January 15, 2023, WELLAND.
The Knights Men's basketball team (6-4) keep their winning streak alive Friday night at the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre besting the visiting Conestoga Condors (4-6) 87-78.
After a rough start to the season leading your knights to a 3-4 record through their first 7 games, the men ended the first half of the season hot winning three straight, and now make it 4 straight as they get their first win of 2024. The first quarter of Fridays match up was a back forth battle between the two sides as Conestoga took an early lead and was dominating in the paint. Some inspired early performances saw Niagara's bench put up 15 of their 24 first quarter points to take a 4-point lead going into the second quarter.
The Knights broke away from the Condors going on an 8-0 run to start the second quarter. The Knight's offensive pressure also got the Condors into early foul trouble putting Niagara into the bonus with over half the quarter left to play. The Condors went on their own 9-2 run later in the quarter to bring the game with 5 points. Yet the Knights would not let up and scored two big threes to take an 11 point lead, going into the half-time break up 48-37.
The third quarter was another tightly contested affair. Both teams fought back and forth going bucket for bucket with the Condors not allowing the Knights to run away with game. However, the Knights were able to take a 10-point lead heading into the final frame.
The Knights broke away in the final quarter going on a 14-3 run to create a comfortable gap between themselves and the Condors. While the visiting team did fight back, they could not get back into the game leading the Knight's to their 4th straight victory!
The Knights were led in scoring by Raheem Dennis and Riley Bleich who put up 23 and 17 points, both off the bench. The Knights also saw an impressive performance from guard Reggie Williams who scored 13 points and added 7 rebounds and 7 assists in an all-around effort.
Head Coach Phil Mosley commented "this is a solid start to the second half of the season. We had good energy coming off a long break and we continue to get contributions from different players when given the opportunity. Tonight, Raheem Dennis and Riley Bleich found their scoring touch and Mark Taylor had impact both offensively and defensively. We need to focus more on finishing games with intensity and discipline. We look forward to a tough game this Wednesday at Redeemer".
Our Knights will look to make it 5 wins in a row next Wednesday on the road against the Redeemer Royals (2-9) before hosting the Humber Hawks (6-4) next Saturday at the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre.
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