Men’s Basketball Take Sault in Overtime

Windsor, ON – The St. Clair College Men's Basketball team needed overtime but outlasted Sault College (Sault Ste. Marie) by a score of 105-99 at the SportsPlex Saturday night taking their OCAA West Division leading record to 6-0.  The Saints are the top ranked team in the province and sit at #9 nationally.  

Sault was the aggressor early and held a 23-17 advantage after the opening quarter, but St. Clair chipped away and with a late bucket ended the first half up 43-42.  Sault overtook the Saints again in the third quarter on their way to their largest lead early in the fourth quarter at 72-61 with 8:46 remaining in the game.  St. Clair did not come undone and stayed within striking distance down the stretch and eventually had the game in hand.  However, Sault answered twice before regulation expired with a triple and some clutch free throws to force overtime.  A pair of mini-runs by the Saints in the extra period allowed the home team to escape with the win.  Most statistical categories tiled in favour of the Sault who outshot St. Clair from the floor and from distance.  But the Saints were +10 in rebounds and shot 83% from the free throw line in the game.  That included 94% from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter and overtime periods when the game mattered most.  

David Gomez Jr. (Pontiac, Michigan) topped St. Clair offensively with 29 points including 10 for 10 at the stripe while helping his teammates with 8 assists.  Jalen Harmon (Ypsilanti, MI) scored 26 points for the Saints and dished out 6 assists.  Darnelle Peddie (Pickering, ON) scored 11 points adding 7 rebounds and 4 steals while Jesiah Deerr (Whitby, ON) chipped in with 10 points for St. Clair to go with 6 rebounds.  Glynn Willis-Paris (Detroit, MI/Kennedy Collegiate) snared 10 rebounds and scored 8 points while protecting the rim with 2 blocked shots for the Saints.  

Local product Simon Wal (Windsor, ON) led all scorers with 38 points for Sault adding 12 rebounds in a losing cause.  

The St. Clair Men's Basketball team will tip against the Sault again on Sunday at 3:00pm.