January 20, 2024, WELLAND
The Knights men's basketball brought the energy to the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre on Saturday evening taking down the 8-5 Humber Hawks and jumping into lone second place with 18 points and a 9-4 record.
This game started with lots of back and forth play but the Knights went on a run of 9 unanswered points partway through the quarter and another 8-point run towards the end of the quarter. The Knights were shooting 68.8% from the floored compared to the Hawks who were only shooting 41.2%. This was a major contributor towards the Knights' 11-point lead after the first quarter.
The Knights came out of the break between quarters and tried to keep their points streak alive, but the Hawks stepped up defensively and were able to keep up with the Knights point for point, but were not able to chip away at the lead at all.
The Hawks had big plans to play catchup in the third quarter, but the Knights were having none of it and outscored the Hawks 21-10 in the third quarter alone. From there on out it was just a game of keep away for the Knights as they continued to apply the pressure and increase their lead.
The Knights scored 30 points in the fourth quarter to extend their lead and send the Hawks packing. The Knights played a great team game as 11 of the 12 Knights who played in the game scored 2 or more points each. Key contributors were Reggie Williams and Raheem Dennis who combined for 35 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals. Mark Taylor also added 12 points and 5 rebounds while Simon Ricketts-Ewan and Khayden Stewart both added 10 points each as well as 6 and 3 rebounds respectively.
Head Coach Phil Mosley was very proud of his team after this win and emphasized that this was "a big team win for us tonight. Our guys played well in all facets of the game and their confidence builds after each victory. We shot the ball very well tonight and our offensive execution in the half court was solid. Defensively, we remain solid in our team concepts and game plan. Reggie Williams had a great game both scoring and playmaking and Khayden Stewart continues to set the tone with his defensive energy. But tonight was all about thirteen players believing in each other and playing for each other".
The Knights are now on a six-game winning streak and looking to carry that momentum to and avenge their October 20th loss to the Mohawk Mountaineers. This away game is a key matchup for the Knights as they currently sit one game ahead of the Mountaineers in the OCAA West division rankings. Full rankings for Men's Basketball can be found here.
