MOHAWK 68, ST. CLAIR 66

HAMILTON, Ont. - It didn't look so great at the beginning of their games, but Mohawk's men's and women's teams both shook off whatever was ailing them early to defeat the St. Clair Saints in basketball action at the David Braley Athletic and Recreation Centre on Saturday.

The Mohawk women won an 68-66 thriller with another one of their patented comebacks. The Mountaineers actually had an 11-6 lead, but that was before St. Clair went on a 23-0 run. The Saints led 36-22 at half time and looked like world beaters.

It was a much different Mountaineer team, however, which came out to start the second half. A 13-2 run brought Mohawk to within two points of the Saints, but the visitors didn't panic and managed to hold on to a 54-48 lead at three-quarter time.

The final quarter was 'touch and go' for the entire 10 minutes. A pair of three-point shots by Jen Abella with less than two minutes to go put the Mountaineers up by four points and they were able to hold on for their seventh win in a row, improving their record to 11-4. St. Clair is right behind at 10-4.

Stef Hrymak had another big game for the Mountaineers with 17 points. Lacey Wolters scored 10 points and added 10 rebounds. Sisters Jen and Rachelle Abella each scored 10 points. Jaide Lyons had 23 points for the Saints and Jessica Gordon contributed 13.

Then the Mohawk men shook off a bit of a lethargic first half and ended up with a fairly comfortable 90-71 decision over St. Clair.

Mohawk led 35-34 at the half, but only because of Matt Fennell's three-point buzzer beater. Fennell had another solid game with 36 points including five three-pointers. Andrew Cicuttini also had five 'treys' and was his team's second leading scorer with 16 points.

Alex Reis chipped in with 12 points and Taylor Dowhaniuk scored nine points and led all players with 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. Jamaal Thompson had 17 points and Xavier Jones got 11 for St. Clair.

The Mountaineers improved to 12-3, with their fourth win in a row. The Saints fell to 8-6 after their second straight defeat.

Source: Mohawk College

HAMILTON, Ont. - The St. Clair women's basketball team lost another close game to Mohawk 68-66 in Hamilton, Ont., on Saturday night and surrendered second place in the OCAA West region at the same time.

Leading comfortably at half time by 14 points, the Saints were outscored down the stretch on a miserable shooting night.

Jaide Lyons (Windsor, Ont./F.J. Brennan) led St. Clair with 23 points to go with four assists.  Jessica Gordon (London, Ont./Mother Teresa) was the only other Saint in double figures with scoring 13 points adding 10 rebounds for the double-double.

Mohawk's Stef Hyrmak had 17 points to lead her team in the win.

The St. Clair women's basketball team continues the road trip at Niagara College (Welland, Ont.) on Sunday.

Source: St. Clair College