SHERBROOKE, Que. – On Bell Let's Talk Day, the Bishop's Gaiters put together a performance that will set tongues wagging throughout the conference, as they upset the league-leading, and No. 5-ranked, McGill Redmen 86-81 in RSEQ men's basketball action at the Mitchell Gym, Saturday. Abdul Kamane (Montreal, Que./Vanier College) had a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Gaiters to the upset win. The third-year forward went 8-for-14 from the field and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line.

Bishop's (3-17, 3-7 RSEQ) had three other players in double figures, as Joany Castor-Thadal had 16 points, on 7-for-11 shooting, while Nervens Demosthene (Terrebonne, Que. ) added 12 and Yassin Naji (Lunel, France/Lycée Pothier Orleans) chipped in 11.
 
For McGill (12-4, 7-2 RSEQ), Alex Paquin led with 24 points, as he went 9-for-17 from the field. Jenning Leung came off the bench to score 18, while François Bourque added 11.
 
"We've been getting better," said Gaiters head coach Rod Gilpin. "Our guys have been working hard in practice, we're still getting through some injury situations but our guys are getting better every day. We haven't had a bad practice since the beginning of January. And that's probably the biggest thing. We made some mistakes defensively, but I thought we played hard and we rebounded the ball well."
 
The Gaiters came out strongly, opening the game on an 8-2 run and led through most of the most of the first quarter, but the Redmen came back to tie the game, 20-20 at end of the period.
 
Bishop's was quick out of the chute again in the second quarter, as they went on a 10-0 run to open the period, punctuated by a pair of three-pointers by Yassin Naji (Lunel, France/Lycée Pothier Orleans). However, McGill replied with an 11-0 run of their own, as a three-pointer by Alex Paquin put the visitors up 31-30 with 6:01 left in the half. After another Paquin triple tied the game at 40-40 with 2:21 left, the Gaiters ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 46-40 lead into the long break.
 


The Redmen pulled to within three points at 54-51 midway through the quarter, but Bishop's responded with a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to nine points at 63-54, and they closed the quarter up 68-59, thanks to a buzzer-beater by David Belanger (Sherbrooke, Que./Champlain-St. Lambert).
 
Kamane scored on the Gaiters' first possession of the fourth quarter to give Bishop's an 11-point lead, their biggest of the night, at 70-59. However, the Redmen had some fight left in them. They went on quick a 7-0 run, led by five points from Leung, to cut the lead to 70-66 with 7:58 left. The Gaiters stretched the lead back out to seven points, thanks to a layup from Castor-Thadal and three free throws from Belanger.
 
There was one last twist in the tale, as McGill went on an 8-0 run and a triple from Dele Ogundokun put the Redmen up 76-75 with 4:39 left. However, the Gaiters responded immediately, as Nervens Demosthene (Terrebonne, Que. ) found Castor-Thadal open for a three-pointer of his own, giving the Gaiters the lead for good at 78-76. A dunk by Demosthene with 41 seconds left put an exclamation point on the Gaiter upset, sending the boisterous crowd of 540 home in a positive mental state.
 


The Gaiters shot 53.3 per cent for the game, and held the Redmen to 41.3 per cent.  Bishop's dominated on the boards, as they outrebounded McGill 53-30. In addition to Kamane's 12 boards, David Belanger (Sherbrooke, Que./Champlain-St. Lambert) added eight, while Naji, Castor-Thadal and Jordan Thornhill (St-Lazare, Que.) each had five. François Bourque led McGill with nine rebounds.
 
With the win, the Gaiters are now a game ahead of fifth-place UQAM in the conference standings. McGill, meanwhile, saw their five-game winning streak snapped, but remains atop the RSEQ, half a game ahead of Laval.
 
The Gaiters and Redmen close out the home-and-home series on Saturday at McGill. Tipoff at the Love Competition Hall in downtown Montreal is set for 6 p.m.