Niagara will play the following teams: the University of Quebec on Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.; Concordia University on Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.; Carleton University on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.; and McGill University on Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. All games will be played on campus.

Junior forward Eric Williams will be the unofficial "tour guide" for the team; the Hope, B.C. native played prep basketball at Champlain St. Lambert in Quebec. Each day, Williams will provide Purple Eagles Nation a first person view of his and the team's experience.

Day 6 - September 3, 2011

Today was the last day of our trip to Montreal and unfortunately we did not come out with a win. We tried to erase a 20+ point McGill lead in the 4th quarter, but it was too little too late. We got to within four points with less than two minutes left, but that was as close as we got. Ameen Tanksley had a couple big "And 1’s" in the 4th quarter to help us. Antoine Mason, Malcolm Lemmons, Marvin Jordan and Juan’ya Green along with Ameen fought hard for us in the 4th to make a comeback but since we played poorly the first 3 quarters it was to no avail.

Now that this trip is over we know there are many things we have to work on to be successful this season. The good news is we are much further ahead than normal. The team would like to thank our Athletic Director, Ed McLaughlin, for providing us the opportunity to take this trip. We really appreciate it. We would also like to thank McGill assistant coach, John Dangelas for all his efforts in organizing this trip, including a tour of Montreal.

Thank you everyone for tuning in and we hope to see you fill up the Gallagher Center this season!

Day 5 - September 2, 2011

Today we had a game against Carleton University in the capital of Canada, Ottawa. It was about a 2-hour drive there, so we had to leave much earlier than normal and we had sandwiches on the bus instead of having a normal sit down pregame meal. Today, unfortunately, we did not come out victorious. Carleton played well together and shot the ball very well. Joe Thomas played a great game in the loss, however. He can be a dominant force for us this year. Also Skylar Jones had a couple "And 1’s" in the second half. We came back from Ottawa, now we’re back in the hotel about to go to sleep. We have one more game tomorrow night against McGill. We want to end our trip with a win and get the taste of losing out of our mouths. BONNE NUIT TOUT LE MONDE!

Day 4 - September 1, 2011

Today was an off day, so we got to sleep in a little bit. Scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes, and brown (wheat) toast again for breakfast then straight to a walk through. Tomorrow we are playing the Canadian National Champions, so we will need to be on point and today’s walk through helped us with that. Afterwards my former head coach and current McGill assistant coach took us on a tour of the city. We started by going to Mont Royal. It is a small mountain in the middle of the city with an amazing view of downtown. I pointed out to the team the school where I played, the six flags, and some touristy spots.

After some photo shoots it was back on the bus to the next stop on our tour, Olympic Stadium. We drove into Eastern Montreal to see the O. Home of the 1976 Summer Olympics, Montreal Expos and Alouettes. A very unique looking building to say the least, this is why we came out that way, but why we spent so much time out there was the Biodome. It was explained to us that in this Biodome there were four different climates and many different animals in each. When we were asked if we wanted to check it out… Well of course we did! There were Crocodiles, Beavers, Penguins, Wild Turkeys, and Sting Rays just to name a few.

A very interesting start to the tour and the best part was they were all free roaming animals they could go anywhere! Some birds were actually walking right on our path not phased. The next part of the day might have been my favorite. We went to a Quebec fast food spot called La Belle Province. Each player got two hot dogs and a poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curds). Easily one of the things I missed most about living in Montreal was the poutine so needless to say it didn’t take me long to finish it.

Now that we were all content and fed it was off to the biggest church in North America, St. Joseph’s Oratory. This is something I never saw in my time living here. A very impressive sight indeed. We saw people making the pilgrimage to this church walking up the countless stairs on their knees. It was great for the team to see the cultural side of Montreal. After all this the team was getting a little worn out so we went back to the hotel to regroup. The rest of the night was pretty easy going mostly just hanging out in the rooms watching TV. Big game tomorrow against the best team in Canada so a great nights rest is needed. BONNE NUIT, A BIENTOT (See yah later)!

Day 3 - August 31, 2011

Today began similar to the day before just with a little more fatigue. Same breakfast as yesterday and another to walkthrough. Today was more of a mental workout. We heard that Concordia might play zone defense so we had to go through some scenarios and make sure we were prepared. After getting back to the hotel we had a couple hours before pregame meal so many of us enjoyed a nap.

A quick note about naps in hotel rooms: they are the greatest naps in the world! It’s quiet and the hotel beds are extra comfortable! Enough about naps, let’s talk about food. Pregame meal today was at the Peel Pub same place as yesterday, they made us spaghetti and grilled chicken. Good fuel for the game.

We played at Concordia University today and they have one of the smallest gyms I’ve ever played in. I can’t believe a successful college team (2011 Quebec Champions) plays in such a small gym. Then again it can get pretty loud in there making it a tough place to play. Tonight the game started very different from last night we found ourselves in a big hole early in the game. Concordia was leading 17-4 at one point in the first quarter but we slowly chipped away at their lead.

Midway through the second quarter we took the lead and at halftime we lead by five. It was a very close game today and it went down to the final possession. Concordia had a SLOB (Side Line Out of Bounds) opportunity to send the game to OT with six seconds left, but Malcolm Lemmons would have none of that! He blocked Con U’s final attempt and we won by three.

We had a bad start to the game today; we learned we have to come ready to play every day. At the same time it was a good experience facing adversity and coming through with the ‘W’. Hats off to our guard play down the stretch and to Scooter Gillette who made a couple huge plays in the 4th quarter. We are now 2-0 in Montreal and face Canadian National Champions Carleton University Friday night. Tomorrow will be a fun day we are going on a tour of Montreal. Stay Tuned for more tomorrow! BONNE NUIT MES COPAINS!

Day 2 - August 30, 2011

Game day! 9:30 wake up call to begin the day followed shortly after by breakfast at a café in the hotel. Today we’re playing at L’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) so we had a shoot around/ walk through in their gym from 11-12. It was nice to get some jumpers up and break a little sweat after travelling much of the day before.

Coach Mihalich explained that our first two games of the trip will be using FIBA rules meaning, 24 second shot clock, a wider key, and only 5 people rebounding on a free throw. When shoot around was over we had a couple hours in the hotel to relax before pregame meal. A place just down the road called Peel Pub prepared grilled chicken and penne for us. It was a great meal and they even had ESPN playing on one of the TV’s.

Before we left for the game we were introduced to Niagara great, Juan Mendez. On a personal note, he is the reason I first heard of Niagara. He was in the Canadian media for becoming the all-time leading scorer for a Canadian in the NCAA. It was great to have him supporting us because there weren’t many others! Fast forward to tip off. The first score of the game was credited to a new member of the Purple Eagles, Ali Langford. Not only was it the first score of the game but it was also a SLAM DUNK!

We started off the game very aggressive on defensive and pushed the ball up the court for easy buckets. We played with high energy on the court and on the bench. Juan’ya Green and Malcolm Lemmons played great for us; those guys can run up and down the court all day. The second half wasn’t as impressive for us but we still ended up winning by 15. After the game Juan came into the locker room with another former player, Greg Noel. He was part of the last two NCAA appearances for our program, so It was nice to hear from him. They were both impressed with our performance and told us to keep working hard, work together, and enjoy our time at Niagara. I had a few friends come out to the game who I hadn’t seen in a few years it was great to catch up with them. After all this it was back to the hotel to eat pizza, shower, ice down, hydrate and now it’s time for bed!

BONNE NUIT MES COPAINS! JE VAIS ECRIRE DEMAIN! (Good night my friends! I will write again tomorrow!)

Day 1 - August 29, 2011

The day started off early with an 8 a.m. practice at the Gallagher Center. It was nice to finally practice there after 10 days in the Kiernan Center. After a good practice the team loaded onto the bus and departed for Montreal at 10:15 a.m. A long bus ride, a boarding crossing in the Thousand Islands, two movies, a lunch stop at Checkers, and plenty of naps later we arrived at our destination.

We were greeted by my former Head Coach of Champlain St. Lambert, John Dangelas at the Marriott Montreal Chateau Champlain. He helped organize our trip out here and set us up with a very nice hotel. Many members of the team however were shocked that there were only five English Channels on TV.

At 6:30 we took a quick walk to get dinner which consisted of Grilled Chicken, Veal Marsala, or Tortellini. The meal was concluded with chocolate cake and the singing of Happy Birthday for Coach Mihalich. As a team we walked around the city for awhile after dinner until we had a team meeting to bring the day to a close. Our first game is tomorrow night so a good night’s rest is needed. Tune in tomorrow for the day’s events and details of the game. BONNE NUIT TOUT LE MONDE (GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE!)