Basketball | Gaiters host Stingers in RSEQ semi-final

The Bishop’s Gaiters men’s basketball team will host the Concordia Stingers on Wednesday, January 27 in one of two RSEQ semi-finals. The game will take place in Mitchell Gymnasium starting at 7 p.m.
The Gaiters (10-6) finished second in the RSEQ in the regular season and will host their first post season game since March 3, 2006. Bishop’s earned second spot when the Stingers (9-7) lost to the Laval Rouge et Or (4-12) on the last day of the season.
Bishop’s and Concordia played four times this season with the Stingers winning on three occasions. The Gaiters opened their campaign with a heartbreaking 77-76 loss to Concordia in Lennoxville. Bishop’s bounced back with five straight wins and asserted themselves as a contender in Quebec. The second match-up between the squads was all Stingers as Concordia rolled 82-68 in Montreal. Bishop’s returned the favour with a convincing 84-71 victory in front of their winter homecoming crowd. The teams’ final meeting was the last of the season for Bishop’s. They had a chance to clinch a home playoff game but fell 72-63. Concordia’s regular season ending loss to Laval dropped them to third in the RSEQ and set up Wednesday’s match-up.
The Gaiters have been led by Mike Andrews (Oakville, Ontario) who has been the team’s sixth man all year long. He averaged 15.3 points per game (second in the RSEQ) on 53.8 percent shooting (led the RSEQ) in the regular season. He also grabbed 6.4 rebounds per game and blocked a league leading 2.0 shots per game.
Concordia was paced by Evans Laroche (Montreal) and Kyle Demarais (Montreal). They finished the regular season in third and fourth respectively in the RSEQ in Scoring. Laroche scored 15.1 points per game in 15 contests while Demarais netted 15.0 points per game in 10 games, despite playing just five minutes in the season finale.
The Gaiters and Stingers will meet for the fifth time this season and the first time in the playoffs since 2005. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. in Mitchell Gymnasium. Tickets will be available in the John H. Price Sports Centre starting at 6 p.m. The game will also be available online at: http://www.ssncanada.ca/game/5172/.
Follow the Gaiters as they begin their playoff run at www.gaiters.ca.