give McGill a lot of credit for that they are very good," said Gaiters' head coach
Rod Gilpin. "It would be foolish for us to go into any game comfortably, especially a game like this that means so much. UQAM is a talented team and have some guys that can really score. If they get on a roll, they are very tough to stop.
"We are not looking ahead. We are in a situation where we have to focus on one game at a time. We have played some good games this year but have not been able to finish.
"I'm not too worried about the extended break. I was disappointed because I thought we played well against UNB and had some momentum but the extra practice never hurts."
Tickets Get your Tickets!
Tickets to Saturday's basketball doubleheader are available online at
www.gaiters.ca/tickets or game day at the ticket booth located just outside Mitchell Gym.
Watch Closely
You can stream both games live online.
Thursday at UQAM:
https://www.facebook.com/citadins.uqam/
Saturday at Bishop's:
www.gaiters.ca/webcast
Next Up
After the home-and-home with UQAM, Bishop's will prepare for another Montreal squad, the Concordia Stingers. Bishop's and Concordia will play a home-and-home of their own starting in Montreal on Jan. 18
th at 8 p.m. the back end will take place on Saturday, Jan. 20
th at 8 p.m. in Mitchell Gym
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