It was an up and down day today for the Redeemer Royals Basketball teams. The Lady Royals were in control against the Niagara Knights before falling 74-69 after a difficult 4th quarter. The Men's team took an early lead against the Knights in their game and cruised to a 81-62 victory.

With a 41-24 lead at halftime, the Lady Royals were in a position to secure the upset against the strong team from Niagara. However, the 7-3 Knights woke up and showed why they are one of the top teams in the West. Putting up 50 points in the second half, the Royals defense struggled against the Niagara offense that came up dry in the first half.

A frustrated Rob Hooper (Head Coach) added, "They started making shots and we were unable to shut them down on defense. We have no trouble scoring points but if we can't play defense then we are going to struggle. The girls came out fired up after a difficult loss on Friday (to Sheridan) but we couldn't sustain it mentally for the full game".

Jesseca Brown (Grand Manan, NB) had a game-high 23 points in her second game back after missing the first half of the season. She also added 8 rebounds and 5 steals.

Redeemer's Arica Price (Fort McMurray, AB) had 15 points and 7 rebounds while Lindsay Moffatt (Hamilton, ON) had 11 points.

The teams record now drops to 3-8.

The Men's Basketball team was looking to rebound from a tough 2nd half on Friday Night against the Sheridan Bruins where they saw the game get away from them after being down just 60-56 early in the 3rd.

Against Niagara, the Royals took the lead early and never relinquished it on their way to a 81-62 victory.

Leading 48-27 at the half, Redeemer just needed to keep pace with the Knights to secure their 5th win of the season.

The Royals continue to occupy 6th place in the West, holding on to the final playoff spot.

The Royals had balanced scoring against Niagara lead by AJ Manguerra (Stoney Creek, ON) who contributed 16 points. Calvin Turnbull (Burlington, ON) and Almar Knowles each had 15 points and had 13 and 8 rebounds respectively.

Both Redeemer basketball teams return to action on Friday when they welcome the Lambton Lions for games at 6pm and 8pm. Redeemer then take on St. Clair on Saturday at 2pm and 4pm.