Men’s Basketball Split Final Weekend for 3rd Place

Ancaster/Kitchener, ON – The St. Clair College Men's Basketball team pulled out an 80-76 upset victory over Redeemer University in Ancaster Saturday but fell 81-67 to Conestoga College in Kitchener on Sunday for a weekend split to end their regular season.  However, the win over Redeemer who was the province's #1 ranked team locked down 3^rd Place for St. Clair in the OCAA's West Division.  This assures the Saints (14-6) of a home playoff game Saturday night against the East Division's 5^th Place team which is La Cité (Ottawa).  Tip time for that crossover playoff game is set for 7:00pm at the SportsPlex with the winner advancing to the ¼ finals of the OCAA Championship tournament hosted by Lambton College in Sarnia March 6-8. 

In Saturday's win St. Clair climbed out of big hole they dug early which saw them go down by as much as 16 points in the first quarter.  But the Saints held Redeemer to just 8 points in the second quarter and were tied 36-36 at the half.  Down the stretch St. Clair staved off a late push and were led by Glynn Willis-Paris (Detroit, MI/Kennedy Collegiate) who scored 17 points and collected 13 rebounds.  Jalen Harmon (Ypsilanti, MI), Husam Shallo (Toronto, ON) and Jesiah Deerr (Whitby, ON) all reached double figures with 10 points apiece for the Saints.  Shallo also added 8 rebounds and 3 assists from the guard position. 

In Sunday's loss St. Clair could not overcome a bad shooting day which saw them only convert 31% from the floor including 11% from deep and were badly beaten (60-46) in rebounding.  Jerry Mercury (Toronto, ON) had the best game for the Saints recording a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Daelyn Davis (Romulus, MI) scored 15 points to go with 8 rebounds while Deerr chipped in with 12 points.