The Royals Men's Basketball team keeps pace with the top teams in the OCAA West with another win this past weekend. The Royals, now winners of 9 straight OCAA league games, needed a come from behind win on Saturday against the St. Clair Saints to stretch their record to 9-4. Down 12 points in the 4th quarter and missing starting point guard John Woldue (fouled out), Redeemer put together a stellar 4th quarter performance that put the Royals ahead in the dying minutes of the match, stealing a 78-75 win from the home team.

Down by 8 with just minute's left, Redeemer's Taylor de Schiffert sparked the late charge with a steal, leading to a 3pt play. Jacob Walda hit a 3 to take the lead in the last minute before Calvin Turnbull hit 2 crucial free throws in the dying seconds to make it a 3-point game.

Head Coach Jamie Girolametto was encouraged by the team's play down the stretch saying, "It was a great character win. We found some energy and focus for the last 4 minutes of the game to complete a great comeback....all with John (Woldue) on the bench fouled out".

Unfortunately for Redeemer, it was their sloppy play that put them in the large deficit late in the game. "We stunk tonight", commented Girolametto, "we did not play well for 36 minutes. We must be better in this last stretch of games in our season. It was a tough win for our team and credit is due to them for pulling it out but we can't let the 4 minutes overshadow the 36".

For the Royals, Saturday afternoon's win is likely already forgotten, as the team will no doubt be focusing on this Friday's matchup against their Hamilton rival, Mohawk College. In what is likely their biggest game of the year, the streaking Royals will face off at home against the 12-2 Mountaineers in a battle between two of the leagues hottest teams.

The game will also feature two of the league's biggest starts in Calvin Turnbull and Mohawk's Matt Fennell. Fennell leads the OCAA in PTS/G with 29.1 while Turnbull sits 4th in the OCAA West with 18.9 PTS/G. Turnbull does hold the advantage in rebounds with 11.1 REB/G compared to Fennell's 7.5. Turnbull has recorded double-doubles in 11 of the seasons 14 games.

The Lady Royals had their 2 game win streak snapped on Saturday as Redeemer fell to the Saints 90-68 in the other afternoon match.

Redeemer's Jesseca Brown let the Royals with 20 points while Lindsay Moffatt and Arica Price added 16 and 15 respectively.

The Royals took the lead in the first quarter before an outburst by the Saints in the 2nd had St. Clair up 43-31 at the half. Redeemer was outscored 22-8 in the 2nd quarter.

Redeemer's record now falls to 3-10. The Royals also match up against the Mohawk Mountaineers this Friday night in a battle of the Hamilton Mountain. Mohawk enters the match with a record of 13-1, good enough for 1st place in the OCAA West.