If the definition of nemesis is “an opponent or enemy that is very difficult to defeat” then that’s exactly what the Concordia Stingers are facing this afternoon at 1 p.m. in the RSEQ men’s basketball semifinals.
The third-place Stingers will meet the second-place Bishop’s Gaiters, a team they have yet to defeat this season. The Gaiters have won all four meetings, but the scores have been getting closer. In fact Bishop’s eked out a 78-76 win on the last weekend of conference play.
“We’ve played three really close games, all decided in the last three minutes of play,” explains Stingers assistant coach Rastko Popovic. “To win this game, we have to execute offensively for 40 minutes and get good shots on every possession. We also have to do a better job on their big man. They have a lot of size inside.”
Bishop’s doesn’t have a big star player, but Mike Andrews is dangerous. He is their leading scoring (10.5 points a game) and rebounder (5.7).
The Stingers will count on Mukiya Post, the leading scorer in the RSEQ with 17.6 points a game. In the 78-76 loss, he scored 30 points and picked up seven rebounds. That game was his third consecutive 30-point-plus game.
Even more intriguing, Post joined the Stingers last fall after transferring from Bishop’s.
The winner advances to the RSEQ final on Sunday at 3 p.m. The other semifinal features the first-place McGill Redmen versus the fourth-place Laval Rouge et Or.
The RSEQ champion will compete at the CIS national championship in Ottawa next weekend.
