Friday, January 31st will see the Niagara College men's and women's basketball programs host the Lambton Lions at the Welland Campus athletic Centre. The 6:00pm women's game will also play host to the first annual Niagara College Knights Grad Night – a halftime ceremony honouring 24 graduating fall sports student-athletes.
The women's matchup will see a Knights (8-5) side that has battled injuries in recent weeks, look to get back in into the win column against the visiting Lions (2-12). Niagara will be without leading scorer Tara Giallonardo and team captain Shelby Johnston in the matchup, as both are sidelined with injuries.
The team will look to first-year point guard Alyssa McCabe (Niagara Falls) and veteran forward Miranda Ross (St. Catharines) for strong performances. McCabe is averaging over eight points-per-game and leads the team in assists. While Ross is among the team leaders in both points and rebounds this season.
In the men's matchup, Niagara College men's basketball program is still in search of their first win of the season. As one of the youngest teams in the OCAA, the Knights have struggled to find their rhythm and consistency. Niagara is coming off a strong performance against the talented Fanshawe Falcons on January 25th that saw team leading late in the fourth quarter before suffer a heartbreaking loss.
Newcomer Ryan Christie (Hamilton) has been strong for the Knights in recent outings. The six-foot-eight center finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds, and five steals versus the Falcons. Christie is averaging over 15.5 points per game since joining the Knights at the mid-season break.
Tip-off for the men's game is set for 8:00pm.
All Niagara College varsity home games feature free admission for students, and for those unable to be in attendance, all games are live broadcasted via www.ocaatv.com.
