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LENNOXVILLE – A layup by Damon Thomas-Anderson of Verdun, Que., with 16 seconds left capped a furied Bishop’s rally from eight points down in the final three minutes, and propelled the Gaiters to a 72-70 upset win over the No. 9-ranked McGill Redmen in Quebec hoops action at the Mitchell Gym in Lennoxville, Saturday.

The game featured 11 lead changes and five ties, with the last lead change coming with 19 seconds left in regulation time.

Thomas-Anderson, who had nine rebounds,  sparked the comeback, scoring five of his 12 points during the game-winning 10-0 run, while Hermon Tesfaghebriel of Coquitlam, B.C., contributed four of his 10, including a basket that pulled the Gaiters to within 70-69 with 53 seconds left.

An uncharacteristic turnover by McGill’s Sean Anthony (one of his four on the night) led to Anderson driving the basket for the winning shot. McGill’s attempt to re-take the lead was thwarted when Andrew Wright of Fredericton, N.B., stole the ball from Anthony and drained a free-throw to clinch the game.

Anthony led the Redmen with 16 points on six-for-18 shooting, while flashy McGill guard Moustafa El Zanaty and Michael White scored 14 apiece. White, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound forward from Montreal, also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Pawel Herra of Kingston, Ont., added 11 points and Matthew Thornhill of Ile Bizard, Que., finished with 10.

For the second straight night against the Redmen, BU came out strong and jumped into an early 12-3 lead -- the largest margin either team held in the game. McGill then rallied to go ahead 21-20 lead after the first quarter.

But Bishop’s caught a break when McGill star guard Moustafa El Zanaty picked up his second intentional foul and was banished from the court with 3:15 left in the second quarter. Zanaty, who averaged close to 25 points per game after 15 contests overall, had accumulated 14 points in 16 minutes up to that point. The Gaiters ended the half on a 5-0 run to take a 39-38 lead into the break.

McGill opened the third stanza with a 7-3 run in the first 2:19 of the period, taking a 47-43 advantage. The Gaiters clawed back to within three points at 56-53 to end the quarter. McGill stretched their lead to 70-62 with three minutes to play.

Four Gaiters reached double figures in scoring, led by 20 from Junior Nicolas of Montreal. Wright shot 4-from-6 from the field on the way to a 10-point outing.

The Gaiters, 4-9 overall, evened their QUBL mark at 1-1 QUBL. They will play the UQAM Citadins next weekend.

McGill, which fell to 10-6 overall and 1-1 in conference play, will look to rebound with a home-and-home affair against Laval, beginning Nov. 28 in Quebec City.