Both the Tommies basketball teams suffered somewhat lopsided losses on the road last weekend.
St. Thomas University fell 101-64 to the Holland College Hurricanes in men’s action Saturday afternoon following the 64-42 defeat the Tommies women suffered against the Hurricanes on Prince Edward Island.
With the loss, the STU men fell to 1-4 on the season, while the Tommies women dropped to 2-2.
Holland College remains undefeated after four games on the men’s side, while the Hurricanes women improved to 3-1 with Saturday’s win.
Tommies men fail to weather the storm
Travis Valanne struck first with a three-pointer just over a minute into Saturday’s men’s game, but Tevin Bailey of the Hurricanes made a couple free throws to get Holland College on the board 18 seconds later.
A successful layup on Valanne’s part put the Tommies up 5-2 almost two minutes into the opening quarter.
It was another layup – this time from Bailey at the other side of the court – that brought the Hurricanes back to within a point just past the two-minute mark.
After that, Holland College went on a 16-point run before Sam Drummond made a layup for the Tommies halfway through the frame, but a layup from Abel Joseph shortly after put the Hurricanes back in control.
The Hurricanes outscored the Tommies 9-1 in the last four minutes of the quarter to go ahead 29-8 after the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter saw the Hurricanes maintain and build on their 20-point advantage over the Tommies, despite STU’s efforts to chip away at the deficit.
At halftime, Holland College led 54-22, or by a margin of 32 points.
In the third quarter, the damage got worse for the Tommies, who were held off the scoresheet until 5:10 passed in the stanza.
Justin Grant made a jump shot with 4:51 to go, which brought the Tommies to 24 points, but not before the Hurricanes enjoyed a 19-point run that put them up by 51.
The offensive onslaught from Holland College continued throughout the quarter and the rest of the game.
The Hurricanes’ top scorers were Joseph with 25 points and six rebounds, while Adams added 16 points and Jayden Nordin had 13.
Mitch Claybourn led the visiting Tommies with 22 points, while Valanne recorded 14 points and Drummond scored 13.
Tommies women tamed by Hurricanes
Much like the first quarter of the men’s game, the women’s contest was mostly Holland College early on, but the Hurricanes only led 15-8 heading into the second.
Another common denominator was the Hurricanes’ lead strengthening as halftime approached, but the Tommies stayed within shouting distance and trailed 28-20 after 20 minutes.
STU continued to keep it close for most of the third quarter, but three successful free throws from Milcania Diaz-Rojas in the dying seconds put Holland College up by 17 points.
Although the Tommies kept pushing for the eye of the storm in the fourth, the deficit not only proved to be too much for them to overcome, but it got wider, and the Hurricanes weren’t about to change direction.
Leading the scoring for Holland College was Jayla Verney with 19 points, along with Diaz-Rojas with 15 points. Maria Walsh from the Hurricanes’ bench had seven points, while Chelsea Slawter-Wright also netted seven points.
Jessica Patenaude paced the Tommies with 10 points and 13 rebounds, while Jayme Hunt scored nine points and Lainy Dow chipped in with seven.
Both the Tommies teams return to action Sunday, Nov. 27 against the University of Kings College Blue Devils at home. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. for the women and 3 p.m. for the men.
