Sunday, February 2nd saw the Niagara College men's basketball program defeat the St. Clair Saints 76-73 to earn their second consecutive victory. The knights led for the majority of the contest before holding off a hard charge from the Saints in the fourth quarter.
The win marks the second victory in as many outings for the young Knights. Despite starting the season 0-13 the Knights have shown flashes of their future potential over their last three games.
Leading the Knights was veteran center Ryan Christie. The six-foot-seven Hamilton native continued his outstanding play since joining the team at the mid-season break, finishing with 12 points, and a dominant 18 rebounds. Christie is in his fourth year of athletic eligibility but is in his first semester of computer programming at Niagara College.
Team captain Aiden-Alize Minty continued his strong play on the season. The second-year native of Elmvale, Ontario finished with a game high 20 points. The five-foot-eleven guard has been a bright spot for the Knights this season averaging 13.8 points-per-game.
After the game Niagara College men's basketball head coach Steve Atkin commented "getting the win today is a step in the right direction for our program, but there are a lot of things that we still need to work on before the end of the season."
Also turning in a strong performance for the Knights was first-year point-guard Mark Lemos. The Mississauga native provides the Knights with an offensive spark, using his aggressive style of play to penetrate opposing defenses. Lemos finished with 17 points while also adding five assists.
Rounding out the score sheet for the Knights were first-year forward Ty Rogers (Brampton) who finished with 14 points, along with Aaron Chapman (Midland) who recorded seven points and three rebounds.
The Knights will have a few days off before travelling to Sudbury next weekend for back-to-back road games versus the Cambrian Golden Shield (1-13). The team will wrap up the 2013-14 season at home on February 14th when they host the Humber Hawks at 8:00pm at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre.
