Saturday, September 27th saw over 500 members of the Niagara College community pack the Welland campus athletic centre for the fifth annual Peninsula Hoop Classic. The evening saw the four post-secondary men's and women's basketball program in the Niagara Region square off in support of the United Way.
The games featured a festive atmosphere, as the capacity crowd was treated to a pair of high level games and free food courtesy of the NC's centre for student engagement and leadership.
Aside from settling 2014's basketball bragging rights in the Niagara Region, the game served as the tip-off for Niagara College's 2014 United Way campaign. At the end of the night $2500 was raised in support of the United Way cause.
"This year's Hoops Classic was a tremendous success for both the United Way and basketball in the Niagara Region" said Matthew Davies, Niagara College's director of athletics and recreation. Davies who also serves as co-chair of Niagara College's United Way Campaign continued "the Niagara College community continued their outstanding support of the event, and the Hoops Classic marks a terrific start to our 2014 fundraising campaign."
The Knights and Badgers women's basketball programs opened the evening. The Badgers continued their outstanding play in the event moving to 4-0 all time with an impressive 91-44 victory. Leading the way offensively for Brock was third-year guard Dayna Howlett (Brulington) who finished with 20 points.
The Knights battled hard throughout the evening despite missing a pair of key players in towering six-foot-three forward Kianna Klauck (Port Colborne), and highly touted rookie Sydney Phillips (St. Catharines).
"They brought great defensive intensity and it rattled us in a big way tonight" said Knights head coach Mike Becarria. "They are a very strong defensive team and overall they are a stronger team than last year. So over all we will take the positive, look to build on today, and work to build towards our season."
The on-court highlight of the evening proved to be the back-and-forth affair between the two men's programs.
The game featured seven lead changes, and saw the Knights up by seven at halftime. The two teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 58, before a combination of foul problems and poor foul shooting by Niagara (19/38, 50%) caught up with the Knights, allowing the badgers to secure the hard fought victory.
Leading the way offensively for Niagara was newcomer Trevon Ash (San Diego, CA). Ash who most recently competed at the JUCO level with Grossmont College finished with 23 points on 8 of 13 shot attempts.
Fifth-year forward Ryan Christie (Hamilton) turned in a strong and physical performance finishing with 17 points, six rebounds, and four blocks, while Levi Mukuna (Hamilton) tallied 14 points.
The offensive catalyst for the Badgers proved to be reigning OUA rookie of the year Dani Elgadi. Elgadi was dominant in the second half for the Badgers recording 17 of his 32 points in the second half, while also grabbing 17 rebounds.
Up next for the Niagara College men's and women's basketball programs is a pair Wednesday, October 1st exhibition games versus the Centennial Colts. Tip-off for the women's game is set for 6:00pm while the men will get underway at 8:00pm.
