MEN'S BASKETBALL HOST NIAGARA SATURDAY NIGHT

The Storyline
Humber men's basketball will return to the North Campus Gym Saturday evening to conclude its season series with Niagara (10-5, 4th West). The game will be streamed live on the Hawks Sports Network at 8 p.m. with Matt Hammel and Mohammad Khosroshahi on the call.

Last Time Out
Led by a game-high 25 points from Kenny Ejim, the Hawks beat Mohawk (7-9, 7th West), 95-81, Jan. 30 at the David Braley Athletics & Recreation Centre.

C.J. Bennett finished with 19 points, while Curwin Elvis added 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. DeQuon Cascart continued his hot shooting from deep, finishing with 11 points, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Scouting Niagara

• Led by first-year head coach Mike Hurley, Niagara returns to the North Campus Gym for the first time since its 75-63 win last season. It was Niagara's first win at Humber since 1983, snapping its 16-game losing streak.
• Despite having ten wins, Niagara ranks in the bottom half of the league in field goal percentage (15th - 39.9 percent), free-throw percentage (21st – 54.2 percent), and 3-point percentage (21st – 21.3 percent).
• Levi Makuna is leading the Knights offensively, averaging 18.7 ppg. All-Star Van Hutchinson Jr. is a close second with 18.2 ppg.
• Niagara added Kevin Cooper for the second-half and through four games is averaging 3.5 blocks per game.

Last Meeting
An undermanned Humber team fell at Niagara, 102-97, to conclude the first half of the season. Curwin Elvis tied his career-high with 22 points in the loss, while Fowzi Mohamoud and Jordon Francis both scored career-highs as well, finishing with 16 and 14 points, respectively.

The Hawks finished the game with 21 rebounds, a season-low.

Efficiently Efficient
Fourth-year guard Curwin Elvis is leading the league in field goal percentage, shooting 63.0 percent (68-of-108) from the floor.

Creating a Winning Culture
Humber has posted a 176-25 (.877) regular season record since the start of the 2006-07 season, the highest win percentage in the province over the last 12-plus seasons.

The Hawks have posted a 92-10 (.902) record at the North Campus Gym during that span, which also represents the highest win percentage in the province.

Ball Distribution
Humber averages 21.3 assists per game, the third-best average in the CCAA. Third-year forward C.J. Bennett leads the team with 70 assists, the fifth-best mark in the OCAA.

From Deep
Humber has hit a league-best 138 triples this season, its highest mark through 15 games since 2006. Kenny Ejim leads the team with 41 3-pointers made, ten off the program record established by Doug Lawrie in 1991.

300-Point Club
Since 1979, over 300 student-athletes have donned the blue and gold, and only 11 have managed to score 300-plus points in a season. The last Humber player to join the club was All-Canadian Fitzroy Woolery in 2001-02 when he finished with 302 points in 15 games.

In 13 games this season, Kenny Ejim has scored 290 points and is currently on pace to finish at 406.

C.J. Bennett has a chance at making the 300-point club as well, currently sitting at 238 points. Ejim and Bennett would be the first teammates to make the club in the same season since Patrick Rhodd (357), and Larry McNeil (334) accomplished the feat in 1991.

Century Mark
The Hawks have recorded eight 100-point games this season, breaking the record held by the 1990-91 National Champion team coached by Mike Katz.

Averaging 97.4 ppg, Humber is on pace to have its highest scoring season since 1994, when they averaged 99.6 points over 12 games.

Career Year
Four Humber student-athletes have surpassed their career-highs in scoring this season:

1. DeQuon Cascart (2016 – 66 pts | 2017 – 166 pts)
2. C.J. Bennett (2016 – 189 pts | 2017 – 238 pts)
3. Curwin Elvis (2014 – 105 pts | 2017 – 154 pts)
4. Kenny Ejim (2014 – 111 pts | 2017 – 290 pts)

Humber 500
On Jan. 13, C.J. Bennett became the 29th player in program history to score 500 career points. Bennett now sits 22nd all-time in scoring, eight points behind Larry McNeil's (1990-92) mark of 560.

Against Mohawk on Jan. 30, Kenny Ejim became the 30th player to join the club.

What's Next
Humber will begin a two-game road trip, beginning with UTM (2-13, 10th West) on Feb. 7. Game time is set for 8 p.m.