HAMILTON, Ont. - In a tense battle all afternoon, the Mohawk women's basketball team managed to pull out a 75-71 overtime victory over Fanshawe Falcons on Saturday at the David Braley Athletic and Recreation Centre. The victory clinched a bye for the Mountaineers in the crossover round, prior to the playoffs.

It was the 15th straight victory for the Mountaineers. Down by eight points midway through the second quarter, the home side got back into it, trailing by 31-29 at the half. But after falling behind by seven points in the third quarter, Mohawk got on a late 7-0 run and managed to be even, 44-44 after three.

In the fourth quarter it was a see-saw affair and regulation 40 minutes ended tied 61-61, forcing overtime. And the extra five minutes belonged to Mohawk's Jen Jen Abella. She had three 3-pointers and a couple of free throws to save the day.

Play was so intense in the contest that Fanshawe's Kiesha Cato and Mohawk's Shanien O'Neill were both ejected for an on-court scrap.

Abella led Mohawk with 18 points. Jakayla Douse had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Ali Vlasman had 13 points for Fanshawe. Victoria Racine added 10.

The Mountaineers improved to 15-1, while the Falcons fell to 11-5.

The men's game wasn't of the same intensity as the women's but was an up and down affair before Mohawk won 97-87 over Fanshawe.

The Falcons led 21-18 after the first quarter, but the Mountaineers got their noses back in front right off the bat in the second quarter, when Matt Fennell sank back-to-back three-pointers.

Mohawk would go on to outscore Fanshawe 35-19 in the third quarter for a 76-62 lead. It opened up an 18 point lead early in the fourth period and it looked like the Falcons were grounded for the afternoon.

However, Fanshawe had different ideas and pecked away at their host's lead, getting it down to 86-82 with over three minutes remaining. But Mohawk woke up and pulled away late, to win by 10.

Fennell had 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Mountaineers. Andrew Cicuttini had 14 points and 12 boards. Taylor Dowhaniuk had 14 points and 10 rebounds but also came up with eight blocked shots. Matt Savel had 13 points and eight assists.

For the Falcons, Chris Stanhope scored 25 points. Adam Jespersen had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Kyle McConnell contributed 16 points.

Mohawk upped its mark to 14-2, while Fanshawe slipped to 12-4.

Source: Mohawk College