Stingers' hoopsters dunk Laval

Dan Plouffe

The Loyola Gym was rocking last Friday night, as the Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team beat the Laval Rouge et Or 64-57 in what has become a great rivalry between two of the top basketball programs in the nation.

“It’s always close, it’s always tense, and it’s a healthy rivalry,” Director of Recreation and Athletics Katie Sheahan said of games between the two teams. “They’re very well matched and they play hard. It’s absolutely exciting. It’s hard for it not to be intense throughout.”

Over the past three years, the Stingers hold a slight advantage over the Rouge et Or, having won seven games and lost five, but every contest is a tremendous battle in itself.

And that’s what makes it so much fun for the people watching in the stands. As is always the case at Concordia versus Laval games, the noise level was at a constant near-deafening pitch last Friday. Following the national anthem, the pounding of Stingers thundersticks, given out by the promotions staff, replaced traditional applause.

That typical tight match between the squads was on display in the first half of the game, as Concordia held a slim 37-34 advantage at halftime. Mid-way through the second half, the Stingers and the crowd created a whirl of momentum — highlighted by Dwayne Buckley’s dazzling slam-dunk — as Concordia pulled away from the Rouge et Or.

Buckley led the team with 19 points, while 6-foot-10 centre Ben McCarthy had his best outing for Concordia, grabbing an amazing eight offensive rebounds to go with eight on the defensive end and 11 points. It was a performance very much to the liking of the crowd.

“Beating Laval is like beating your older brother who’s beaten you every single day,” said Concordia Student Union president Mohamed Shuriye of the school that is the nemesis of many of the Stinger teams in other sports. Shuriye took up his regular spot behind the Laval bench to bug the hell out of the Rouge et Or during timeouts with his loud drum-beating.

The CSU gave away 20 free tickets to the game to Concordia students, and will pay for a bus to Halifax if the Stingers make it to the National Championships like they did last year.

And that’s exactly what the team is planning on, team captain Patrick Perrotte said. “We want to be first in our conference— that is most important to us. I think with our talent, we’re way better than the other teams, and now it’s just about putting the basketball IQ together. We improve every game and that’s the best thing, and we have shown we can win against any team.”

Concordia is in first place now with a 10-2 record and four games remaining in the regular season. The Rouge et Or, who were ranked first in Canada before the season while Concordia was out of the top-10, now sit at 8-5 in second place in Quebec behind Bishop’s. Those rankings were not something with which Perrotte or his teammates were concerned.

“I don’t know who said they are a better team, but we never thought that way,” Perrotte said. For him, beating Laval means more than just winning a game.

“The Quebec basketball world is a small world. Everybody knows everybody.” Many players from Montreal choose to go to Laval, making the rivalry also between Quebec City and Montreal. “[All the players] want to prove who has the best program.”

So far this year, that would be Concordia. And that’s certainly to Sheahan’s delight.

“I’m very proud of them, they’ve put in a lot of hard work and they’re playing smart,” she said. “The coach is doing everything he can to get them ready for every match, and they’re delivering."