OSHAWA, Ont. – The NAIT Ooks rebounded from an opening round loss at the CCAA men’s basketball national championship with a 83-76 victory over the Humber Hawks.

With the win, NAIT advances to the bronze medal semi-finals on Saturday while the Humber Hawks will play in the seventh place game.

NAIT got off to a slow start as they trailed 27-12 in the first half. The Alberta champs would storm back in the third quarter as they outscored the Hawks 28-12 to take the lead for good.

Brampton native Shane Reece scored a game high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the win. Reece was 8-for-12 from the floor and earned player of the game honours for the Ooks.

CCAA all-Canadian Bol Kong had 18 points and eight rebounds for NAIT while teammates Shane Cox and Clayton Crellin scored 15 points respectively.

Leading the way for Humber was Jeremy Alleyne as he shot 8-for-13 from the floor for 19 points in just over 26 minutes of play. OCAA championship MVP Michael Acheampong scored 16 points and had 5 steals for the Hawks, earning player of the game honours.

Humber ran into foul trouble in the game as they picked up 23 fouls, compared to just 11 for NAIT.

NAIT’s starters did most of the damage for the Ooks as they scored all but six points in the game.

CCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Game One: Vanier (7) defeated NAIT (2) 75-73
Game Two: MSVU (6) defeated Humber (3) 65-56
Game Three: Lethbridge (5) defeated UNBC (4) 81-66
Game Four: VIU (1) defeated Durham (8) 70-61

Friday, March 18, 2011
Bronze Medal Quarterfinal NAIT defeated Humber 83-76
Bronze Medal Quarterfinal – UNBC vs. Durham - 3 p.m.
Semi-Final #1 – Vanier vs. MSVU - 6 p.m.
Semi-Final #2 – Lethbridge vs. VIU - 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 19, 2011
Bronze Medal Semi-Final #1 – 10 a.m.
Bronze Medal Semi-Final #2 – 12 p.m.
7th Place Game – 2 p.m.
Bronze Medal Game – 6 p.m.
Gold Medal Game – 8 p.m.

Official tournament website, and watch games live at: www.ccaamensbasketball2011.ca

Source: Durham College