St. Clair College Men’s Basketball Humble Mohawk
The West Division 1st Place St. Clair College Men’s Basketball (10-2) team were dominant at times in a 111-96 win over Mohawk College (Hamilton) Saturday evening at the SportsPlex.
A scrappy first quarter saw the teams shoot an identical 5-of-18 from the field while making a pair of triples each as the Saints overcame a 7-point deficit and eked out a 16-14 lead heading to the second. But St. Clair unleashed a flurry of 3-point makes (8-of-9, 89%) in the second for an astonishing 36-point frame and they enjoyed a 52-33 advantage by the intermission. A nearly as impressive shooting display in the third grew the lead to 25 points which allowed the Saints to spread around the minutes down the stretch.
St. Clair shot 53% from the floor overall but made at a better clip from deep converting over 55% of their 3-point attempts. Bench production leaned heavily in favour of St. Clair who outscored Mohawk 24-2 in that column.
Andrew Loyuk (Windsor, ON/Kennedy) had his best game of the season for St. Clair scoring a team-high 34 points but helped his fellow Saints by dishing out 8 assists. Jesiah Deerr (Whitby, ON) reached an important milestone on the night eclipsing the 1,500-point plateau after scoring 26 points including 6 triples which moved him into 10th position on the All-time Saints career list. Jadon Tillman (Warren, MI) and Chad Vincent-Simon (Scarborough, ON) each chipped in with 10 points apiece for St. Clair.
The St. Clair Men swing through the GTA next weekend to take on Sheridan College (Brampton) on Saturday followed by a game at Humber College (Etobicoke) on Sunday. The Saints next appear at home Feb. 3rd when they host Canadore College (North Bay).
St. Clair College Women’s Basketball Stop Mohawk
The St. Clair College Women’s Basketball (9-2) team earned an important win Saturday afternoon at the SportsPlex besting first place Mohawk College (Hamilton) by a score of 70-59.
A high scoring first quarter saw both teams shoot over 40% from the field but Saints’ guard Kaitlyn Overeem (Brantford, ON) once again took control of the game with 13 points including three triples staking her team to a 25-22 lead headed to the second frame. Her 18 first half points allowed St. Clair to take a slim 37-36 halftime advantage as Mohawk tried to keep pace. The third quarter proved to be the deciding stanza as the Saints outscored the visitors 21-12 growing the gap to as much as 12 points. Mohawk closed to within four points with about six minutes to play but the teams stalled offensively for a few minutes making for a low scoring quarter and St. Clair was able to use a 9-2 run down the stretch to secure the win.
Mohawk shot a higher percentage overall (38% to 33%) in the game, but eleven 3-point makes by the Saints overcame the difference. St. Clair forced Mohawk into 19 turnovers and scored 12 points in response but also capitalized with 10-second chance points off 11 offensive rebounds.
Overeem topped all scorers with 31 points and filled the stat sheet with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. St. Clair only needed one more scorer in double figures on the night and that came courtesy of Shae-lyn Murphy (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) who netted 13 points to go with 7 rebounds.
The St. Clair Women go on the road next weekend through the GTA to face Sheridan College (Brampton) on Saturday followed by a matchup with Humber College (Etobicoke) on Sunday. They are next at home on Feb. 4th when they host Niagara College (Welland).