HUMBER ROMPS OVER KNIGHTS, NEWCOMER MARTIN IMPRESSIVE
Looking to move into first place in the Western Division and stay undefeated at home on the year, the 9-1 Men's Basketball Team played host to the Niagara Knights on Thursday night.
Vule Grujic, the team's leading scorer, opened the game with a nice interior move off a fast break entry pass from Junior Davis, who a minute later blew by his defender for an easy deuce. The Hawks continued to feed 6'10″ Grujic in the paint, this time resulting in a split pair of free throws as Humber established themselves inside. The Knights returned the favour, attempting to match the Hawks physicality, with forward Vicrum Kailey earning a trip to the charity stripe. Power forward Tyrone Dickson, fresh off a seventeen rebound performance, picked up were he left off, finishing after an offensive board to extend the early lead to five. Niagara got their offense going via the fast break, and a couple of quick hoops had things knotted at nine with three and a half to go in the first. Ancil Martin, a key addition in his second game of the year, hit a pull-up, followed in short succession by a Curwin Elvis three. For as well as Humber was shooting, they couldn't seem to get the stops they needed, and at the end of ten Humber held a slim three point lead, 19-16.
Martin opened the second with a slashing bucket, and the Hawks defense tightened up, as the Knights missed several contested mid-range jumpers. Matt Bukovec hit a triple on a nice look form Grujic in the post, but after a couple sloppy turnovers a Marako Lundy three had the advantage again trimmed to three, 26-23. Gibson Eduful responded in short order with a triple of his own, but the sloppy defense continued, as travelling was called on three consecutive possessions. With neither team able to buy a basket, the interior was getting clogged and pace of play slowing; Brayden Gohn propped the Hawks scoring attack with a quick four points, and a pretty lay in the half's dying seconds streched the lead to 35-26.
Gibson Eduful got the third off on the right foot with a pretty floater, but the scoring again slowed and that bucket stood as the only one of the half three minutes in. Junior Davis hit a triple to get Humber humming again, and Ancil Marting hit a pull up jumper to extend the lead to fifteen. The Hawks defense again tightened, epsecially on the interior, and good looks for the Knights were coming few and far between. Niagara's Lequan Hylton would provide Niagara with a spark when they desperately needed it, and a quick five from him cut Humber's advantage to single digits. After a back and forth final couple minutes, Humber held a 51-41 lead after three.
Chad Bewley opened the scoring in the final quarter, and the Hawks began to pull away with a nice Brayden Gohn and-one finish. A smooth Ancil Martin finish was followed in short succession by a Juinor Davis deuce, and the lead had ballooned to twenty with six minutes to go. Martin would add a couple more hoops before the final buzzer, cementing his Player of the Game status in a great performance in just his second game as a Hawk this season. The athletic swingman looks to be a crucial addition for a team that is now 10-1 and in lone possession of top spot in the West. After forty, the final score read 79-51, another convincing win for the blue and gold.
Next up for the Hawks is a weekend doubleheader against Sault.
Final Stat Sheet - Men's Basketball Stat Sheet
For season standings, scores, statistics and more please visit http://ocaa.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/standings-include.
