St. Clair Men’s Basketball Upset VIU to Play for National Gold

Etobicoke, ON – The St. Clair College Men's Basketball team slayed the giant Saturday night in Etobicoke with a 109-90 upset win over top ranked Vancouver Island University (Nanaimo, BC) in the CCAA National Championship semi-final.  St. Clair is now assured itself of its first national basketball medal in program history and will play for the Gold Sunday night at 7:30pm against the winner of SAIT and host Humber College. 

In the VIU win the Saints allowed a 3-point shot as time expired in the first quarter which tied the score at 25-25 in a high paced first frame.  VIU was able to surge ahead with as much as a 7-point lead in the second quarter but even another late triple to close the half didn't prevent St. Clair from inching ahead to hold a slim 48-46 intermission lead.  The Saints gathered steam in the third quarter for a 73-62 lead headed to the final quarter as VIU struggled to control foul trouble with their depth.  A 36-point output in the fourth saw St. Clair grow their lead to 28 points with a few minutes remaining which allowed the Saints travelling fan party to celebrate as the final seconds ran off the clock. 

Jalen Harmon (Ypsilanti, MI) had an impressive performance to earn Player of the Game honours for St. Clair after scoring 24 points but went for a double-double with 13 rebounds while adding 4 assists and a steal.  David Gomez Jr. (Pontiac, Michigan) scored a game high 30 points to go with 6 assists for the Saints with teammate Chad Vincent-Simon (Scarborough, ON) also recording a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds.  Jesiah Deerr (Whitby, ON) and Darnelle Peddie (Pickering, ON) were the other St. Clair players in double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively.    

VIU's Cameron Gay (Nine Mile Falls, Washington) scored 23 points in a losing effort.