OSHAWA, Ont. - For the first time since 2012, the Mohawk men's basketball team is the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association champion. The Mountaineers defeated the Humber Hawks 84-74 in the gold medal game at the 2015 belairdirect OCAA Men's Basketball Championship at Durham College in Oshawa, Ont., on Sunday.

Mohawk came storming out of the gate to take a 9-0 lead before Humber discovered their game, but still trailed 19-14 after the first quarter.

The Mountaineers, getting some timely three point shooting and strong work on the boards, increased their lead to 44-31 at the half. They led by 19 points (65-46) after three quarters and when Jeff Hunt sank a big three-pointer to start the final period to put his team up by 22, it really looked like they would coast to victory.

However, the Hawks would have none of that and with an 11-0 run and forcing the the Mountaineers into several turnovers and mental mistakes, Humber whittled their deficit down to seven points (77-70) and the game was suddenly up for grabs. But Mohawk finally recovered and kept their lead in double digits pretty well the rest of the way. This despite the fact the Hawks outscored them 28-19 in the final quarter.

Statistically, championship MVP Matt Fennell had 26 points, 11 rebounds and came up with five turnovers for the Mountaineers. Matt Savel had 21 points, six assists and three turnovers. Andrew Cicuttini scored 14, added eight boards and forced five turnovers. Lamar Barr scored 10 points, contributed nine rebounds, had three assists, five turnovers and three blocked shots.

For Humber, Kenny Ejim scored 22 points and Junior Davis had 20.

Both teams will represent the OCAA in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship at Mohawk College from March 19-21.

Host Durham College won the bronze medal, defeating St. Lawrence-Kingston 66-51.

Source: Mohawk College