Saturday 2 October 2010

Beaulieu's 40 lead Laval in comeback win at Algonquin

A healthy J.F. Beaulieu-Mahieux could be the difference between a good and great season for Laval Rouge et Or and if last night is any indication, he is healthy.  Laval found themselves trailing by as many as 14 in the first half to an athletic, talented Algonquin Thunder side that perennially is a CCAA Nationals contender.  But Beaulieu's 40 points and a switch to a zone defense in the second half by Laval coach Jacques Paiement Jr. helped Rouge et Or to come back for an 86-78 victory in Nepean. 

"We really had a rough time with their athleticism", commented Paiement, "this was one tough game for us."

Beaulieu went 13-21 overall from the field including 5-9 3's and a perfect 9 for 9 from the line in going off for 40 in tremendous effort (but not a career-high if memory serves, I think he had more in a Ryerson tournament game two seasons ago).

Led by Carleton transfer/redshirt Abdul Kosar (25 points), the Thunder raced to a 37-23 as Kosar hit his first 6 shots including 4 of his 6's.  Laval was able to bring it back to within 9 at half (47-38) and then started off the second half with a 14-1 run, holding the Thunder scoreless for over 7 minutes, primarily with a zone defense to take the lead at 52-48 and held the lead to the end.

Laval's 6'4" swingman Jerome Turcotte had 13 and big man Kevin Crevant had also 13.  6'5" Etienne Labrecque added 10. 

Laval is in Kingston this evening to meet the host Queen's Golden Gaels.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

While Beaulieu certainly looked impressive, overall, Laval looked rather ordinary.
The Laval coach was right when he said his team had trouble dealing with Algonquin's athleticism.
In fact, the smaller, quicker Thunder made the slower, plodding Rouge et Or look silly at times in the first half.
Fortunately for Laval, Algonquin has no size to speak of, and that played a factor in Laval's comeback, as the Thunder's perimeter shooting got ice cold.
If Laval encountered so much trouble with Algonquin, one has to wonder how this team would cope against the better OUA programs like Carleton and Windsor.
I think it is a truism that if a CIS team struggles to beat a college team (even a good one like the Thunder) then it is likely that team is not a national contender.