HAWKS RETURN TO NATIONAL TITLE GAME WITH 79-78 SEMI FINAL WIN
FORT MCMURRAY, ALBERTA: The Humber Hawks men's basketball team will be defending its 2015 CCAA National title on Saturday night, after a 79-78 win over Charlottetown's Holland College (ACAA).
These two teams played each other in the CCAA Semi Finals last year, a game in which Humber cruised to a solid win before they won the title over VIU the next night.
Humber entered this game as the number two seed, and advanced to the semis by way of a dominant win over Camosun of PACWEST. Holland drew the number three seed, and they knocked off the RSEQ team Montmorency.
Each quarter of the game was won decidedly by each team, with Holland winning the first and third and Humber taking the second and fourth.
Holland ran out to a 24-19 lead after the first 10 minutes, but it should not have been that close, as the Hawks scored a few baskets late to make it respectable.
The Hawks kept on a roll in the second, outscoring the Hurricanes by 11 points and rolled into the dressing room with a 6 point lead.
Turn the page, and it was Holland's turn to dominate. The Hurricanes coaching staff changed up the defence and that seemed to throw the Hawks off. An 11 point swing in favour of the east coast team had them up 5 heading into the last frame.
The fourth quarter, ultimately won 24-18 by Humber, had its ups and downs. It looked at one point that Holland was on its way to locking up the game, leading 67-60. Humber fought back and held a 5 point lead with seconds to go. It was here that Humber almost gave it up, missing 6 consecutive free throws with under 20 second to play. Holland had .7 left and the ball, but an inbounds pass slipped through the fingers of a Hurricane as time ran out.
The game was tied 7 times, and there was 10 lead changes.
Freshman C.J. Bennett led the Hawks with 17 points, and earned Player of the Game honours for his efforts. Ancil Martin chipped in with 15 points, while Tyrone Dickson and Baljyot Judge kicked in 12 points each.
Dickson led the team with 10 rebounds, and a game high 6 blocks.
Humber will now await the winner of the VIU (PACWEST) and NAIT (ACAC) game. VIU and Humber met in last year's final.
