The St. Thomas University men’s and women’s basketball teams suffered losses after holding a doubleheader on Jan. 13 against the Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics.
The women’s team tried to break the Mystics undefeated record, as both teams are ranked within the top 10 teams of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association with in MSVU third and STU in ninth. In the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association league, STU is in second, while MSVU is in first. The Tommies couldn’t get by, losing 67-46. The first quarter proved the game would be a defensive showdown, as the Mystics led 14-12 after the first quarter and finished the half with a 26-19 lead.
“I thought we came out really hard,” said head coach Fred Connors.
“We just had a really hard time scoring the ball … we missed 15 free throws. Against a team like that, we’re not going to get away with that.”
The offence picked up in the second half, as the Mystics scored 26 points in the third quarter, putting the Tommies down 15 with only a quarter left in play. Keeping their intensity level the same, the Tommies were still unable to make a comeback.
Connors said this game was just as big as any game, despite playing the only team they trail in the ACAA standings.
“When [team] one plays [team] two you want to make it a bigger game than what it is and it was another regular season game for us to get ready for playoffs,” said Connors.
“We came out with the attitude [of], we want to compete hard and work on our game.”
Bridget Frazee led the way for the Tommies with 18 points.
The men’s team made a late comeback push but weren’t able to prevail. They struggled offensively in the first quarter, shooting 3-17 from the field for 17 per cent. They shot 3-21 from the three-point line throughout the entire game.
Their defence kept them in the game, as they trailed 15-7. The second quarter featured more offence, as the half ended with a 35-25 lead for the Mystics.
“A month off and the guys were rusty in the first quarter,” said head coach Scott MacLeod.
“I thought they started coming better in the second half … we got very close to them, a couple times.”
The Tommies would come together in the second half, exploding for 27 points in the third quarter. In a tough final quarter, St. Thomas would make a late push, going on a 10-0 run to cut the gap to only five points, but their sudden burst was too late, as they would fall 83-74.
Geoffrey Lavoie led the way for the Tommies pouring in 20 points with a consistent shot, going 9-12 from the field. Almin Dervisevic once again had another great all-around game, scoring 14 points while grabbing six rebounds and getting seven assists. He also had three steals.
MacLeod said their change to a more aggressive defence was the spark to their late game run.
“A little more aggressive, trapping defence that our guys play very well under,” said MacLeod.
“But under those conditions, you can’t run that all game … but it was really effective.”
