The Redeemer Royals basketball teams welcomed division rival Mohawk College on Tuesday night in a battle between the two Hamilton Mountain schools. The women's team took the floor at 6pm while the men followed at 8pm. Mohawk came out with 2 victories but not without a fight from the hometown Royals.

Both the women's and men's games were televised on Hamilton television station Cable 14 and will be played over the next number of days. Check www.cable14.com for their broadcast schedule.

In the women's game, 4 players hit double digits for the Royals as they put up a season high 60 points. Unfortunately for Redeemer, Mohawk also had a season high in points with 81. The 4 players leading the way for Redeemer was Esther Weima (Nepean, ON) with 15, Allison Brouwer (Chatham, ON) with 12, Lindsay Balch (Osgoode, ON) with 11, and Kelly Kellendonk (Tara, ON) with 10. Daniella Randazzo tied Weima with a game-high 15 points for Mohawk. The Lady Royals enter the Christmas Break with an 0-9 record while Mohawk finishes the semester with a 5-4 record. The game was a close contest throughout as Mohawk led by only 7 points at the half but Redeemer was unable to close the gap as the Mountaineers outscored the Royals 44-30 in the second half. The Lady Royals will take the Christmas Break to regroup and prepare for the second half as they hope to enter January with a fully healthy squad.

The men's game lived up to the hype as both teams went toe-to-toe the entire night. Redeemer opened the game playing very well and found themselves leading by 6 points at half 40-36. 45.7% shooting versus Mohawks 26.3% in the first two quarters gave the 3-5 Royals the early edge over the 5-3 Mountaineers. Dhimitri Luarasi (Rochester, NY )i had a game-high 12 points in the first half. The third quarter proved to be the difference for both teams as Mohawk came out of the break and turned in 23 3rd quarter points while Redeemer was held to just 8. Another even quarter in the 4th gave Mohawk the win 82-70 as the Royals could not close the gap created in the 3rd. Luarasi ended the game with 18 points while Benn Ibrahim (Windsor, ON) had a team-high 20 points. Aminu Bello had a game-high 30 points for Mohawk.

The Royals Basketball teams return to action on January 14th when the Lambton Lions come to town. Game times on the Saturday afternoon are at 2pm and 4pm.