LENNOXVILLE, Que. - Jordan Thornhill's (Montreal, Que./John Abbott College) lay-up with 1.2 seconds left forced overtime and sent Mitchell Gym into a frenzy. The Bishop's Gaiters and Concordia Stingers played their second thriller in three nights, this time in Lennoxville, in RSEQ University men's basketball. The ninth-ranked Stingers were able to pull away in the extra frame for a 99-94 win, their third of the season over the Gaiters.
Two-nights after Bishop's and Concordia went back and forth in Montreal with 17 lead changes, the sequel was just as exciting. Saturday's contest featured 16 lead changes and 20 ties.
Forty minutes wasn't enough after DJ Ngom (Montreal, Que./) stole an inbounds pass with 10 seconds left and Thornhill converted at the offensive end.
Concordia had a chance at the buzzer but Adrian Armstrong's three-pointer clanged off the rim.
Bishop's seemed poised in overtime and held an early lead but fifth-year guard Kevin Davis (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor H.S.) committed his fifth foul with 1:18 left and the wind appeared to be taken from the Gaiters' sails. Concordia went on a 4-0 run to end the game with a 99-94 overtime victory.
The momentum swings were plenty and neither team had a lead larger than eight points. The first momentum swing came when Thornhill finished an alley-oop midway through the second stanza. It swung back towards the Stingers as Gaiters' bench boss Rod Gilpin picked up his first of two technical fouls with 48 seconds left in the half. Concordia led 48-40 at the break.
Sophomore Nervens Demosthene (Terrebonne, Que./Cegep de Montmorency) regained control and energized the crowd late in the third quarter with a hard take to the basket followed by a steal and emphatic slam dunk.
Just over a minute into the fourth quarter Gilpin picked up his second technical and assistant coaches Matt McLean and Steve Dunn were left to call the shots.
A crazy finish came to fruition as Bishop's trailed by four with 24 seconds remaining. Out of a timeout Demothene found Thornhill for a bucket. The Gaiters had three fouls to give and after committing the third, one of the oddest plays of the year took place. Cedrick Bryan Coriolan was inbounding under the Bishop's net and tried to throw the ball off the back of DJ Ngom (Montreal, Que./). Ngom read the play, stole the ball and pushed it down the court where Desmosthene again found Thornhill to tie the game at 89 and force overtime.
Unfortunately for the Gaiters that was the last excitement as Concordia went onto the 99-94 overtime victory.
Five Gaiters scored in double figures led by Demosthene who tallied a double-double with 18 points and 13 assists. His 13 assists are the most in the RSEQ since UQAM's Kewyn Blain also had 13 on Jan. 30, 2016. Thornhill scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but finished just 1-6 from the charity stripe. Andrew Howarth (Oakville, Ont./Thomas A. Blakelock H.S.) scored 19, Joany Castor Thadal (Montreal, Que./Champlain Collge St-Lambert) 18 and Davis 16 in the losing cause.
Armstrong led all scores with 23 points although finished just 3-15 from three-point range. Garry Merisier scored 19, Aleks Simeunovic 15 and Oliver Simon had a double-double of his own with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Bishop's (3-5) enters arguably its biggest weekend of the year as they are get set to face the UQAM Citadins (2-5). On Thursday they play in Montreal while on Saturday they tip-off in Mitchell Gym. Gametime is 8 p.m. both days.
Stay up-to-date anytime with the Bishop's Gaiters by following @BishopsGaiters or #GaiterNation on social media or by checking out www.gaiters.ca.
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