Bishop’s-uqam battle in big RSEQ basketball weekend

It’s tough to think at this point in the season the Bishop’s Gaiters and UQAM Citadins men’s basketball teams are playing a pair of games with major playoff implications, but that is exactly what will happen. The foes tipoff in Montreal on Thursday at 8 p.m. and in Lennoxville on Saturday at 8 p.m. with perhaps their seasons on the line.

Where we stand

Bishop’s (1-4 RSEQ, 1-14) is currently in the fourth and final playoff spot in the RSEQ, leading UQAM (0-6, 3-13) by two points. Bishop’s won the lone contest between the two teams earlier this season. The conference’s other three teams all have one loss with Mcgill leading the way at 5-1 followed by Laval at 41 and Concordia at 3-1.

Last Time Out

The Gaiters were scheduled to head to the provincial capital last Friday for a game with the Laval Rouge et Or, however inclement weather forced that game to be postponed (no makeup date has been scheduled yet). That means the last time Bishop’s stepped on the floor was their pair of non-conference games with UNB over the holidays. The Gaiters lost both those contests.

UQAM started 2018 with two losses against No.6 Mcgill last weekend. They lost by a combined 94 points to the Redmen, 95-47 and 105-59.

Mano a Mano

Bishop’s and UQAM opened the 201718 regular season campaign against each other in Mitchell Gym. The Gaiters led wire-to-wire thanks to a pair of 20-point performances from Abdul Kamane and Joany Castor Thadal. Kamane scored 24 points while Castor Thadal chalked up 22. David Belanger grabbed 13 rebounds in the win.

Three UQAM players reached double figures with Ibrahima Sylla scoring 19 to lead the way. He also had 13 rebounds for the double-double in 39 minutes of court time. Misi boye Jeanneau scored 15 and Herman Toussaint chipped in with 10.

After

Statistically Speaking Bishop’s

Abdul Kamane leads the conference in scoring with 21.8 points per game, that is good for 9th in the country. He is also 9th in the RSEQ in rebounds, 5.2 per game, and 3rd in assists.

Joany Castor Thadal sits in 7th in scoring in the RSEQ at 11.8 points per game

David Belanger’s 8.4 rebounds per game place him second in the RSEQ, he’s 12th in scoring at 10.8 points per game and 7th in field goal percentage (53.2 percent)

Coach’s Corner

“I think UQAM struggled last week against Mcgill, but give Mcgill a lot of credit for that they are very good,” said Gaiters’ head coach Rod Gilpin. “It would be foolish for us to go into any game comfortably, especially a game like this that means so much. UQAM is a talented team and have some guys that can really score. If they get on a roll, they are very tough to stop.

“We are not looking ahead. We are in a situation where we have to focus on one game at a time. We have played some good games this year but have not been able to finish.

“I’m not too worried about the extended break. I was disappointed because I thought we played well against UNB and had some momentum but the extra practice never hurts.”

Next Up

the home-and-home

with UQAM, Bishop’s will prepare for another Montreal squad, the Concordia Stingers. Bishop’s and Concordia will play a homeand-home of their own starting in Montreal on Jan. 18th at 8 p.m. the back end will take place on Saturday, Jan. 20th at 8 p.m. in Mitchell Gym