Both Bishop’s Men’s and Women’s hoops teams headed to RSEQ final four
Gaiters clinch postseason appearances before final games of season versus Stingers
It’s been an up and down roller coaster ride of a basketball season for the Gaiters this year. Although it’s come in waves, the Purple and Silver have done enough to get a shot at both RSEQ titles and berths to the national championship tournament.
Following a delay in their game schedule due to power outages on campus. The Gaiters were forced to take no days off this week after their home games against Laval was moved from Tuesday to Thursday for the Men and Friday for the Women.
On Thursday, the Men’s team lost to Laval 89-67. The next evening the Women’s team proved to be a potential dark horse again taking down a nationally ranked opponent in the No. 3 Laval squad, 59-58, to clinch their first playoff appearance since 2012.
The Lady Gaiters led by as many as 15 points in the final quarter, but had to withstand a late comeback, as the Rouge et Or came back to within a single point in the final four seconds. On Laval’s final possession Jane Gagné's shot with one second to go missed, giving the Purple and Silver the win and a postseason spot. Edith Noblecilla led the way with 18 points in the match. Big contributions also came from Ashley Milhomme and Maude Archambault each had 11 points.
Playing on limited rest both Gaiters were unable to pull of road victories in Montreal Saturday. The Lady Gaiters fell by a margin of 70-46 and the Men’s team 93-71.
Both team’s will have a week to prepare for their final regular season matchups at Mitchell Gymnasium on Friday. The Lady Gaiters (6-8) can clinch third place with a victory over last place Concordia. While the Men’s team (5-10) are already locked in for a matchup with regular season champion Mcgill in two weeks.
“We have got to find that balance this week. We’re going to work on some things for Mcgill but also have to prepare for Concordia,” said Men’s head coach Rod Gilpin. “This season has been down and up for us, when we’ve been healthy we’ve been good. Unfortunately, we’ve only been heathy the last three weeks or so.”
Despite their first-round opponent already locked in, Gilpin still sees an opportunity against the Stingers to come in to the postseason rolling. “This upcoming game is sort of a must win for them because they are going for home court in their game against Laval,” said Gilpin. “We’d be happy to [play spoiler], they took one of our guys out with an elbow, causing a concussion, last time we played. If we could help cause them to lose home-court for a playoff game, that wouldn’t be the worst thing.”
Despite having the league’s top scorer, Abdul Kamane. The Gaiters have seen a group effort emerge with contributions across the roster according to the coach.
“Kevin Davis has been playing well he had 17 points for us yesterday David Belanger has been solid for us all season as has been Abdul. Now some of our firstyear guys are starting to come on; Nervens Demosthene has been good at point guard and Jordan Thornhill had 15 points on Thursday night.”
Kamane, the 2015-2016 RSEQ Rookie of the Year, has been on a tear this season. The third year forward has averaged 22.3 points per game this year and has racked up 334 points in 15 games. The next best scorer in the league, Alex
Paquin from Mcgill, has 212 points in 14 games played.
The Gaiters have beaten Mcgill already once this year at home, an 86-81 win on January 23rd, but Gilpin is well aware of the challenge that playing on the road presents.
“It’s a little different winning in their gym in the playoffs. They are the best team in our league but if we can take care of the basketball and outrebound them, we have a shot to be competitive. It’s tough, they’ve got eight guys who are either fourth or fifth year, so there’s a
lot of experience there.”
As the regular season comes to it’s final game the coach is excited to give the Bishop’s faithful one last game before hitting the road for the playoffs.
“We appreciate all the fans, especially the ones behind the visiting’s team bench – I know the opposing teams don’t love it but by all reports they are respectful and representing all of us well. They bring a lot of excitement to the atmosphere and it makes [Mitchell Gymnasium] a great place to play.”