BELLEVILLE, Ont. – The Durham College men's basketball team put an end to the Loyalist Lancers playoff hopes on Friday night as they earned a 10-point road victory in Belleville, Ont.

The Lords, not wanting to back in to the OCAA championship with a loss, led from start-to-finish against Loyalist. The win improves Durham's conference record to 17-3, their best under head coach Desmond Rowley. It is also Durham's best winning percentage since the 1988 season, where the team had a 16-2 conference record enroute to an OCAA silver medal under head coach Ernie Rainbow.

Friday's victory was a total team effort for Durham with six players scoring nine points or more. Ajahmo Clarke (Ajax, Ont.) led all shooters with 18 points, before fouling out in the third quarter.

Darian Rowe (Maple, Ont.) also had a big game for the green and gold, draining 14 points to go along with 11 boards and two big blocks.

Durham got off to a great start leading 29-12 after the first quarter but Loyalist would rebound outscoring the Lords 24-9 in the second to close the gap to just one point at the half. 

With the Lancers looking to complete the comeback in the third, Aaron Hayles (Pickering, Ont.) heated up from beyond the arc as he drilled back-to-back-to-back three pointers.

After Kur Ngong (Ottawa) suffered an injury taking him out of the game, Taurell Coutou (Toronto) stepped up offensively for Durham scoring 10 points in the final quarter.

Carson Power led the Lancers in scoring with 15 points which included hitting two three-pointers in the fourth quarter.

The Lords will now have to sit and wait to see who they will face March 6 at 8 p.m. in their opening game of the OCAA men's basketball championship at Durham College. The Humber Hawks and Georgian Grizzlies have also qualified for the provincial championship.

Source: Durham College