The Niagara Knights men's basketball program capped off an impressive two game home-stand Wednesday, December 13th after defeating the rival Fanshawe Falcons (6-5, 6th OCAA West) 72-58. The victory puts the Knights at 7-3 on the season and places them in sole possession of 4th place in the OCAA West Division.
After falling behind early in the first quarter, the Knights slowly began to chip away at the Falcons lead closing out the first half down 32-31. The beginning of the second half didn't go as planned for the Knights who, due to some foul trouble, saw their deficit widen to seven points by the end of the third quarter (52-45).
The beginning of the fourth quarter saw both programs battle hard to keep themselves positioned for the victory. It wasn't until a highlight reel dunk by Hutchinson Jr. (Nassau, Bahamas) sparked the program's 12-0 run at the end of the 4th quater, sealing the Niagara victory.
"It was nice to beat a rival Fanshawe team heading into the long holiday and exam break" said Knights' head coach Mike Hurley. "We didn't play to the best of our abilities as we need play better team defense and improve our offensive efficiency for an entire 40 minutes. Tonight we closed out an impressive fourth quarter with an explosive run ignited by Walter Agble Jr. providing some energetic minutes."
The Knights were paced offensively Wednesday night by 3rd year guard Jordan Wilson (Nassau, Bahamas) who contributed a game high 18 points to the winning cause. Joining Wilson atop the Knights' scoring leaders were veterans Van Hutchinson Jr and Jordon McDonald (Mississauga, Ont.). Hutchinson Jr. finished with 16 points and a game high 12 rebounds, while McDonald notched 14 points and 9 rebounds.
The Knights will be back in action when they kick off 2018 at home January 12th against the UTM Eagles (0-9, 11th, OCAA West).
