Thursday, January 18th saw the CCAA's No. 11 ranked Niagara Knights improve to 9-3 on the season with a hard fought 79-78 road victory over the Mohawk Mountaineers. The win moves the Knights into a tie for third place in the ultra-competitive OCAA West Division.
"We came out strong tonight against a good team" said Niagara Knights men's basketball head coach Mike Hurley. "We had arguably our best start of the year, we had some dry spells in the third and fourth quarter, but during gut check time we knocked down some big shots and made a few big defensive stands."
The Knights led 43-27 at halftime. Mohawk rallied in the third and early stages of the fourth quarter eventually taking a 69-60. Niagara found their late game rhythm, riding a 12-4 run to pull even, before securing the 79-78 win.
Second-year guard Van Hutchinson Jr. (Nassau) was electric for Niagara. The six-foot-four, 2016-17 OCAA first team all-star finished with 30 points and 17 rebounds.
Niagara will face a short turnaround, as the team will host the OCAA's second-ranked Redeemer Royals on Saturday, January 20th at 4:30pm at the Welland campus athletic centre.
