HAMILTON, Ont. - The St. Clair College men's basketball team fell behind early and despite pulling even after a 21-point deficit lost 76-69 to Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ont., on Friday night. The Saints enter the holiday break with a 3-6 record in the OCAA's West Division and tied for the final playoff position.

A very slow start for St. Clair saw them trail 15-6 after the first quarter and by halftime were down 38-23. Mohawk stretched their lead to 44-23 early in the third quarter when the Saints turned things around outscoring the home team 32-19 in the frame.

Mohawk clung to a 57-55 advantage entering the fourth quarter but managed to hold on down the stretch and outlast St. Clair. The Saints outscored Mohawk from the beyond the three-point arc (27-15) and bench points (27-5) but St. Clair only shot 32 per cent from the field in the game. In their comeback the Saints made eight of their nine triples in the second half.

Third-year guard Will Lara-Caston (Windsor/JL Forster) netted 23 points to go with six rebounds to top the St. Clair scorers. Saints swing man Lance Drummonds (Hamilton) recorded a double-double scoring 14 points to go with 13 rebounds adding three steals. Gil Atencio (Panama City, Panama) had 10 rebounds and three blocked shots but could not find his scoring touch with only two points in the game for St. Clair.

Mohawk's Emmanuel Mukuna (Hamilton) scored a game-high 25 points to lead his team in the win.

Source: St. Clair College