Saturday 19 February 2011

Concordia 86, McGill 83

The Stingers staged an unlikely comeback as Decee Krah hit consecutive 3's in the final 18 seconds to allow Concordia to steal a victory at McGill.  The Redmen led 78-72 with 2 minutes left and broke Concordia's press with 5'11" Olivier Bouchard deciding to attack the rim - he was rejected and the Stingers then got an offensive rebound off a free throw miss and 6'2" Kyle Desmarais hit a three, igniting Concordia.  Still, McGill led 82-78 after a pair of free throws from 6'2" Winn Clark but Krah then drove the lane and got the benefit of the doubt on a questionable block call against 6'7" Tristain Tremblay.  Krah made both and then freshman Karim Sy-Morrissette made 1-2 with 18 seconds left to give McGill a three point lead.  Concordia then ran a back screen for Krah off the inbounds and he got free for a 3 from the top of the bowl to tie the score.  On the subsequent possession, Sy-Morrissette drove into a sea of Stingers, was rejected and Krah got loose from about 8 feet behind the 3 point line and made no mistake with about 1 second remaining.  Michael White's attempt at a tie came off and the Stingers clinched a home game in the QUBL semi-finals.

McGill had done a terrific job defending the Stingers when it mattered in the fourth quarter, allowing only 7 points in the first 8 minutes of the final frame while taking their largest lead of the night at 6 on a nice spin move inside by Tremblay.  But Bouchard's decision to take the ball at Concordia's bigs when beating the press and McGill's decision not to switch all screens late were the two key factors outside of Krah's dramatic shooting.

The Redmen were able to control the tempo for much of the third until some defensive breakdowns late allowed the Stingers to finish the quarter on a 7-0 run led by Krah who scored the final 5 of the quarter after being held scoreless since the first.  But McGill quickly put together a 7-0 run of their own to lead by 2 at 67-65.  McGill then led 69-68 when Bouchard hit a three from the right baseline and the Redmen looked to be off to the races, especially after 6'3" Simon Bibeau took a charge on the perimeter from a frustrated Desmarais who had only 10 points - the favorite for QUBL MVP averaged only 14 points per game against McGill this season, well below his average of 21.6 ppg against the rest of the league.  Desmarais also turned it over 24 times (6 to's per game) against McGill - Desmarais has only 40 turnovers in 12 games against the rest of the league.

The Stingers kept the lead for much of the first half as they dominated on the offensive glass, getting numerous putbacks and second chances.  But Concordia also got out in transition as 6'2" Decee Krah had 10 first quarter points to propel the Stingers to their largest lead at 29-22.  But McGill changed their defenses, going to a 2/3 zone for some possessions and their dynamic 5'11" guard Olivier Bouchard was able to create off the dribble, keying a 5-0 run to end the quarter culminated in a sweet dime to 6'3" Michael White, who beat the first half buzzer with a layup to bring the Redmen to within 1 at the half.

Tonight's game could be a preview of the QUBL semi-finals although pairings are still to be officially determined.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The blocking call late in the game (when the defensive player was clearly set and had position) was one of the worst calls I've seen in a long time. While it didn't cause McGill to lose, it sure didn't help.