Saints win preseason opener

By Justin Prince

The St. Clair College Saints began their preseason on a high note, winning their season opener 71-63 on Oct. 12 against the La Cite Coyotes.

The Saints started hot out of the gate, scoring 26 points in the first quarter compared to 10 by the Coyotes.

Throughout the first half, Daniel Gracia of the Coyotes scored on second-chance opportunities, scoring 15 points despite shooting six of 14.  This was helped by La Cite’s nine offensive rebounds in the half.

The Saints saw key contributions from Xavier Jones and Demetrias Kah, who scored 10 and seven points respectively in the first half.

The Saints offense slowly got worse, seeing their lead go from 16 to six by the end of the second quarter.

 

Jones saw his production drop for the rest of the game, scoring eight points with Kah taking one shot in the second half.

Saints head coach Matt Devin said the team’s drop in production after the first quarter is something he would work on for the regular season.

“We just got to keep pushing and know teams are going to make runs on us,” said Devin.  “Being the first game, [this is] a big learning curve for us.”

La Cite took advantage of the Saints drop in production, scoring 21 points and attracting more than a dozen fouls to take a 47-44 lead by the end of the third quarter.

The Saints also had a slight scare when starter Matei Nuna rolled his ankle in the quarter.  He came back into the game a few minutes later.

The Coyotes carried their momentum from the third quarter into the fourth, taking a four point lead with eight minutes to go.

But just as the game seemed lost, Nuna scored 15 of his 17 points in the final eight minutes of the game, including one three-pointer and four free throws down the stretch.  The rest of the team followed suit, including Stephan Gray who made a three-pointer to give the Saints a seven-point lead with a minute to go.

The Coyotes would go one of four shooting the rest of the game to lose by eight.

Devin said he was impressed by Nuna’s performance.

“Nuna’s been a good player for us for both last year and of course this year,” said Devin.  “He’s a veteran guy that can really shoot the ball and score and we’re just trying to develop that scorer’s mentality… he’s a guy we’re going to count on going forward.”

Jones said he was happy with his performance.  He said he was trying to be a leader for the Saints offense.

“We did a good job moving the ball around and I’m trying to be a leader on and off the court,” said Jones.  “It’s tough to get on the same page but I think we did a good job doing that.”

The Saints continue their preseason at Durham College in the Dave Stewart Tip-Off Tournament Oct. 18 and 19.