WINDSOR/SARNIA, ON: The Niagara Knights men's basketball team (4-8) fell to the St. Clair Saints (10-2) and the Lambton Lions (5-7) on the road this weekend. This puts the Knights on a 3-game losing streak as the fall to 8th place in the OCAA West Division standings.
The Knights won their home contest against the Saints earlier this season, winning 85-76 in the fall term. This was a much different game as the Saints came out looking to avenge that loss and were relentless in their pursuit.
The 1st half of this game was quite high scoring as both teams' defenses struggled to shut down the other team, although the Saints still managed to outscore the Knights by 11 points in the 1st quarter and 12 in the 1st half.
The Saints picked up their defensive efforts in the second half and the frustration showed for the Knights. A total of 5 technical fouls issued in this game shows how hot some temperatures got in this game. With the Saints' defense on lockdown for the second half, the Knights were only able to score 20 points in the final two frames of this game.
Niagara can boast about having the better free throw percentage in this one (71.4% compared to St. Clair's 58.8%), but that is about it when it comes to the stat line as St. Clair took an early lead and never looked back.
The Knights had a quick turnaround as they headed to Sarnia to take on the Lambton Lions in a Saturday afternoon matchup. Similar to the Knights' home game against the Lions in the fall term, this was a very close game with lots of back-and-forth action.
The stat sheet for both these teams is almost identical across the board with Niagara showing 5 more turnovers than Lambton and a 46.7% free throw percentage compared to Lambton's 90.5%. Those two stats were the main difference maker in this 10-point game.
1st year guard Joseph Buckley was due for a strong game, and a strong game he had in this one! He can brag 30 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 1 block in this affair, however his teammates were just not able to back him up quite enough to pull out the win in this one. 3rd year guard Kadin Moore tallied 18 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, while 1st year guard Noah Li added 11 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists in his first ever OCAA start. One positive takeaway from this weekend for the Knights was the leadership and consistency shown by 1st year guard Noah Li. He stepped up at a time when his team needed him and was able to score double-digit points in both games this past weekend.
Head Coach Lequan Hylton recognizes the youth in his team this year and is not feeling discouraged by this weekend's losses. "Our lack of consistent effort, execution, and accountability resulted in losses, [but] we were able to highlight areas where we must be better moving forward". He went on to assure supporters that "we will continue to focus on daily habits, keep competing in practice, and continue developing leaders".
The Knights do not have much time to rest and prepare for their next match as they welcome the Mohawk Mountaineers to the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre on Wednesday evening. Tipoff is scheduled for 8pm, immediately following the women's game. If you cannot join us in person, all the OCAA basketball action can be found at OCAALIVE.
For more information on the Knights' teams, please visit us at www.goknights.ca
