Trailing by 5 late in the third quarter, the Stingers put in gear one of their patented uber-runs keyed off their full-court aggressive defense, scoring 8 points in a matter of 10 seconds - 6 by 6'3" Evens Laroche from the top of the press - near the end of the quarter to take the lead and then completely took the life out of the Citadins in the fourth as 6'2" Kyle Desmarais and Laroche dominated to win going away in a game that was much closer for the majority of the game than the score indicates. Desmarais was the offensive hero for the Stingers with 26 points, 7 assists and 5 steals and Laroche had 25 with 11 rebounds.
Through much of the middle two quarters, UQAM controlled the paint, did their usual strong work on the offensive glass and generally handled Concordia's pressure - limiting Stingers transition to lead comfortably in the third quarter. Citadins pair of freshmen forwards 6'5" Alexandre Bernard (16 points, 7 rebounds) and 6'7" Vincent Lanctot-Fortier had their way inside in spurts and, after a tough start, UQAM guards were able to handle and pass through the press until the final minutes of the third when things came apart completely for UQAM.
After falling behind in the first quarter to a well-motivated and energtic Stinger group, Citadins used a 15-2 run midway through the second quarter primarily by getting inside and exposing the Stingers bigs inability to control the defensive glass. UQAM was able to prevent Stinger run-outs and Concordia's half-court offense stalled, included 5 Stinger turnovers. Citadins held comfortable leads for the final minutes of the half and led 42-37 at the break, holding Concordia to only 12 second quarter points.
Earlier, the Citadins were able to withstand Concordia's initial first quarter emotionally-charged start bouyed by their full-court pressure which created 5 turnovers and a 2/3 zone in the tight confines of the Concordia Gym. Still, UQAM trailed by only 4 after one after Bernard slammed home a nice high/low feed from fellow freshman Lanctot-Fortier. Desmarais and 6'5" Jamie Clark (8 first quarter points, 19 for the game) both had nice starts for Concordia.
Both Krah and 6'6" Zack Brisebois picked up four fouls by late in the third but Krah played through much of it, making a couple of big threes to help Stingers pull away. Gregory Saint-Amand finished with 21 points and 7 rebounds for UQAM.
Concordia hosts Laval on Friday night for the QUBL championship with the winner representing the conference at the CIS Final Eight.
Box Score
2 comments:
Watched the game on SSN and wasn't impressed.
If Concordia is the best team in this league, it'll be a long time before the Q ever wins a national championship again.
Both teams played like it was the city HS championship....terrible basketball technically with an incredible amount of turnovers.
Speaking of high school....is there a worse facility in the CIS than that Concordia gym?
Good god, the tiniest band box of a field house I have ever seen with stands only five rows deep.
The walls at either end of the court are like two feet from the in bounds line.
It looks like the kind of gym you'd see at some CEGEP in the Outaouais.
No, there is not a worse facility in the CIS than the Concordia gym.
And yes, the Q isn't a very strong conference, but we're growing weary of you repeatedly coming on here to point that out. We get it.
Post a Comment