No. 1 Men's Basketball downs Sheridan

By: Nina Kersnik
Humber Athletics Communications

ETOBICOKE – Humber men's basketball (4-0, 4^th West) put on a powerful performance against the Sheridan Bruins (2-2, 5^th West) in front of a full house for the 133^rd edition of The Game with a 96-66 victory on Wednesday evening. Christian Desjardins racked up 16 points, going 3-3 from the free-throw line, while Benni Kazadi recorded 17 points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes on the court.

Game Recap

It was a good start for the Hawks, as Malik Grant got Humber going with five points out of the gate just two minutes into the game. Adrian Aluyi then followed with another four, bringing Humber's total to nine. The Bruins, on the other hand, came out of the gate flat-footed, only putting up four points in that same timespan.

Over the next few minutes, both sides made plays to gain points. However, for Sheridan, their finishes were rather scrappy, causing the Bruins' head coach to call a timeout with 2:45 on the clock. Surprisingly, their team huddle seemed to have given them some energy for a little while, but the Hawks stuck to their script to take a 17-14 lead after ten minutes.

Into the next frame, Dwayne "DJ" Burke put Humber up on the board first as he drove toward the left side of the basket, jumping high enough over a defender to place it in. By the end of the first half ,Burke led the Hawks with six points. The home team continued that momentum as Benni Kazadi got the crowd going with a slam dunk after Burke picked off the ball from a Sheridan defenceman. From there on out, Humber took complete control, bucketing several free throws, taking their largest lead so far to close out the half, 31-46.

After the break, the Hawks opened the third with a dunk from Aluyi, who increased their lead to 17. On the other side of the court, the Bruins, who were still struggling with miscommunication, made several substitutions. However, the ball eventually found Travis Clouden, who made a jump shot to cut Humber's lead to 15. Luckily, Clouden's success didn't deter the home team, who came back with a couple of baskets of their own.

With just under five in the third, the Hawks flew past the 50-point mark after Christian Desjardins made a layup, putting Humber up by 15, 53-38. As time slowly drifted away, both sides fought for points, but Desjardins came back for two of his own, injecting some energy into the crowd.

Then in the last few seconds, Jayar Harewood launched one from beyond the arc, increasing the home team's lead to 21 with a score of 70-49 at the buzzer.

In the final quarter, the Hawks continued to dominate the court, making five plays with just over five minutes left on the clock. One of their biggest drives came from Kwabena Antwi, who made a layup through contact, to get the shot from the charity line for three of his own. For the rest of the game, possession would mostly remain in Humber's favour, as Sheridan's offence went completely quiet.

Now in the late stages of the quarter, Tim Morant dribbled the rock up the left side, assisting in the final play of the game. The Toronto native cleanly launched a one-handed throw to Benni Kazadi, who quickly fired it from the arc to bucket a three with seconds remaining. In that moment, Dyson Rose countered with one more for his squad, but it would be nowhere near enough for the Bruins even to come close to winning it.

At the buzzer, the Hawks would send Sheridan packing with a commanding 96-66 victory, as the Hawks' fans rose to their feet in celebration.

Christian Desjardins earned Player of the Game due to his outstanding performance against Sheridan.

Humber Highlights

• Humber improves to a 67-66 all-time record against Sheridan - including six straight wins.
• The Hawks have won 27 consecutive OCAA regular-season games.
• Humber sits second in the conference in three-pointers made per game with nine.
• Jayar Harewood leads Humber in blocks with six, two more than Malik Grant and Adrian Aluyi with four each.

What's Next?

The Hawks stay at home for a duel against the Canadore Panthers on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m., and all the action can be streamed live on The Hawks Sports Network.