The Niagara Knights women's (5-5, 6th OCAA West) and men's (7-3, 3rd OCAA West) hosted the Fanshawe Falcons at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre on Friday. The women's program was looking to win their fourth straight game after defeating the St. Clair Saints and then winning back-to-back games against the Sault Cougars, while the men were looking to win their third straight contest.
In the women's match, the Falcons offense got off to a blazing hot start, scoring 28 points in the first half leading the way to a 43-17 lead at half. In the third quarter, the Falcons would dominate offensively once again, scoring 25 points. At the end of the game, the Knights would find themselves on the wrong end of an 82-38 loss.
In the opening quarter of the men's match the Knights would start things off slowly, scoring just 12 points, their lowest opening quarter score of the season. They would bounce back in the second quarter thanks to a scorching hot Alex Elliott (Welland). Elliott had 16 points in the quarter and the Knights would ride a 33-point second quarter into the half with a 45-39 lead.
The second-half would be extremely close, as the game came down to the very last second. With 12 seconds on the clock and the Knights ahead 88-86, Fanshawe would inbound the ball to Chris Parker who would only look for the win. As time expired, Parker rose up and nailed the three-pointer as two Knights players had a hand in his face. The three-pointer would fall as the final horn sounded, giving the Falcons the 89-88 win.
Bridget Atkinson (Welland) led the way for the women's team, scoring 12 points and adding six rebounds and two assists. Rysa Delmundo (Niagara Falls) had eight points, two rebounds, and three steals.
Elliott's dominant second quarter secured 16 of his eventual 20 points on the night, as the six-foot-one local guard shot 50.0% (4-8) from long-range. Van Hutchinson Jr. (Nassau, Bahamas) had 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists while Kevin Cooper (Nassau, Bahamas) had 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks.
The Niagara Knights basketball programs will finish off the first half of the 2018-19 season with a home game against the Sheridan Bruins on Thursday night. The Bruins have two very strong programs, with the women coming into the game with a record of 8-2 (3rd OCAA West) and the men's team also owning a record of 8-2 (2nd OCAA West).
