YEAR IN REVIEW: HAWKS BATTLE TO OCAA SILVER AND NATIONAL APPEARANCE

YEAR IN REVIEW: HAWKS BATTLE TO OCAA SILVER AND NATIONAL APPEARANCE

The Humber Hawks men's basketball team battled all year long in what was one of the most competitive divisions in the country, and emerged with a solid third place finish in the West, an OCAA silver medal and a spot in the CCAA National championships.

Humber, made up of a nice mix of veteran and freshman players, entered the season with a burst of energy by running out to a quick 5-0 record. At seasons end, they had dropped two games to the first place Redeemer Royals, but split with the next three highest placing teams in the West. As all good teams do, they rolled to series wins over the bottom six teams in the division. The highlight of the regular season was an overtime home win over arch-rival Sheridan, witnessed by well over 1,000 fans at the Humber Athletic Centre.

Kenny Ejim grabbed top individual honours among Hawk players, as he was tabbed as a West Division First Team All-Star. CJ Bennett rounded out Humber's position on the all-star team, snaring second team honours.

With the exception of hosting a crossover playoff game, the Hawks was the visiting team and presumed underdog in every round at the provincials. The crossover was a convincing victory, and set up Humber to travel to Niagara for the OCAA Final 8. Humber faced and knocked off the number two team from the East, in the George Brown Huskies. Next up was the sky-rocketing Redeemer Royals, led by OCAA Player of the Year Rayvon Higdon. The Hawks seemingly put this game to bed early, running out to a twenty-plus point lead. Redeemer fought back, but could not the extra gear to overtake the Hawks. The final against the eventual National champion Seneca Sting was tight, with the lead flip-flopping until the clock read three minutes to go. The Sting went on a run to take the game. Humber's distraught was short-lived, as they knew they had booked their ticket to the 2018 CCAA Nationals in Quebec.

Kenny Ejim and CJ Bennett were named to the 2018 OCAA Championship All-Star team.

After solid starts in their first two games at the CCAA Nationals in Quebec, the Hawks were unable to close and found themselves in the seventh/eighth game. Refusing to go down without a fight, they rebounded for a solid season-ending win.

 

Season At a Glance

OCAA Regular Season: 15-5
OCAA Post-Season: 3-1
CCAA Post-Season: 1-2
Overall: 27-13

Leaders

Scoring: Kenny Ejim - 22.1 ppg
FG %: Curwin Elvis - 59.7 %
3pt %: Jordan Rose - 50 %
FT %: Jordan Rose - 87.5 %
Rebounds: Kenny Ejim - 133
Assists: CJ Bennett - 90
Steals: CJ Bennett - 40
Blocks: Byron Trench - 26

Team

CCAA Seventh
OCAA Silver

Individual

Kenny Ejim
OCAA West Division First Team All-Star
OCAA Championship All-Star

CJ Bennett
OCAA West Division Second Team All-Star
OCAA Championship All-Star
OCAA Athlete of the Week
CCAA Athlete of the Week

Fowzi Mohamoud
OCAA West Division All-Rookie Team

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