Saints Basketball Recap February 20 2023
St. Clair Men’s Basketball Claim West Riding 9-Game Win Streak
The St. Clair College Men’s Basketball team claimed the OCAA’s West Division for the first time since the 2001-02 season after drubbing Niagara College in Welland this afternoon by a score of 96-59. The Saints (15-3) are currently ranked 10th in Canada and riding a 9-game winning streak as they await the other seven teams who need to qualify for the OCAA Provincial Championship in Windsor March 3-5. This is only the fourth outright division title for St. Clair in program history and 15 regular season wins is tied for 3rd most in their 55 years of play.
St. Clair built an early 19-15 lead after the opening quarter but slowly grew that spread to a 43-31 advantage by halftime. The Saints had their best showing in the third quarter outscoring the home team 33-12 and put the game out of reach. St. Clair continued to hold Niagara down the remainder of the contest, but they were able to spread around their minutes to the reserves where 11 of the 12 players dressed notched points on the scoresheet.
St. Clair shot 46% from the field including 10 makes from deep but kept Niagara under 30% overall in the game. The Saints outrebounded their opponent 54-34 while outscoring them 42-28 in the paint and 49-29 off the bench.
A balanced scoring attack for St. Clair saw Jalen Harmon (Ypsilanti, MI) top his team with just 14 points but was followed closely by teammate Tim Steward (Detroit, MI) who scored 13 points while adding 5 rebounds in a reserve role. Chad Vincent-Simon (Scarborough, ON) needed limited playing time and four attempts from beyond the arc to score his 12 points for the Saints. Shakael Pryce (Pickering, ON) scored 11 points for St. Clair and Terence Williams (Windsor, ON) chipped in with 10 points while adding 7 rebounds.
Kennan Larmand (Welland, ON) was the only Niagara player to reach double figures with 13 points in the loss.
St. Clair Women’s Basketball Offense Struggles at Niagara
The St. Clair College Women’s Basketball team finished their regular season with a 7-9 record after losing 74-31 to Niagara College in Welland on Sunday afternoon. The Saints hold the 6th seed in the West Division and will travel to Loyalist College (Belleville) on Saturday in the crossover playoff game. Loyalist is 8-6 and the East Division 3rd place finisher. The winner of the crossover matchup advances to the OCAA Championship tournament in a field of eight teams which is being hosted by Niagara March 3-5.
The Saints fell behind 18-10 after the opening quarter and Niagara poured it on the second for a 42-17 halftime advantage. St. Clair could only match their second quarter output in the third and were down 61-24 heading to the last frame. Their offensive woes continued in the fourth as the Saints only scored seven more points before the final buzzer.
St. Clair suffered through a miserable shooting game and converted 16.7% overall including only one make from the beyond the 3-point arc in 19 attempts. Niagara shot nearly 44% from the field and made 8 trifectas while outscoring the Saints 25-4 off the bench and 36-12 in the paint. St. Clair could not control the home team on the glass where they were outrebounded 45-30.
Shae-lyn Murphy (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) was the only St. Clair player to reach double figures with 11 points.
Niagara’s Taryn Mitchell (Port Colborne, ON) made 5 triples and led her team with 23 points in the win.