MEN'S BASKETBALL OPEN NATIONALS AGAINST MONTMORENCY

The Storyline
The Humber men's basketball team will head to Quebec to open the 2018 CCAA National Championship, hosted by Collège Montmorency. The No. 7 Hawks will face the No. 2 Montmorency Nomades in the quarter-final on Mar. 15. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the live stream can be found here.

Last Time Out
Humber claimed the program's 32nd OCAA medal since 1984, after falling to top-ranked Seneca, 74-63, in the provincial title game on Mar. 3.

The Hawks struggled from the floor all night, shooting a season-low 30.8 percent (24-of-78). Despite the poor shooting performance, Humber's defence was able to keep the game within reach until Seneca pulled away in the final minutes of the game.

Scouting No. 2 Montmorency

• Montmorency – the defending national champions – are the hosts of the 2018 national championship. The Nomades finished with a 7-1 record at home this season.
• The Nomades are led by RSEQ MVP Alix Lochard, who finished the season averaging 22.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, while leading the country in field goal percentage, shooting 67.1 percent from the floor.
• All-time, Montmorency has five CCAA medals, including three national titles.
• The Nomades led the RSEQ in scoring, averaging 87.0 ppg, shooting 45.9 percent from the floor as a team.
• Montmorency struggled from beyond the arc this season, shooting 27.9 percent from 3-point range.

Last Meeting
These two programs met in the opening round of the Dawson Classic on Oct. 6, 2017, with Montmorency escaping with the 79-63 win. Led by Alix Louchard, the Nomades used a 20-4 run in the fourth quarter to cruise to the win.

Lochard finished with 39 points for Montmorency, while Jerome Gayle finished with a team-high nine points for Humber in the loss.

CCAA History

• Humber's six national titles are the most in CCAA history, and the Hawks own a 44-21 (.677) record all-time at the big dance.
• The Hawks boast a 15-4 (.789) record in the quarter-finals, with their last opening round loss coming in 2011 against Mt. St. Vincent.
• Against Montmorency, Humber is 4-1 all-time at nationals, including 2-0 in the quarter-finals.

All-OCAA
Third-year forward Kenny Ejim was named a first-team all-star after recording 398 points in 18 games this season. Classmate C.J. Bennett joined the 300-point club as well, garnering second-team honours.

Freshman Fowzi Mohamoud became the third player in program history to be named to the OCAA All-Rookie team.

Nothing in Life is Easy
Humber played one of the most challenging schedules in program history this year, playing 12 CCAA ranked teams along the way. At provincials, the Hawks saw three of the top-seven programs in the country.

Against the top-15 teams in the country, Humber is 5-7 (.417) this season.

What's Next
If the Hawks win, they will move to the national semifinal game and play the winner between SAIT and Douglas on Mar. 16 at 8:30 p.m. If they lose, Humber will play in the bronze quarter-final at 3:30 p.m.