WELLAND, ON: The Niagara Knights men's basketball team (4-6) fell to the Humber Hawks (9-1) in the winter term's home opener on Friday evening at the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre. The Hawks scored in the final seconds of the game to take the 74-72 victory at the sound of the buzzer.
The Knights outscored the Hawks in every quarter except the 4th in this exciting display of basketball that saw 13 lead changes and the largest lead all game being only 8 points. The biggest difference on the stat sheet this game was Humber's 47 rebounds compared to Niagara's 27 – that could have been the difference for the Knights in this one.
The Knights opened the scoring in this one, but traded buckets back and forth for the entirety of the 1st quarter and took only a 3 point lead heading into the 2nd. The 2nd quarter was much of the same to begin with, but the Knights when on a small run about halfway through and bragged a 7-point lead, which they carried into halftime.
The 3rd quarter was a story of runs for both teams, with Niagara taking over some momentum and carrying the largest lead of the game (8 points) into the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, the 4th quarter was a bit more challenging for the Knights as the Hawks seemingly found their groove. The Hawks gained the lead for the 1st time all quarter with 1:08 remaining in this game. The Knights found themselves trailing by 5 with less than 30 seconds to play, but were able to rely on some fouls to stop play, regain possession of the ball, and tie up this game. With 4.5 seconds left on the clock and a tied game, the Hawks inbounded the ball at their baseline and were able to pass it all the way up the court to make the buzzer-beater layup and hand the loss to the home crowd.
3rd year guard Kadin Moore stepped up big in this game, contributing 18 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 3 steals while playing the most minutes of anyone on the team at 36. 1st year forward Difference Igbinehi also had a strong game, finishing just 2 rebounds shy of a double-double with 11 points and 8 rebounds.
Head coach Lequan Hylton complimented his team after the game admitting "the game did not finish how we wanted, but we have a lot to be proud of and look forward to". He added "our guys competed and fought hard for 40 minutes, which we struggled with in the first term, so to come out and do it against one of the best teams in our league says a lot about our team". The team knows what they need to work on to win those close games down the stretch and will continue to do so.
The Knights have the week to rest and prepare for their next game, which is a two-game road series against St. Clair and Lambton. The Knights hit the road on Friday, January 16th for an 8pm game against the Saints followed by a 3pm game against the Lions on Saturday, January 17th. All the OCAA basketball action can be found at ocaalive.com.
For more information on the Knights' teams, please visit us at www.goknights.ca
