KINGSTON, Ont. - Having lost two of their last three games, the St. Lawrence College men's basketball team entered their game against the Canadore College Panthers on Sunday desperately needing two points to stand a chance of catching a playoff spot in the Ontario Colleges Athletics Association (OCAA) East Division.
Currently, Algonquin and George Brown College have a stronghold of first and second place, with Centennial College in third. From there, a total of seven schools are all within two points (one win) of one another.
Just like in their game against George Brown on Friday, the Vikings had a great first half, outscoring the Panthers 23-8 in the first quarter alone. Forward Donald Gibson would finish the first half with 13 points and seven rebounds as his teammates would continue to find him down low, where Gibson would muscle his way to the net for the easy lay-up.
But what has seem to be the Vikings kryptonite this season, the second half proved to be a different game for St. Lawrence, as Canadore would begin to pressure and capitalize offensively. This time, the Vikings were able to keep pace, outscoring the Panthers 40-34 in the final 20 minutes of the game, eventually leading to the 82-60 victory.
"We utilized our timeouts down the stretch to remind our players to keep our focus that this when we cannot let our foot off the gas," said SLC head coach Barry Smith.
"That definitely helped the players keep our minds in the game and help secure a win today," Smith added.
When asked about his team's chances at making the playoffs, Smith remains highly optimistic of the Vikings chances.
"We're still very much in the fight for playoffs. The standings are tight enough that if we can still an upset win, with some help from other teams, we can be a great spot at the end of the season."
Five-year veteran Terence Thomas finished the game with a team-high 14 points. November male athlete of the month Chris Offspring recorded his sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Vikings will face the first place Algonquin College Thunder on Friday, Jan. 31 in Ottawa at 8 p.m. in their next regular season game.
Source: St. Lawrence College
KINGSTON, Ont. - The Canadore Panthers men's varsity basketball team fell to the St. Lawrence Vikings today in Kingston, Ont.
Canadore's top scorer was Christian Casimier with 16 points.
Unable to regroup from yesterday's loss against the Loyalist Lancers, the Panthers let the Vikings get the best of them by taking the win in today's game.
The first time that the Panthers played the Vikings was in their home opener during the first half of the season, where the scoreboard saw the Panthers take the win on home court.
Canadore head coach, Stacy Gallagher, was disappointed in what he saw this weekend. "You can't win a game when we shoot 27 per cent and don't even challenge ourselves to want every loose ball, every rebound. At home games, the court brings great advantages and road trips present us with huge disadvantages and this weekend we were at a total disadvantage."
Source: Canadore College