Sport. Education. Fierte. RSEQ

Three members of the McGill University men's basketball team have earned all-conference honours as the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec announced the league's major award winners and all-stars during the conference semifinals on Wednesday night.

Simon Bibeau of St. Bruno, Que., was named to the first team, while Aleksandar Mitrovic, a native of Belgrade (Serbia), was named to the second team along with Vincent Dufort of Smiths Falls, Ont.  Also, Christian McCue of Hampden, Maine, made the all-rookie team.

RSEQ major awards announced went to Bishop's Mike Andrews (player of the year and most outstanding defensive player), Laval's Karl Demers- Bélanger (rookie of the year), Bishop's Tim Hunter (leadership & citizenship), Bishop's Rod Gilpin (coach of the year) and referee Mike Homsy, who was voted official of the year.

A majority of the honorees will be showcased in the RSEQ championship game on Saturday when the division-leading McGill Redmen will host Bishop's at 5 p.m. in Love Competition Hall.

Bibeau, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound guard, has made a solid comeback after missing all of last season recovering from  surgery following a major knee injury suffered in training camp. The 21-year-old finance junior, was worked slowly back into the lineup and only started in five of his 12 games, averaging 22 minutes of court time. Despite that, he averaged 10.4 points per game, led the league with a stellar 96.3 per cent efficiency from the free-throw line (34/42) and ranked second in three-point shooting at 43.8, making 21 of 48 attempts. He shot 43.3 from the field (39/90) and was also credited with 23 rebounds, 16 assists and 15 steals in 12 games.

Mitrovic, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound centre, started all 16 games and averaged 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. A second-year transfer from the NCAA's Mount Olive College, he was fifth among league leaders in field-goal shooting (49.0 %) and was credited with 21 assists and 14 steals. In his final year of eligibility at McGill, Mitrovic is completing a master's degree in teaching and learning.

Dufort, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound shooting guard, was 15^th among league scoring leaders with 9.9 points per game and was fourth in rebounding with 7.5 per game, including a league-leading 6.3 defensive rebounds per game.  The physical education sophomore was 10^th in field-goal shooting (45.4%), eighth in assists (2.3), ninth in steals (1.5) and sixth in blocked shots (0.6).

McCue, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard, averaged 5.9 points and 1.6 rebounds per game and shot 71.4 from the charity stripe. He is a 19-year-old arts freshman with an undeclared major.

 
2012-13 RSEQ MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-STARS

FIRST TEAM:
Mike Andrews, Bishop's
Alexandre Bernard, UQAM
Evens Laroche, Concordia
Simon Bibeau, McGill
Jeremy Leonard-Smith, Bishop's

SECOND TEAM:
Aleksandar Mitrovic, McGill
Thibaud Dezutter, Laval
Kyle Desmarais, Concordia
Richard Addai, UQAM
Vincent Dufort, McGill

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM:
Karl Demers-Bélanger, Laval
Jona Bermillo, Bishop's
Christian McCue, McGill
Nicolas Audet, UQAM
Antoine Beaumier, Laval

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Mike Andrews, Bishop's

MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER:
Mike Andrews, Bishop's

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
Karl Demers-Bélanger, Laval

LEADERSHIP & CITIZENSHIP AWARD (CIS Ken Shields Award nominee):
Tim Hunter, Bishop's

COACH OF THE YEAR:
Rod Gilpin, Bishop's

OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR:
Mike Homsy