The Durham Lords showed why they will be a threat to all the teams across Canada when they step into their home floor come the 2011 CCAA men’s basketball championships in Oshawa, Ontario.
On Saturday night in a game between the two top teams in the OCAA Eastern Conference, it was the hometown Lords who use an energetic effort to knock off the the Algonquin Thunder, the Canadian Colleges number one team.
The 84-76 victory ends the Thunder’s undefeated season.
Durham College pulled off a major upset over No. 1 ranked Algonquin, snapping the Thunder’s 17-game winning streak with an 84-76 victory Friday night in OCAA men’s basketball action.
Courtney Small scored his 1000th career point in the victory, as he led all scorers with 21 points. The hometown star scored 19 points in the second half, including three highlight reel slam dunks, paving the way for the Lords comeback victory.
Eric Smith (Ajax, Ont.) added 19 points, 11 rebounds and eights assists for Durham, as he continues to lead the province in scoring and rebounds this season.
Smith and Small are two-three in Lords all-time scoring with 1,121 and 1,006 career points respectively. Anthony Batchelor of Durham is the CCAA’s all-time leading scorer with 1,833 career points.
The Thunder hadn’t lost since a 68-55 setback on March 4, 2010 at the OCAA championship. Algonquin came into the game averaging nearly 85 points, having outscored its opponents by just under 22 points per game this season.
Durham jumps into second place in the OCAA east region with a 12-5 record. St. Lawrence (11-5) trails Durham by just two points. Algonquin falls to 17-1 with the loss.