Fredericton, NB - Geoffrey Lavoie (Ottawa, ON) scored a game-high 24 points as he and the St. Thomas University Tommies came out on top against the UKC Blue Devils on Saturday at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym. This was the Tommies' first game of the new year at their home court.

Tommies coach, John Hickey, was delighted to be back playing in front of the home support. He said, "It's nice to be playing games at the gym here and to be playing with fans."

This game was a battle of second from the top versus second from the bottom but you would not be able to tell that if you watched the game. STU led for the entire match and UKC played their role of chaser very well. They were constantly trying to close the points gap and bring the game back to an even score but proved unsuccessful.

STU did not have Tommies Athlete of the Week, Almin Dervisevic (Ottawa,ON), available, but the entire team stepped up to the plate. Lavoie had one of those games where his performance flew under the radar. He quietly led the team's scoring for half of the game and scored consistently throughout each quarter. He also managed to put up nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.

"Geoff's a good player and when he's aggressive, which he was tonight, he can really take charge and take control of things, he was very good tonight," he said.

The St. Thomas team was also helped on both sides of the floor from the efforts of Tyrese Paul (Fredericton, NB) and Gayo Isaya (Fredericton, NB). They were both timely with their scoring and astute on the defensive side. There was a span of two minutes in the fourth quarter where they both combined for 10 points, exemplifying the impact they had on the game. That sequence proved to be the one that sealed the game for STU.

Coach Hickey was delighted by Paul's performance. He explained, "Tyrese did a great job for us and he rebounded and engaged early and because of that he made shots later."

St Thomas will host Mount Saint Vincent on Sunday afternoon while UKC will be going to Saint John to face UNBSJ at the same time.

Recap: Brandon Salick