Illinois basketball swung through Canada over the weekend, igniting the start of its preseason with a four-game international tour that started in Ottawa and moved through Montreal.

The Illini battled for close victories the first two games, including one against the University of Ottawa and an overtime contest against Carleton University. In the second stint of the trip in Montreal, the Illini lost to Concordia before defeating McGill University 107-103 in double overtime on Monday.

Illinois head coach Bruce Weber was hoping the trip would add to his team’s conditioning as it prepares for tough early matchups against the likes of Arizona and Maryland in late November.

“When we decided to take this trip, we knew we had to get the older guys re-established and the young guys some playing time,” Weber said Sunday in a press release. “These teams we’re playing are very well coached and have older guys that know how to play. It’s been a good learning experience for our team.”

In the Illini’s 74-72 overtime win against Carleton, Steve Holdren, a junior transfer from South Dakota State, led the team with 15 points to complement senior center Shaun Pruitt’s 13 points and six rebounds. Rodney Alexander, a junior college transfer, added 11 points, including a game-winning three-pointer in overtime. Freshman guard Demetri McCamey scored eight points and had a team-high seven rebounds and five assists.

In Saturday’s 73-56 victory over Ottawa, McCamey again led the team in assists with seven, and had a game-high four steals. Also in that game, junior guards Trent Meacham and Chester Frazier added eight points and Calvin Brock scored seven.

McCamey’s solid play could lead to an increased role at guard on the team, especially with Jamar Smith and Quinton Watkins no longer on the 2007-08 roster. Last week, the team announced Smith would redshirt and Watkins was academically ineligible to attend school at the University.

“(McCamey’s) very talented,” Weber said. “He’s deceptive athletically, plays a lot like Deron Williams. He uses his body well and changes speeds to get by people. He’s still learning, but he’s already shown that he can create scoring opportunities and make plays, and that’s what we’re looking for out of him this year.”

The Illini’s lone loss came Sunday against Concordia, 82-86, despite senior center Shaun Pruitt’s team-leading 16 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

He was limited to only 23 minutes because of foul trouble. It was the second straight game Pruitt led the team in scoring, but Concordia shot 57 percent from the field and outrebounded the Illini on the offensive boards, 16-3.

In the final five minutes of the game, the Illini outscored the Stingers 22-8 but ran out of time.

“Obviously we don’t want to lose, but this will help us,” Weber said after the loss. “We were playing our third game in 41 hours, which was a factor, but this reinforces the lesson that we have to be ready to play every game and play with energy every time we step out on that floor.”

Three of the games were played under international rules, enforcing wider lanes and a bigger three-point arc. Only coaches can call timeouts and teams played with 24-second shot clocks.

Although 15 players traveled with the team, only 11 played because freshmen Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis were held out to preserve the possibility for a redshirt. If they had played internationally, they would have lost that opportunity.

Brian Randle and Bill Cole were also held out of competition because of injuries. Randle sustained a hamstring injury in practice Wednesday and Cole hurt his shoulder Monday.