Marcario nets 24 as Redmen grads fall to New Mexico State in hoops scrimmage

PHOTO: Former Redmen all-Canadian guard Domenico Marcario

SAINT LAMBERT, Que. -- The New Mexico State men's basketball team opened its preseason foreign tour in Canada with an 80-76 win over an "alumni" team from McGill University, Tuesday, in an exhibition scrimmage on the Champlain College campus in Saint Lambert, Que. The McGill lineup featured a couple of current players, a few former players and a handful of freshmen hopefuls.

Senior guard Gordo Castillo paced the Aggies with a team-high 21 points. The Las Cruces, N.M., native scored 16 second-half points to power a solid effort for the Aggies. NM State had four other players in double-figures with junior centre Hamidu Rahman and sophomore forward Tyrone Watson contributing 12 points apiece. Freshman centre Tshilidzi Nephawe added 11 while junior guard Hernst Laroche scored 10 in what was his personal homecoming to his former junior college team.

For the McGill grads, Domenico Marcario, a former all-Canadian guard now playing in Europe,  scored a game-high 24 points. Forward Will Archambault contributed 14, centre Maxime Boudreau added 12 points and forward Simon Bibeau added 10.

"I thought it was a good effort by McGill," said Aggies head coach Marvin Menzies. "They (McGill) had a couple of older professional players, and they really challenged our guys and did a great job of hitting open shots and handling the pressure at times. It was good experience for us to get out and see what our guys are going to be made of.

"It's always good to have a close game with a lot of lessons and get the 'W'. They (the Aggies) are feeling good right now, and they know they beat a pretty good team so I'm optimistic that this evening we can get another one."

At halftime, the Aggies trailed, 39-37, behind seven points from Laroche. NM State's offence was balanced with 10 players seeing the court in the first half. Rahman scored six points while Watson, Nephawe and Castillo, who hit the first 3-pointer of the game, had five points each.

The two teams will meet again on Wednesday (Aug. 11) at 11 a.m. McGill officiallly opens their 109th season on Aug. 25 when they host the NCAA's University of Maine Black Bears in a 7 p.m. tip-off at Love Competition Hall.

New Mexico State 1st       2nd    Tot. Points

Christian Kabongo*      3          0          3

Hernst Laroche*           7          3          10

Hamidu Rahman*         6          6          12

Gordo Castillo*            5          16        21

Tyrone Watson*           5          7          12

Drew Herig                  0          0          0

Bandja Sy                    4          5          9

Tshilidzi Nephawe        5          6          11

B.J. West                     2          0          2

Abdoulaye N'doye       0          0          0

Totals                           37        43        80

McGill Alumni            1st       2nd    Tot. Points

Maxime Boudreau *      2          10        12

Domenico Marcario*     11        13        24

Tristan R-Tremblay*     2          0          2

Sebastian Gatti*           3          0          3

Will Archambault*        10        4          14

Olivier Bouchard           6          0          6

Simon Bibeau               2          8          10

Charles LaCroix           3          0          3

Totals                          39         37          76

*starting lineup