NORTH YORK, Ont. – The fourth quarter will be a lesson learned by host Seneca Sting.
The Seneca Sting nearly surrendered a 20-point lead to the Humber Hawks in the fourth quarter before pulling out an 89-77 victory. The lead at one point was down to seven before a pair of free throws from team captain Jamal Boyce sealed the victory.
In a battle of two of Ontario's most successful athletic programs, the Sting and Hawks went toe-to-toe in the opening quarter as each team countered the other's previous scoring play. Seneca's shooting from behind the arc was the difference as they held a 22-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. Vadim Halimov had three 3-pointers and finished with 13 in the quarter. Tyrone Dickson led Humber with six.
Seneca extended their lead in the second quarter, matching their 22 points from the first quarter to lead 44-32 at the half. Halimov lead all scorers at the half with 17 while Dickson looked to keep pace with 11.
The game began to get heated in the third quarter as the teams battled hard in the paint. At one point, Seneca's RJ Allen-Leslie and Humber's Ryan Cook became tangled with Cook ending up on the floor. No call was made on the play. With 6:30 to play in the quarter, Ryan Ejim of the Hawks was whistled for a technical foul. The Sting's Calmar Morgan made one of two for a 51-40 lead. With 5:25 left in the third, Seneca's Kevin Cornwall made a powerful block on a Humber shot which led to a Derek DeJesus breakaway and Hawks foul. The score began to get out-of-hand as Seneca led 70-51 at the end of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Seneca looked poised to blow out the Hawks following a Felix Adjei three-point shot which pushed the lead to 20. Looking to avoid embarrassment, the Hawks battled back as their shooters began hitting shots and Seneca's stopped falling. Humber closed the lead to seven points at 84-77, but the Sting were able to finish off the Hawks with a 5-0 run to advance one step closer to their first OCAA men's basketball championship since 1986.
Adjei was the scoring leader for Seneca with 23. Halimov finished 22 points, four assists and a team-high five rebounds. Halimov was named Seneca's Player of the Game.
Humber was led by Dickson's 18 points and eight rebounds. Gibson Eduful added 13 points and six steals. Player of the Game honours went to Dickson.
Earlier in the morning, Seneca's Adjei (first-team), Halimov (second-team) and Morgan (all-Rookie) were named to the OCAA East all-star team. Humber's Dickson (second-team and all-Rookie) was the team's lone OCAA West all-star. Dickson was also named OCAA Rookie of the Year while Seneca's Adjei was named OCAA Player of the Year and a CCAA All-Canadian.
The Sting advance to play Mohawk on Friday at 8 p.m. while the Hawks will face Algonquin at 1 p.m.
Source: Seneca College