The Concordia Stingers men's basketball team came within seconds of upsetting the No. 10-ranked, undefeated McGill Redbirds in the third annual George Lengvari Cup on Thursday night.
McGill senior Quarry Whyne made a pair of free throws with 2.8 seconds left in the game to give the Redbirds a 58-57 win over the Stingers. McGill rallied from an 18-point deficit to keep its unblemished record intact.
Concordia led 28-21 at the half and stretched the lead to 48-30 with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter. McGill went on a 29-8 run in the last 12 minutes of the match.
Guard Sami Jahan led the Stingers with 14 points. Forward Olivier Simon chipped in with 11 points.
Lengvari, whose Hungarian family immigrated to Canada when he was nine years old, obtained his bachelor’s degree in Economics in 1963 from Loyola College, one of Concordia’s founding institutions.
He later enrolled in the Faculty of Law at McGill and completed a civil law degree in 1966.
As a forward and team MVP, Lengvari helped Loyola win the 1962-63 Ottawa-St. Lawrence Athletic Association championship. This led to a berth in the inaugural Canadian Intercollegiate Athletics Union basketball championship tournament.
At McGill, Lengvari played basketball for three seasons and served as team captain.
The successful businessman supports the basketball programs at both Concordia and McGill and made a $1 million gift to each school last December.
The team will meet again Saturday ay 4 p.m. on Concordia's Loyola campus.
Photo courtesy of Matt Garies, McGill Athletics
