The St. Thomas University men’s and women’s basketball teams beat the Crandall University Chargers in two close games on Feb. 3.
The women’s game started off with an early lead for the Tommies and a few fouls for both teams. The Tommies continued to gain fouls as they increased their lead by nine points, ending the first quarter 17-8.
They continued to play strong in the second quarter with Tommies’ Lainy Dow making some good plays. The Tommies made solid passes, but Crandall was able to make some good shots. The Tommies fought hard, but Crandall caught up and the half ended with a score of 28-21 for the Tommies.
The third quarter saw a hard fight by both teams as the game started to get physical. Dow continued to put up a good fight, but Crandall continued to catch up to the Tommies. The Tommies felt the pressure as the quarter came to an end with the Tommies having a one-point lead.
The fourth quarter saw Crandall begin to pull ahead. Tommies Jessica Patenaude made some good shots, including a three-pointer that put the Tommies back in the lead.
The game went back and forth with both teams fighting for the lead until the Tommies were able to tie it up with less than a minute left in the game. After time outs called by both teams, Tommies’ Bridget Frazee was able to score a three-pointer with just seconds left, and effectively winning the game 56-53 for the Tommies.
The men’s game started off slow, with the Tommies taking the lead early on thanks to some good shots leaving them up by 10 points after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the both teams fighting hard for the lead as the game began to get physical. Crandall was able to catch up, making the score 37-36 at half-time for the Tommies.
The Tommies came into the third quarter fighting hard to build up their lead while Crandall fought hard to keep the score close. The came continued to be physical and the score was close throughout.
The fourth quarter was slow to start as both teams grew tired. The Tommies worked hard to build up a lead and tensions rose.
A fight began to break out among the teams as the game got heated, however the Tommies were able to cool down and make some good plays and critical steals to win the game 81-69.
Head coach Scott MacLeod was happy with the men’s performance.
“One of our best games this year I thought. Crandall is fighting for second or third in the league so it’s a good win for the boys,” said MacLeod.
“The guys coming off the bench really did well. Carlo Theriault had some crucial shots for us but our defence really held us in the game though and were able to get some critical turnovers at important times. We got a win, I’m very happy.”
