EDMONTON – Canada West Player of the Year Tyus Jefferson and the host Alberta Golden Bears handed the No. 6 seeded McGill Redbirds their first loss of the 2021-22 season with a resounding 85-68 U SPORTS Quarter-Final victory Friday night at the Saville Centre.
 
Jefferson exploded for a season-high 31 points, on 12/17 shooting in the win for Alberta, who advance to their first national semifinal since 2014. The U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Year also added a steal and three assists in a player of the game effort. 

"I just did my best to bring some energy to this team. We came out a little flat and nervous, so I just wanted to do whatever I could to help our guys," said the fifth-year Bears guard. "It feels great to do this in front of our home crowd, our alumni. How loud it gets here, I love it." 

Second-team All-Canadian Jamal Mayali was a standout for the Redbirds, also finishing with 31 points.

McGill was previously 12-0 in RSEQ play and swept the playoffs to finish with a 14-0 overall record coming into tonight. The Bears also had an undefeated streak snapped in the Canada West final by the No. 2 seeded Victoria Vikes.

The Redbirds led after a quarter thanks to the terrific play of Mayali, who finished the quarter with 11 of McGill's 18. However, the raucous home crowd at the Saville Centre came to life in the second, and powered Jefferson and the Bears to an incredible 33-8 second quarter which included a 21-0 run, and they headed into the half up 48-26.

"What an awesome atmosphere here with the crowd getting behind us. And it really gave us some momentum when we decided to calm down in the second quarter," said Bears head coach Barnaby Craddock. "Credit to McGill, they came out hard and made some 3's early. Then the crowd got behind us and we got some momentum."

Jefferson led all scorers at the break with 16 points, while the Redbirds were paced by Mayali with 13.

The Bears were able to hold the top-scoring offence in the RSEQ to shoot just 32.3% from the field including a 3/16 mark from three in the first half.

 McGill would find some life in the out of the break however, implementing a full court press that was able to force 17 second half Alberta turnovers. They would outscore the Bears throughout the half, at one point cutting the Alberta lead to just 10, but were unable to overcome the dominant Alberta second quarter.

"They put a lot of heat on us at the end," said Craddock of the late McGill push. "We made some mistakes down the stretch too, but we had a cushion built up, so we managed to hold on."

The Bears advance to play the winner of Quarterfinal 4 between the No. 2 seeded Victoria Vikes and the No. 7 Carleton Ravens in the Championship Semi-finals tomorrow at 8PM MST/10PM EST, while the Redbirds will face the loser in the Consolation Semi-finals tomorrow at 3PM MST/5PM EST.

Nike Top Performers
Alberta Golden Bears: Tyus Jefferson
McGill Redbirds: Jamal Mayali