The Niagara Knights men's basketball program travelled to Humber College on Thursday night to take on the undefeated Hawks in a battle of two CCAA nationally ranked programs. Looking to hand them their first loss of the season, the Knights took a two-point lead (49-47) into the half thanks to an outstanding second quarter in which they scored 31 points. Keveshan Padachey (Markham) led the scoring in the second quarter draining three three-pointers for nine points.
After extending their lead to 10 heading into the fourth quarter, the Knights were unable to hold on as Humber stormed back and tied the game late to force overtime. In their first overtime game of the entire season, a few costly mistakes led to Hawks' points as Humber was able to squeeze out a 102-95 win.
"We came to Humber to match talent and intensity with the number two team in the country," said head coach Phil Mosley. "I believe we did that, but there are still areas of our game that need to be addressed to win games like this."
After the overtime loss on Thursday, the Knights travelled to Mississauga on Saturday to play the UTM Eagles. Looking to bounce back from their loss, the Knights started out on fire right from the get-go, leading the Eagles 22-9 after the first quarter. The rest of the game would be extremely back-and-forth, however the Knights managed to hang on for the 95-81 win.
Against Humber, Padachey finished the game with 17 points while the Knights powerful front court combo of Van Hutchinson Jr. (Bahamas) and Jordon McDonald (Mississauga) dominated once again, as the former had 21 points and 17 rebounds while the latter had 21 points and 19 rebounds.
In the matchup with the Eagles, Hutchinson Jr. led the Knights in scoring with 22 points while finishing off the double-double with 13 rebounds. McDonald had his eighth straight double-double as well, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Padachey was on fire from behind the arc, scoring 19 points on six three-pointers.
The Niagara Knights will conclude their regular season this week as they play their final home game on Wednesday against the Conestoga Condors (3-15, 10th OCAA West) at 8pm. They will then head to Fanshawe to take on the Falcons on Saturday at 8pm for their final game before the OCAA crossover game.
