St. Clair Saints Basketball Recap Jan 4 2024
St. Clair College Men’s Basketball Hold Down Niagara
The St. Clair College Men’s Basketball team (13-3) avenged an earlier loss to Niagara College (Welland) this season and handed the visitors an 84-63 verdict Sunday afternoon at the SportsPlex.
The Saints stifled Niagara from the start jumping out to a 9-0 lead and only allowed them a single field goal on their way to a 23-7 advantage heading to the second quarter. The teams played nearly even in the second frame, but St. Clair was able to enjoy a comfortable 41-23 halftime lead. The Saints had their best shooting quarter in the third (57.1%) making five triples which extended the margin to 64-37 heading to the fourth. St. Clair pushed it to a 31-point lead with seven minutes to play and then let the bench carry the load down the stretch.
The Saints were efficient from 3-point land shooting 10-of-25 (40%) but also outscored Niagara 40-18 in the paint. Niagara did score 22 second chance points thanks to 17 offensive rebounds but were held to just 26% shooting overall by a stout St. Clair defense.
St. Clair’s Mazin Tiea (Windsor, ON) only needed to record 14 points off the bench to lead all scorers but added 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Chad Vincent-Simon (Scarborough, ON) had 13 points and five assists for the Saints followed by Jadon Tillman (Warren, MI) who netted 12 points to go with 4 rebounds. Jesiah Deerr (Whitby, ON) rounded out the St. Clair double-digit scorers with 11 points.
Before tip-off graduating players Chad Vincent-Simon, Glynn Willis-Paris and Hanani Ujullu were all recognized as part of Senior Day festivities. Michael Horrobin from the Cross-Country team was also recognized at halftime as he moves on from his participation for St. Clair.
The St. Clair Men visit Conestoga College (Kitchener) Friday and close out their regular season schedule at Redeemer University (Ancaster) on Saturday.
St. Clair Women’s Basketball Tripped Up by Niagara
The St. Clair College Women’s Basketball (11-3) team fell victim to a poor shooting game and dropped a 53-52 decision to Niagara College (Welland) Sunday afternoon at the SportsPlex.
In the early stages Niagara took a small lead and closed the first quarter ahead 15-11 over the Saints. St. Clair pulled even at 20-20 with six minutes to play before the half but Niagara answered quickly to regain control. The Saints used an 11-3 run to find themselves leading by halftime in what was proving to be a see-saw affair. Niagara shut down St. Clair in the third quarter holding the home squad to only two field goals and five points. The Saints were fortunate to only be trailing Niagara 42-36 to start the fourth quarter and that differential grew to ten points (48-38) with seven minutes to go in the game. An 11-2 run brought St. Clair to within a score but the final minutes belonged to Niagara who made just enough free throws to secure the road win.
St. Clair was plagued by poor shooting all contest and finished below 20% from the field overall while only making 5-of-40 (12.5%) from three-point land. The Saints did force Niagara into 31 turnovers but could only capitalize with 18 points.
Janae Smith (Warren, MI) led the St. Clair in scoring with 15 points and went for a double-double after securing 10 rebounds. Shae-lyn Murphy (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) scored 13 points to go with 9 rebounds and 5 steals for the Saints while Kaitlyn Overeem (Brantford, ON) was held to just 11 points while adding 7 rebounds and 5 steals.
The St. Clair Women complete their OCAA West Division regular season schedule on the road next weekend with a game at Conestoga College (Kitchener) on Friday followed by matchup with Redeemer University (Ancaster) on Saturday.