March Madness: an excellent start for Quebecer Olivier-Maxence Prosper

< /p> UPDATE DAY

Quebec's Olivier-Maxence Prosper and the Marquette Golden Eagles kicked off the March Madness tournament with flying colors on Friday, beating the Vermont Catamounts. 

Second seeds in their portion of the table, the Golden Eagles were largely favorites for this duel against the Catamounts (15th) and they did not disappoint by winning 78 to 61. 

< p>The Milwaukee, Wis.-based team had 39 points in the two 20-minute engagements. 

The Catamounts closed the gap to five points in the second half, but saw their rivals distance thanks to the flight of Kam Jones. 

The Tennessee native got the next 18 points from his side. 

Thanks to his prowess, the mark went from 45 to 40 to 63 to 46.

Jones did not go it alone in the victory however: five members of the Golden Eagles reached ten points, including Prosper. The giant-sized Montrealer amassed 11 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes of play. He was the second most requested player on his team.

This is the first victory in 10 years for Marquette in the most prestigious tournament in college basketball.

In the second round, the Golden Eagles will face the Michigan State Spartans (7th), who defeated the South Carolina Trojans (10th).

Cassandre Prosper also advances 

In the female table, another member of the Prosper family impressed: the younger sister of Olivier-Maxence, Cassandre.

She had six points, three assists, but most importantly 10 rebounds in an 82-56 victory for the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish over the No. 14 Southern Utah Thunderbirds.

Prosper and her teammates will face the Mississippi State Bulldogs (11th) or the Creighton Bluejays (6th) in the next round.