Gaiters beat by McGill, look ahead to Stingers

The Bishop’s Gaiters men’s and women’s basketball teams each lost to McGill on Wednesday night in Mitchell Gymnasium. The women fell 66-51 while the No. 9 men lost 63-60 in front of over 400 fans. The Gaiters gear up for a pair of matinees on Saturday, January 19 in Montreal as they face the Concordia Stingers. The women tipoff at 2 p.m. and the men start at 4 p.m.
Wednesday night’s women’s game was controlled by McGill (5-2) virtually the entire time. The Martlets grabbed an 18-16 first quarter lead and extended it to 39-23 as the teams went to into halftime. The third quarter was more of the same as former Gaiter and current Martlets head coach Ryan Thorne’s troop outscored Bishop’s (0-7) 18-10. The Gaiters fought back in the fourth, winning the quarter 18-9 and cutting the final deficit to 66-51.
Bishop’s was led by Bailey Traffod’s (Centreville, New Brunswick) 18 points and five rebounds. She was a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe. Riley Shkimba (Kingston, Ontario) chipped in with 12 points including a trio of three pointers.
Leading the way for the Martlets was Mariam Sylla (Conakry, Guinea) who scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
The Gaiters will be back in action on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Montreal to face the Concordia Stingers (5-2). The Stingers have not played since Saturday where they were victorious over the UQAM Citadins (6-2). The Gaiters and Stingers met in Lennoxville in November and Concordia cruised to a 63-42 victory.
The No. 9 Bishop’s men (5-2) were ranked heading into a basketball game for the first time in more than 13 years. They had upset the Redmen in Montreal before Christmas and were on a five game league winning streak. McGill (5-2) came out forcefully as they looked for revenge. The Redmen grabbed an early 20-15 first quarter lead and held a 35-30 advantage heading into the break. They extended their lead to 10 points and looked to run away with the contest as the fourth quarter started. Early on in the frame Bishop’s found themselves down by 15 points before they were able to chip away. The Redmen had three players foul out in a 45 second span with a little over three minutes remaining and Bishop’s tried to grab momentum. The Gaiters were able to get the lead down to just three points with five seconds left but McGill had the ball. They inbounded it and were able dribble out the clock and secure the 63-60 victory.
The Gaiters were led by Mike Andrews (Oakville, Ontario); he scored 18 points off the bench and grabbed five rebounds. Onnex Blackwood (Scarborough, Ontario) and Jeremy Leonard-Smith (Ottawa) added 15 and 11 points respectively.
Simon Bibeau (St. Bruno, Quebec) led the Redmen with 17 points including a 5-7 performance from behind the arc. Adrian Hynes-Guery (Montreal) chipped in with 10 points.
Bishop’s will head to Montreal to face Concordia (4-3) on Saturday, January 19 starting at 4 p.m. They will look for payback as the Stingers handed the Gaiters a heartbreaking 77-76 loss in Mitchell Gymnasium in November. Concordia currently sits one game behind the Gaiters and Redmen for first place in RSEQ. They should be fresh as they have not played since last Saturday.
Women’s Hockey
The Bishop’s Polar Bears are on the road this weekend as they travel to Nova Scotia for their second league tournament of the year. Bishop’s posted a 0-4 record when they hosted a MIWHL tournament in November.
They will face off against Cape Breton Friday at 6:30 p.m. followed by a tilt with Greenwood (not part of the league but filling in to make an even draw) at 10 p.m. They will take on Acadia Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
Get all of your news and information on Bishop’s athletics at www.gaiters.ca.