A game that had all the playoff flavour didn't go the way the No. 7 nationally ranked Mohawk Mountaineers had hoped as the No. 10 St. Clair Saints handed Mohawk a 92-86 loss.

It was a slow start offensively for the Mountaineers, who scored three points through the first seven minutes of the game, and trailed the Saints 14-3.

Head coach Brian Jonker admitted to the misfortunates offensively early on, but after that stretch he was happy with the team defence.

"I thought defensively we were pretty good tonight," Jonker said. "We did the things we wanted too."

In the second quarter Mohawk clawed back to take a three point lead into halftime.

However, in the second half St. Clair was just a tiny bit better to pull out the win in a game that featured the top two teams in the OCAA West.

"Offensively, we had a stretch in the fourth quarter where we probably had three or four shots we'd rather have back and that's kind of the difference in the game," Jonker said.

Jerry Jr. Mercury (Scarborough, ON) had yet again another double-double and led the Mountaineers with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Daniel Graham (Hamilton, ON) scored 19 with Rommel Calura (Hamilton, ON) contributing 16 and Cale Calura (Hamilton, ON) adding 10.

Mohawk concludes the 2022-23 season with two consecutive loses, but finishes with a strong 14-4 record.

The Mountaineers will now host an OCAA crossover playoff game on Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. with the opponent still to be determined.