It was a special day for the Algoma University College men's and women's varsity basketball teams.
With the Redeemer University College Royals in town, both AUC teams put in a gritty effort as both teams picked up their first regular season wins.
The win was bittersweet for the women as it was their first Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) regular season win in club history, while the men won a regular season game for just the second time in club history.
In the women's game, AUC received all they could handle from Redeemer as the Royals made things tough for the Thunderbirds. Algoma trailed following the opening half of action by a 27-26 score and played much of the half without centre Roberta Reid, who was an OCAA all-star last season.
Reid, who had five points early on, left the game near the midway point of the first half with an ankle injury, which is suspected to be a mild sprain.
With Reid out, Algoma showed no quit as a number of other players stepped up in her absence, including rookie Jenna Caicco, who finished with a team high 13 points on the game and was clutch throughout.
A run in the second half put Algoma ahead, but Redeemer managed to stay close throughout the second half but could not battle back as Algoma outscored Redeemer 28-23 in the half to score a 54-50 victory over the Royals.
Along with Caicco, Lisa Medaglia also added 13 points while Jessica King chipped in with 10 and Erin Gordon added 8 points. Hannah Flemming of Redeemer was the game's top scorer with 14 points.
In the second game of the double header, the Algoma men opened up a nine point lead at halftime and never looked back en route to a 90-66 victory over the Royals.
The win was the first regular season victory by the Algoma men since an 80-74 victory over Fanshawe in November of 2003.
Jason Trinier was the offensive star for Algoma shooting 10-of-13 from the field, including 3-for-5 from three-point land as he posted a game-high 31 points to pace Algoma.
Matt Chaimbrone chipped in with 18 points while Jarret Sanders, Stefon Wilson, and Paul Best each added 7 points.
Ruben Addnik was the top scorer for Redeemer with 14 points.
Next regular season action for both clubs will be on Nov 12 when they take on the St. Clair Saints in Windsor.
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