Stingers win Friendship Games
The team celebrates after taking the Be’er Sheva Tournament. (Top row, L-R) Sebastien Martin, Jamal Gallier, Dwayne Buckley, Pierre Thompson, Levi Vann, Desmond Murphy. (Bottom row, L-R) Damian Buckley, Andre Johnny.
photo by Ben Raby
Head coach John Dore and the Stingers men’s basketball team won the second annual Friendship Games, held in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The final was a hard-fought 45-40 victory over Serbia on June 8, in which leading scorers for the Stingers were all-star guard Damian Buckley (15 points) and Andre Johnny (11).
College students from 17 countries took part in the round-robin tournament, and got to know one another. The Friendship Games were conceived in 2006 by Atlanta Hawks co-owner Ed Peskowitz as a way of breaking down barriers of misunderstanding.
“I think the concept of the Friendship Games is terrific,” said Dore. “It’s peace through sport. It builds bridges and has just been an incredible experience for our kids.”
The team found time to explore some of the spectacular historical and scenic attractions of the region, including Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Tiberias and Tel-Aviv-Jaffa.
In the opening rounds, Concordia defeated China 46-36, Italy 65-36 and Nazareth 71-29. All-Canadian forward Patrick Perrotte scored 16 points to lead the Stingers to a 62-51 victory over Ireland in the semifinals.
Coach Dore and the team have returned to Montreal after 17 days and two tournaments in Israel. The Stingers also won the International Academic Sport Association Tournament in Be’er Sheva on May 31.