St. Clair Saints Men’s Basketball Beat Niagara in Welland
The St. Clair College Men’s Basketball raised their record to 15-2 after an 80-65 victory in Welland Saturday afternoon over Niagara College at their Simplii Financial Athletic Centre.
The teams played back and forth in the opening minutes before Niagara moved ahead 23-17 late in the first quarter. The Saints closed well and were only down 23-22 heading to the second where they overtook Niagara for good after shooting nearly 60% in the frame. St. Clair held the home team to just five field goals in the third quarter and built as much as 22-point lead. The Saints were not threatened down the stretch cruising to the win.
St. Clair was able to get high percentage shots all game outscoring Niagara 50-22 in the paint while shooting nearly 51% from the field and cleared the glass for a 44-33 advantage.
Mazin Tiea (Windsor, ON/Kennedy) was the leader once again for the Saints recording another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. St. Clair’s Galdo Tutu (Windsor, ON) came off the bench to net 13 points and was equaled by teammate Jacob Masters (Toronto, ON). Kyle Brown-Fazekas (Windsor, ON/Kennedy) chipped in with 12 points for the Saints while Amari Frye (Ypsilanti, MI) dished out 7 assists to go with 6 points.
St. Clair hosts Redeemer University (Ancaster) at the SportsPlex Saturday, Feb. 8th to complete their regular season slate.
St. Clair Saints Women’s Basketball Weary in Welland
The St. Clair College Women’s Basketball team hung with one of the best teams in the province but eventually fell 59-50 to Niagara College at their Simplii Financial Athletic Centre in Welland Saturday afternoon. The Saints (5-10) will need a win in their final regular season game next weekend to remain in 6th Place of the OCAA’s West Division.
Niagara is the West defensive points against leader, but St. Clair equaled their effort in the early stages resulting in the teams combining for just five field goals as the home team took a 7-6 lead heading to the second quarter. The Saints then outplayed Niagara moved ahead by six points (23-17) with just over a minute to play in the half but settled for a 25-22 advantage by the break. Niagara won the third quarter 18-10 to move back in front but St. Clair didn’t come undone and fought to a 45-44 lead with six minutes remaining in the game. The Saints however could only muster five more points down the stretch allowing Niagara to take the victory.
Neither team was able to convert 29% of their attempts from the floor but St. Clair outshot Niagara 6-3 from deep in addition to outrebounding the much taller lineup 44-35 to stay within striking distance. Niagara capitalized by scoring 21 points off 20 turnovers by the Saints who were outscored 19-8 off the bench.
St. Clair’s Shae-lyn Murphy (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) scored a game high 20 points and notched a double-double with 10 rebounds. No other Saints reached double figures, but Kaelyn Batten (LaSalle, ON/St. Thomas of Villanova) had 9 points to go with 7 rebounds and Desiree Byrd (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) pulled down 9 rebounds while adding 4 points.
St. Clair hosts 7th Place Redeemer University (Ancaster) in their final regular season game on Saturday, Feb. 8th and the Saints will recognize their graduating players prior to the 6:00pm tip.