Men’s Basketball Winless in Toronto

Toronto, ON – The St. Clair College Men's Basketball team lost a pair of games in Toronto this past weekend but still hold a share of 2nd Place in the OCAA's West Division with a 7-2 record.  St. Clair dropped a 112-70 decision to Sheridan College (Brampton) Saturday evening and fell 107-89 to Humber College (Etobicoke) on Sunday afternoon.

In Saturday's game St. Clair fell behind 31-23 top open the game but only produced 7 points in the second quarter after losing their leading scorer to injury when David Gomez Jr. (Pontiac, Michigan) exited the game.  Down 59-30 going into the third quarter the Saints could not cut into the lead and although they showed a nice output in the fourth were never in contention down the stretch.  Sheridan won the rebound war 54-39 and shot 50% from the field converting 52 points in the paint.  St. Clair only outdueled the home team statistically in bench scoring by a margin of 52-43.  

Saints rookie shooting guard Husam Shallo (Toronto, ON) made 4 triples in the fourth quarter on his way to leading his team with 21 points.  Jesiah Deerr (Whitby, ON) and Jerry Mercury (Toronto, ON) each also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively for St. Clair.  Jalen Harmon (Ypsilanti, MI) had a notable 9 assists in the game but could only muster 7 points.  

In Sunday's loss St. Clair shared the lead several times in the first half but trailed 25-22 after the first and 46-45 at the half.  Humber extended that advantage to 75-69 heading to the fourth and led by as much as 18 points in the final frame.  St. Clair was outgunned in shooting in the contest from the field and from distance which created the only separation statistically.  

Five Saints reached double figures led by Jesiah Deerr with 19 points followed by Jalen Harmon and Glynn Willis-Paris (Detroit, MI/Kennedy Collegiate) with 17 points each.  Shallo and Darnelle Peddie (Pickering, ON) each chipped in with 12 and 11 points for St. Clair.  

The St. Clair Men's Basketball team finish the first half of their schedule before the holiday break hosting Redeemer University College (Ancaster) on Friday and Conestoga College (Kitchener) on Saturday.