The Redbirds (1–7) basketball faced off against the Concordia Stingers (6–2) in a disappointing loss on Jan. 13 at McGill’s Love Competition Hall. The game remained largely evenly matched, with the Redbirds and Stingers exchanging shots to keep the point differential within a couple of baskets for much of the game. Despite an impressive performance from first years Saransh Padhy, who put up 20 points, and Dilane Pele, who had a career-best 12-point game, the Stingers prevailed and finished the game with a 71-61 win.
Although the Stingers won tipoff at the start of the first quarter, McGill had an exciting opening with the first point of the game going to Padhy. Despite a lively start, with guards Pele and Cameron Elliott both putting up impressive threes, the Stingers held out to end the first quarter up 18-14.
McGill came back with a bang in the second quarter, with point guard Sean Herscovitch putting up the first point of the quarter. Subsequent points from Padhy, Pele, and Joshua Soifer––a recent graduate from the University of Oxford––tied up the game. First-year guard Benjamin Onyenwosa sunk a heavily contested layup followed by a free throw to give McGill a 27-24 lead. Spurred on by the lead, the Redbirds began to step up their defence, with both teams having trouble making shots. Pele made two additional free throws to bring McGill’s lead up to 29-24. However the Stingers were able to tie it up to end the half 29-29.
Coming into the second half the Redbirds had a rough start, with the Stingers recording the first few shots on the board and sinking a series of threes. Following the first point of the half from Padhy, the Redbirds called a timeout to regroup. Entering the game after the timeout, McGill was reenergized, with Padhy, Pele, and Soifer all putting up impressive shots to bring McGill back in the lead at 41-39. The Redbirds’ defence also stepped up, with Herscovitch and first-year guard Rahim Baakoe forcing a series of turnovers from the Stingers.
In a particularly memorable moment, Baakoe lost a shoe in a scuffle under the Stinger’s basket and—without enough time to put it back on––ran back down the court to play defence in his socks. Both teams appeared to be getting heated by the end of the quarter, which left McGill down 43-47.
The last quarter started with two free throws from the Stingers, who managed to keep their energy up to close out the game. The Redbirds put up a valiant effort with Herscovitch executing an impressive fake and several players putting up points—including first-year point guard Matt Phaneuf, whose brother Alec Phaneuf is a third-year guard for the Stingers. Despite their best efforts, the Stingers continued to outscore the Redbirds to end the game up 71-61.
Despite the undesirable outcome of the game, Herscovitch maintained that the Redbirds demonstrated their tenacity and ability to compete.
“[We’ve] shown that we can compete with every team in the league,” Hersovitch told The Tribune//. “We just need to take it to the next step and grind out a win next time.”
Moving forward, Associate Coach Kris Joseph explained that the Redbirds are aiming to reflect on the progress they have made to this point in the season.
“‘Just continuing to work hard every day and practice, and keep working on the small details,” Joseph said. “When you win or lose by this margin of points […] it comes down to the small details [….] The details matter in everything that we do.”
The Redbirds will play next against the Bishop’s University Gaiters (4–5) on Jan. 18.
Moment of the Game
Onyenwosa drilled a tough layup in the second quarter to an eruption of applause from the crowd, bringing McGill into the lead and spurring a boost in energy from the Redbirds.
Quotable
“Our younger guys really stepped up, especially Saransh, and so did our bigs [….] We’re still a new team so we’ve got to play together more to build that chemistry.”
– First-year guard Benjamin Onyenwosa on what went well
Stat Corner
This disappointing result marks the fourth loss in a row against the Stingers, contributing to McGill’s abysmal 19–30 at-home record against Concordia since 2003.
