Anthony & Moose break loose, out-gun Gaiters

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Sean Anthony, sporting protective goggles for eye injury, scored a game-high 27 points. PHOTO BY; Andrew Dobrowolskyj<br>
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MONTREAL – Sean Anthony scored a game-high 27 points and Moustafa El Zanaty pulled off a “double-double” with 24 points and 10 rebounds as ninth-ranked McGill rallied from a 14-point deficit to upend Bishop’s 103-91 in the Quebec University Basketball League men’s opener before a near-capacity crowd of 712 at Love Competition Hall, Friday.

The game featured nine players who reached double figures in scoring, including McGill juniors Michael White (21) of Montreal and Matt Thornhill (16) of Ile. Bizard, Que.

Hermon Tesfaghebriel of Coquitlam, B.C., and Junior Nicholas of Montreal, had 19 and 17, respectively, in a losing cause for the Gaiters. 

Bishop’s surprised the Redmen by taking a 26-12 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the opening quarter but McGill cut that in half to trail 33-27 by the end of the quarter, then rallied to go ahead 55-45 at halftime and 80-73 after three stanzas.

“I’ve got to give Bishop’s tons of credit,” said McGill head coach Craig Norman. “They came prepared to play and we came out flat and struggled all night. There’s no doubt that we can score but we’ve got to take more pride in our defensive zone play.”

Anthony, a fifth-year senior from Vancouver, B.C., shot remarkable well considering he was wearing protective goggles after suffering a scratched cornea a few weeks ago. He made 10 of 15 attempts from the field and went 7-for-9 from the free-throw line. The 6-foot-4 forward was also credited with six rebounds, all in the defensive zone, plus four steals before fouling out late in the contest.

White, a 6-foot-4 junior from Montreal, shot 8-for-12 from the floor, 5-for-6 from the charity stripe and pulled down nine rebounds.
The Gaiters had a 41-39 edge in rebounding but committed 17 turnovers compared to just 10 by McGill, who also had an 8-3 margin in steals.

The Redmen went to the foul line 34 times, scoring on 79.4 per cent of their shots, compared to Bishop’s, who shot a paltry 43.5 (10 of 23). McGill shot very efficiently, making an impressive 51.4 per cent from the field (36 of 70) but only connected on 4 of 22 from beyond the arc. Bishop’s connected on 42.9 from the floor, making 38.5 from trey-land.

Other Gaiters to figure prominently in the scoring were Damon Thomas-Anderson (15), plus Cam Mowat and Tim Hunter, with 12 apiece.

The two teams meet again in Lennoxville Saturday at 8 pm.