November 21, 2022 - The Niagara Knights men's basketball team cruised to their fourth straight win Saturday night, edging the Royals 71-68 at the Redeemer Athletic Centre.
Redeemer led 14-9 midway through the opening quarter before Niagara put together a 10-5 run to even it at 19-19. The Knights led 28-24 after 10 minutes.
Niagara would open the second quarter with five straight points to go up 33-24 and would hold a nine point lead 39-30 with four minutes left in the first half. Redeemer's offense would rally closing out the quarter with a 12-5 run, trailing 44-42 at the half.
The two teams played an even third quarter with Niagara holding a 60-58 lead. In the final seconds of the fourth, down by three 71-68, the Royals would miss a three in the dying seconds allowing the Knights to secure the win and move to 5-2 on the season.
"This was a big win for us as we managed to stay composed and close out the last couple of possessions to get the victory," said head coach Phil Mosley. "Ethan Alino-DelaCruz was huge for us tonight, he distributed the ball and scored in key situations."
The Knights were led by Alino-DelaCruz and Kenneth Reckley who both recorded 13 points each in the contest. Niagara went 29-for-68 (42.6%) from the floor, 4-for-17 (23.5%) 4-for-17 from long range and 9-for-16 (56.3%) from the free throw line.
The Knights will wrap up the end of the Fall term at home, beginning with this Thursday's tip-off against the Mohawk Mountaineers (6-1).