Sam Jenkins registered a double-double as McGill extended its record win streak to 14 en route to capturing the RSEQ men’s university basketball championship with a 48-46 thriller over Concordia, before a sell-out crowd of 612 at Love Competition Hall, on March 26.
It was the lowest-scoring final in Quebec men’s league history, with neither team reaching the 50-point plateau and the lowest points scored by McGill in any victory since the post-war era. The Redbirds punched their ticket to the U SPORTS Final 8 national championship in Edmonton, April 1-3. It will mark McGill’s ninth lifetime appearance at the national tournament (excluding four regional tourneys) and the team’s first since 2018. Their best result was a fourth-place finish in 1977 and 2016.
Jenkins, a 23-year-old physical education senior from Hamilton, Ont., scored a game-high 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-3, 192-pound guard shot 7-for-17 from the field, including a 3-for-10 effort from three-point range, and went 2-for-7 at the free-throw line. He added four assists and a steal.
If McGill meets Queen’s at the Nationals, the game would feature a matchup of brothers as Scott Jenkins, Sam’s younger brother, is a sophomore guard with the Gaels, who have qualified as OUA silver medalists.
The Redbirds jumped into an impressive start, winning the opening quarter by a lopsided 17-5 margin. But Concordia bounced back to win the second period 16-9 as the teams went into the halftime break with a 26-21 advantage for the Redbirds. McGill took the third quarter 13-11 but the Stingers won the final frame 14-9.