REGULAR SEASON
| Concordia | 11-5 | 17-11 | Rastko Popovic | ||
| McGill | 9-7 | 14-10 | David DeAveiro | ||
| UQAM | 8-8 | 14-12 | Mario Joseph | ||
| Bishop’s | 7-9 | 11-13 | Rod Gilpin | ||
| Laval | 5-11 | 10-16 | Jacques Paiement Jr. |
Playoff non-qualifier:
Laval Rouge et Or: Swan Ayada, Alain Bernard, Samuel Bouchard, Nicolas Begin, Nicolas Desjardins, Charles-Andree Edorh, Yoann-Louis Folquet, Marc-Andre Fortin, Alexandre Leclerc, Christophe Parent, Christian Redmond-Kannon, Vladimir Thomas, Julien Muir, coach Jacques Paiement Jr., assistant Vincent Plante, assistant Eric Segal, assistant Alex Katawha
In the semis, the 3rd-seeded U.Q.A.M. Citadins stunned the 2nd-seeded host McGill Redmen 79-69 after leading 20-18, 35-32 and 56-47 at the quarters. Alix Lochard and Hugo Adin nailed treys as the Citadins built a double-digit lead in the second half and maintained a comfortable margin until the final buzzer. Redmen coach David DeAveiro said “it’s been an up and down season for us, kind of like this game today. We showed some streaks where we won a couple in a row, played really well but we also showed our youth and inexperience in some games. Today, I thought we battled but (their seniors) made some big shots in key shot clock situations and that’s what seniors are supposed to do. So my hat goes off to UQAM and their coaching staff and their kids for playing a great game. … The officials had nothing to do with the game today. I thought it was a well-officiated game. UQAM just made big shots when they needed to and we couldn’t get the big stops that we normally get. Our kids competed but again, that UQAM team has got some really good players and veterans… who knocked down big shots.” DeAveiro added that injuries, (which forced four starters, Alex Paquin, Isaiah Cummins, Greg Trahan and Sam Jenkins, out of the line-up) hurt the Redmen more than the officiating. “We probably lost the ‘player of the year’ in our conference Paquin and were without some veterans in Cummins and Trahan who have been in these (playoffs) before. They have been successful and kind of lived for these (playoffs). So not having them definitely hurt us but we had home-court advantage and we just didn’t defend the way we needed to defend… We made a lot of young mistakes out there defensively but that comes with the territory. When you’re dealing with young kids and rookies, you’re going to have good and bad and that’s just part of the process.” Alix Lochard paced the Citadins with 24 on 9-14 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 3 blocks. Christopher Adu added 19 on 7-10 from the floor, 3-3 from the rac, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Ibrahima Sylla notched 12 on 5-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 6 boards and 3 assists. Hugo Adin scored 10 on 4-12 from the floor, 2-9 from the arc, 4 boards and 3 steals. Stefan Mitrovic added 7 on 3-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 0-1 from the line and 2 boards. Jerry Lapaix Joseph notched 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Charles Miller scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 2 assists, while Christopher Jean and Aboubacar Lassidy Toure were scoreless. The Citadins hit 31-59 (.525) from the floor, 10-23 (.435) from the arc and 7-11 (.636) from the line, while garnering 28 boards, including 5 on the offensive glass, 17 fouls, 11 assists, 15 turnovers, 3 blocks and 9 steals. Quarry Whyne paced the Redmen with 15 on 5-11 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 2 boards. Avery Cadogan added 12 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 5-8 from the line and 7 boards. Noah Daoust notched 11 on 4-9 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards. J.J. Hamel-Carey scored 11 on 5-15 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 assists and 3 steals. Levi Londole added 11 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 9 boards and 2 blocks. Sami Al Uariachi notched 5 on 2-2 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 2 boards. Anthony Fisiru scored 2 on 1-3 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 2 boards. Jamal Mayali added 2 on 0-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards, while Arnaud Boyer-Cillis and Brennan Laidman were scoreless. Laidman nabbed 2 boards. The Redmen hit 25-58 (.431) from the floor, 7-18 (.389) from the arc and 12-20 (.600) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 13 fouls, 7 assists, 18 turnovers, 2 blocks and 8 steals.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Concordia Stingers clipped the 4th-seeded Bishop’s Gaiters 79-71 after leading 23-15, 41-32 and 53-50 at the quarters. Stinger Adrian Armstrong repeatedly hit timely treys to quell Gaiter threats. . “We played so many close games in the regular season this year that we were prepared for a close, hard-fought game,” said Stinger coach Rastko Popovic. “I thought we had players that really stepped up. Adrian Armstrong got us off to a good start. And even when we struggled to score in the third quarter Sami Ghandour and Ogo Nwoko stepped up and made some great plays.” The Gaiters took a 55-53 lead with nine minutes to play but the Stingers kept bombing from the perimeter and pulled out the win. Sami Ghandour paced Concordia with 23 on 9-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-7 from the line, 9 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Adrian Armstrong added 22 on 8-17 from the floor, 6-14 from the line, 4 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Oge Nwoko notched 12 on 5-10 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 4 boards and 2 assists. Ricardo Monge scored 7 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 0-2 from the line, 2 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals. Cedrick Coriolan added 6 on 2-9 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 4 assists. Garry Merisier scored 5 on 2-3 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Olivier Simon added 4 on 1-3 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 2 boards, while Anthony Sanogo and Aleks Simeunovic were scoreless. Simeunovic nabbed 3 boards. The Stingers hit 30-64 (.469) from the floor, 11-35 (.314) from the arc and 8-15 (.533) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 13 fouls, 20 assists, 13 turnovers and 8 steals. Nervens Demosthene paced Bishop’s with 20 on 6-9 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 2 boards and 4 assists. Joany Castor-Thadal added 17 on 6-13 from the floor, 4-10 from the arc, 1-1 from the line and 2 steals. Abdul Kamane notched 11 on 4-10 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 8 boards. Kevin Davis scored 9 on 4-11 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 7 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Yassin Naji added 8 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 5 boards. Jordan Thornhill notched 4 on 2-7 from the floor, 8 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Duncan Lambert scored 2 on 0-1 from the floor and 2-2 from the line, while Emile Babin, Andrew Howarth and Zion Verbroegen-Thomas were scoreless. The Gaiters hit 25-59 (.424) from the floor, 11-27 (.407) from the arc and 10-13 (.769) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 4 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 12 assists, 16 turnovers, 1 block and 10 steals.
In the final, the top-seeded Concordia Stingers edged the 3rd-seeded UQAM Citadins 74-69 (The Citadins insisted that the final was 73-69, though official league statistics record it as 74-69) after leading 13-11, 27-21 and 48-43 at the quarters. “I’m really proud of our guys,” said Concordia coach Rastko Popovic. “I thought we executed our game plan well at both ends of the court. We defended well, we rebounded the ball very well and our top players stepped up when it was time to make big plays.” Citadins coach Mario Joseph said “it’s never easy to lose, but you learn in wins and defeats. At times, we were undisciplined and that allowed Concordia to take the lead. And we, when we pull back, become impatient. But we have been able to buy back our delay and follow them. Our recruits did a lot of work while the load was great on them.” Ricardo Monge paced the Stingers with 19 on 6-14 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 7 boards and 8 assists. Olivier Simon added 18 on 8-12 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 10 boards. Sami Ghandour notched 17 on 6-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 9 boards and 3 steals. Adrian Armstrong scored 7 on 2-15 from the floor, 0-10 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Oge Nwoko added 7 on 3-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 4 boards. Garry Merisier notched 3 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 2 boards. Aleks Simeunovic scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor. Cedrick Coriolan added 2 on 0-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 1-2 from the line, while Anthony Sanogo was scoreless. The Stingers hit 27-65 (.415) from the floor, 8-24 from the line and 12-17 (.706) from the arc, while garnering 40 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 14 fouls, 13 assists, 12 turnovers, 3 blocks and 4 steals. Hugo Adin led UQAM with 21 on 8-13 from the floor, 4-5 from the arc, 1-3 from the line, 3 boards and 2 steals. Alix Lochard added 19 on 7-17 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 5-7 from the line, 7 boards and 3 blocks. Christopher Adu notched 16 on 6-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 6 boards. Charles Miller scored 6 on 2-6 from the floor and 2-5 from the arc. Ibrahima Sylla added 3 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 5 boards. Jerry Lapaix Joseph scored 2 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 8 boards and 4 assists. Stefan Mitrovic added 2 on 1-4 from the floor, while Christopher Jean and Karim Sabban were scoreless. The Citadins hit 26-65 (.400) from the floor, 9-23 (.391) from the arc and 8-16 from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass, 20 fouls, 5 assists, 9 turnovers, 5 blocks and 6 steals.
After the season, Jacques Paiement Jr. resigns at Laval after 11 years at the helm. “Despite all the efforts, the results were not up to my expectations and I went to a stage in my life where I did not see myself doing this for another ten years,” said Paiement Jr. “At age 50 it’s time to change careers. I’m finishing my MBA soon and it was time to move on. … I do not want to give the impression that there is nothing to be done, but I strongly doubt that the Rouge et Or can aspire to win championships year after year in the current conditions, to pursue Payment that bathes in the basketball for 35 years. The financial means are not there. It is clear that we are not fighting on equal terms. The competition is very, very, very fierce. 95 percent of programs improve conditions and try to innovate.” Paiement was replaced by Nathan Grant, former assistant with Concordia and head coach of the Quebec U17 team. The Montreal-native led the U15 provincial team to a silver medal at the nationals in 2015 and 2016. He led the U-17 to a silver medal in 2018 and a bronze medal at the Canada Games in 2017. He was an assistant with the Concordia Stinger sin 2016 and 2017. “For me, it’s a dream come true. An opportunity to do something special here, to make a real change,” said Grant, who toiled for Brandon from 2006-2011. “I think I’m a good rallyer. This is a quality I put forward in Montreal and I will bring it to Quebec. I am a dynamic and energetic person who likes to be involved not only in the sporting aspect, but also in the life of student-athletes.”
McGill announced that it was abandoning its long-time “Redmen” nickname because of protests by Indigenous students that it was discriminatory. A steering committee was struck to determine an suitable, new nickname.
The co-bronze Bishop’s Gaiters: David Bohoussou; Zion Vervroegen-Thomas; Connor Kelly; Liam Tissot; Kevin Davis; Yassin Naji; Abdul Kamane; Duncan Lambert; Nervens Demosthene; Joshua Daoust; Emile Babin; Joanny Castor-Thadal; Jordan Thornhill; Andrew Howarth; Djibril Ngom; Jonah Fogg; redshirt Zak Bowles; redshirt Ibrahim Ngom; coach Rod Gilpin; assistant Steve Dunn; assistant Matt McLean; therapist Katrina Lambert
The co-bronze medalist McGill Redmen: J.J. Hamel-Carey; Alex Paquin; Isaiah Cummins; Quarry Whyne; Anthony Fisiru; Avery Cadogan; Jamal Mayali; Edgar Brown; Noah Daoust; Levi Londole; Jahfarai Coloumbe; Arnaud Boyer-Cillis; Sam Jenkins; Brennan Laidman; Gregoire Trahan; Joshua Djanogly; Kevin Li; Sami Al Uariachi; Antony Bell; Diallo Oballa; redshirt Rele Orimalade; coach David DeAveiro; assistant John Dangelas; assistant Aleksandar Mitrovic; assistant Pascal Jobin; assistant Loic Rwigema; director of operations Rouel Hidalgo; analytics Spencer Snider-McGrath; manager Ben Zwolak; therapist Eve Poisson
The silver medalist UQAM Citadins: Christopher Adu; Alix Lochard; Fabien Lavoie; Hugo Adin; Christopher Jean; Aboubacar Lassidy-Toure; Ibrahima Sylla; Eric Nguyen; Jerry Lapaix-Joseph; Charles Miller; Karim Sabban; Antoine Lacoste-Labelle; Ahmed Salia-Toure; Stefan Mitrovic; coach Mario Joseph; assistant Dakarai Jarvis; assistant David Yul Michel; assistant Genevieve Lessard; assistant Richard Addai
The gold medalist Concordia Stingers: Tariq Barki-Hamad; Akim Olak; Anthony Sanogo; Garry Merisier; Cedrick Bryan Coriolan; Michel Hakizimana; Maxime Bellony; Ricardo Monge; Adrian Armstrong; Samuel Lessard; Oge Nwoko; Olivier Simon; Aleks Simeunovic; Nathaniel Boisvert; Matthis Guerut; Schneiders Suffrard; Sami Ghandour; Mathieu Dufresne-Louis; redshirt Sam Ayomide Durowaiye-Herbert; redshirt Tristan Hutton; redshirt Leo Toussaint; coach Rastko Popovic; assistant Damian Buckley; assistant Dwight Walton; assistant Jay Prosper; manager/analytics Tad Norkis-Kostka; video coordinator Chris Shee; therapist Sean Christensen; student therapist Zachary Sage; student therapist Shayne Vording