DURHAM 72, LOYALIST 68

OSHAWA, Ont. - The Durham College men's basketball team came up with a 72-68 comeback victory over Loyalist College on Tuesday night at the CRWC.

Trailing 38-26 after two quarters, Durham ramped up their defensive pressure and outscored Loyalist 46-30 over the final 20 minutes as they managed to find a way to grind out the victory.

A key moment in the game came with just under a minute left on the clock. With Durham grasping on to a two-point lead, Eric Smith (Ajax, Ont.) was the recipient of a great feed from Aron Naim (Paris, Ont.) under the basket. Smith was able to fight off a Loyalist defender and make a lay-up while being fouled. After Smith converted the three-point play, the Lords were able to steal the ball off of the Lancers' inbound, going on to burn another 24 seconds off the clock.

Lords freshman Brandon Heath (Markham, Ont.) was exceptional down the stretch as he came up with some head-turning passes and played tough defence in the fourth quarter. Heath finished the night with 15 points, five steals, three rebounds and three assists.

Smith was the leading scorer for Durham as he scored 18 points and 13 rebounds, playing all 40 minutes in the game. Three other Lords were in double digits in scoring as Ajahmo Clarke (Ajax, Ont.) drained 14 points while Naim and Saliym Cadogan (Toronto, Ont.) had 10 points apiece.

Free throw shooting was a key to the Lords win as they were 14-of-15 from the charity stripe in the second half. After shooting 29 per cent from the floor in the first half, Durham managed to turn things around almost reaching 50 per cent in the second.

Patrick Kalala was almost unstoppable for Loyalist as he scored 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and six assists. He was 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Muller Kalala and Jordan Marlowe collected 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Loyalist relied on its three-point shooting all night long as they took 30 attempts compared to just 11 for Durham.

The Lords improve to 7-9 on the season, as they move into a tie for the final playoff position in the OCAA East region with the Lancers (7-9). Every game is crucial for the Lords with only four remaining in the regular season. Four points currently separate fourth to ninth in the region.

Durham will square off against Canadore College on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. Canadore is 5-11 this season with one of their wins coming against Durham in North Bay.

Source: Durham College

Photo Credit: Al Fournier