Saints looking for upgrade at nationals

The St. Clair men's basketball team has won 15 straight games and are the OCAA champs. They know expectations may be high heading into the national championships in Calgary later this week but their mission is incomplete. "Our guys still have that chip on that shoulders from the silver medal last year."

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Over a week after winning the program's first OCAA championship, the men's basketball team has reset and looks forward to the opening game of the national tournament Thursday against St. Mary's. "It took a little longer to come off the high than we expected but credit to them they bounced back really well the last two days of practice. I think our guys are ready."

The Saints open the tournament against the Lightning who lost in the Alberta Conference final to Southern Alberta Institute of Technology 84-74.

"It's been a pretty good week." said rookie guard Tim Steward. "Getting after it. We've been staying pretty neutral with our energy. Trying not to get too high, get too low. We've been working really hard this week."

with a 14-7 regular season, St. Mary's doesn't have a flashy record to flaunt but St. Clair learned a valuable lesson at provincials that could help them in their pursuit of national gold. "Never judge a book by its cover." said 4th year forward Chad Vincent Simon.

The Saints were pushed to their limits in the second game of the OCAA championships by an upstart Lambton team that finished 9-9 during the regular season. St. Clair escaped with a 90-88 win to advance to the final. "I think they got us prepared for nationals." said senior guard Terence Williams. "They gave us a good scare. They gave us a punch for punch but we settled down, held our own and weathered the storm."