Mohawk at St. Clair Basketball January 20 2024

Battle for Top Spot in West as Mohawk Visits St. Clair Basketball

The St. Clair College Basketball teams face Mohawk College (Hamilton) in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the SportsPlex which will be a battle for the top position in the OCAA’s West Division. The Women’s game tips at 2:00pm followed by the Men’s game at 4:00pm.

The St. Clair Women (8-2, West 3rd Place) still hold a spot in the CCAA rankings in the 13th position but Mohawk (9-1) is atop the West Division standings and is rated as the 2nd best team in the latest provincial poll. In early December the Saints lost 78-62 to the Mountaineers in Hamilton and will look to even the season series on Saturday. 5th year transfer guard Kaitlyn Overeem (Brantford, ON) continues her torrid pace and is St. Clair’s floor leader while remaining the top point getter in the province and 2nd by average at 20.3ppg. Overeem is also out front of the OCAA in assists at 5.5 per game while gathering 7.9 rebounds per contest. When combined with her younger sister Lauren Overeem (Brantford, ON) they secure nearly 15 rebounds per game for the Saints.

Mohawk will counter with 2nd year 5’10” guard Angong Jacob (Calgary, AB) who is scoring 15.2ppg but 4th year 5’11” teammate Tatjana Boskovic (Hamilton, ON) is averaging 12.7ppg to go with 8.2rpg. 5th year 5’7” point guard Skyla Minaker (Sarnia, ON) sets the table for Mountaineers with 5.3 assists per game (OCAA 2nd) and adds 12.4ppg.

The St. Clair Men (9-2, West 1st Place) held steady as the 11th ranked team in the country and moved up the 2nd slot in the most recent provincial poll. Mohawk (8-3, West 2nd Place) is ranked right behind the Saints at #3 in the OCAA and moved up to #14 in the CCAA.

5th year 6’4” forward Chad Vincent-Simon (Scarborough, ON) is now 7th in the provincial scoring race at 19.0ppg and adds 6.3 rebounds per game for St. Clair. 5th year 6’3″ guard Jesiah Deerr (Whitby, ON) averages 13.4ppg for the Saints with rookie guard Andrew Loyuk (Windsor, ON/Kennedy) leading the team with 4.5 assists per game (OCAA 4th) to go with 13.2ppg. 3rd year 6’7” transfer forward Mazin Tiea (Windsor, ON/Kennedy) and 3rd year 6’4″ transfer forward Galdo Tutu (Windsor, ON) each average 12.0ppg.

Former Saint 6’4” forward Jerry Mercury (Scarborough, ON) is having another impressive season for Mohawk averaging a double-double that includes 26.6ppg and 11.7rpg which stands 2nd overall in the province. But his 24 points in early December against St. Clair in Hamilton still resulted in a 91-83 loss.

As a team St. Clair averages the most points at 97.1 per game and holds their opponents to the 6th least amount at 76.4 per contest. Mohawk is 3rd in offensive output at 93.8 per game but middle of the pack giving up 82.9 per matchup.