Fredericton, NB – Almin Dervisevic (Ottawa, ON) and Geoffrey Lavoie (Ottawa, ON) combined for 40 points and came good in the fourth quarter to guide the St. Thomas University Tommies to their second victory in a row at the expense of the Crandall Chargers, by a score of 80-66.
Tommies' head coach, John Hickey, was very relieved to get the win. He said, "It was a close, scrappy game, Crandall are a very good team so I am glad we were able to come out on top today."
Dervisevic did not have his best shooting day and it was looking like a close game for the Tommies going into the final five minutes of the match. He did convert 6 of 7 free-throws in the final minutes of the game to put distance between them and the Chargers. He finished the game with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.
"We didn't shoot particularly well but that was because they defended well and we had to find other ways to score," Hickey said about the team's shooting performance.
Lavoie was the more efficient of the two and he scored 17 points in the game. He scored six of those in the fourth quarter which kept STU in the game and helped them go on to win it. He also scored half of the team's field goals in that quarter.
Crandall came out of the blocks ready to play and they had the Tommies on the ropes for much of the game. This was mostly because of Chargers' center, Colby Lawrence (Woodstock, NB). Lawrence scored 13 points and gave STU a plethora of problems but he was unfortunately removed from the game after he accumulated too many fouls and a technical foul.
The tide of the game shifted back in STU's favor but it was no easy task. The game was tied 60-60 with five minutes remaining when Dervisevic and Lavoie took over.
Gayo Isaya (Fredericton, NB) and Ted Braden (Ottawa, ON) also assisted the Tommies in the fourth quarter with some clutch points and their offensive-rebounds. They both finished the game with six each, a game-high.
Hickey is optimistic about his team's chances in future games and stressed the importance of rest. He explained, "This was a physical game so we've got to get rested up and stay hydrated and eat well and hopefully we'll be ready for tomorrow."
The Tommies will be in action again on Sunday afternoon where they will take on UNB Saint John at Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium. Crandall's next game will be at UNBSJ on November 20th.
Recap: Brandon Salick