November 7, 2022...WELLAND - The Niagara College men's basketball team split their weekend road trip games with a loss to St. Clair and a win over Lambton.
Saturday night saw a close match between the Saints and Knights. St. Clair held a 27-19 lead after the opening quarter, and continued their hot shooting streak through the second before closing out the half with a comfortable 52-36 lead over Niagara.
The Knights didn't go away quietly and held the Saints to just 25% shooting in the third frame and erased a 20 point deficit. Early in the fourth Niagara managed to move ahead with a 78-72 lead with just under 7 minutes to play. The remainder of the game remained close and scrappy until St. Clair went on a 12 point run to regain the lead and allowed them to push past the visiting Knights.
Delroy Grandison, Reggie Williams, and Kenneth Reckley Jr. each scored 13 points in the loss.
Niagara then traveled to Sarnia for a Sunday afternoon matchup with the Lambton Lions, hoping to bounce back from Saturday night's loss.
Both teams went back and forth through the first quarter with neither team able to gain the edge and end the first quarter deadlocked at 15.
Lambton eventually went on a run to out some distance between them and Niagara and ended the first half with a 37-32 lead.
The Knights came to life in the third to take a 10-point lead into the final frame thanks to a big third quarter effort to lead the Lions 60-50.
Niagara's big second half effort secured a much needed win for the blue and white, with a 88-69 victory.
Head coach Phil Mosley knew how important this win was for his team. " This was a much-needed win and bounce back after tough loss the night before," said Mosley. "We were able to take over the second half and received great guard play from Reggie Williams and Rookie Ethan Dela Cruz"
Williams recorded a season-high 24 points, followed by Grandison who finished with a double double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Dela Cruz netted 12 points on the night.
The Knights will look to stay in the win column when they tip-off against Fanshawe (1-3) Saturday at 3:00pm.
