(London, Ontario) – The Fanshawe Men's Basketball team (9-2) closed out first semester play on an eight game win streak on Friday night. The Falcons defeated the Niagara Knights (3-6) at home by a score of 87-84 to complete a perfect 8-0 month of November. The victory moved the Falcons into first place in the OCAA's West Division. This is the longest unbeaten streak for the Fanshawe Men's Basketball team since the 2009-10 season.
Sharp shooting from Niagara to open the game resulted in the Falcons being down 27-15 after the first quarter. Great defense from Junior Luyeye (Toronto, ON) led to points for Fanshawe in the second frame. Unfortunately for the home team, Niagara's Lequan Hylton was on fire from behind the arc, scoring 25 points, including seven triples to maintain the Knights' 50-35 lead going into the locker room. Local rookie shooting guard Marko Maletic led all Falcons with 17 points at the half.
In the third quarter, Alfred Johnson (London, ON) sparked the home crowd with a basket and the foul. John Akende (Toronto, ON) continued to chip away at Niagara's lead with another and-one. Great hustle from Luyeye forced the Knights into a turnover that resulted in a fast break layup for Johnson to cut Niagara's lead to 57-52 midway through the third frame. The Falcons were able to completely erase the 15 point deficit on yet another steal from Luyeye that ended up in the hands of Akende for the bucket. A deep three from Maletic gave the Birds a 71-64 advantage going into the final quarter. Fanshawe outscored the Knights 36-14 in the third frame.
The teams traded buckets throughout the fourth quarter to make for a tight finish. With 40 seconds left and the Falcons down a single point, Akende scored to give the home team the lead. Fanshawe came up with two big stops down the stretch to hold on to capture the 87-84 victory.
Luyeye had an impressive 6 steals to go along with 8 points and 4 assists. Johnson finished with 25 points, while teammates Maletic and Akende added 24 and 16 respectively. Johnson is currently leading the OCAA in rebounds per game with 12.2 and 5th in points per game with 21.