Men's Basketball holds off St. Thomas to open national title defence

By: Nina Kersnik
Humber Athletics Communications

Nanaimo, B.C. – No. 7 Humber men's basketball defeated the No. 15 St. Thomas Tommies, 82-78, to kick off their CCAA National Championship campaign on Wednesday night. Adrian Aluyi stood out for the Hawks, recording 16 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. Benni Kazadi also performed well, recording 13 points while going perfect from the three-point line and the charity line.

Game Recap

In its ninth appearance on the national stage, Humber men's basketball faced the two-time CCAA champions, the No. 15 St. Thomas Tommies from New Brunswick. The Tommies held a 14-4 record in the regular season and delivered when it counted in the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) finals to beat the top-ranked Mount Saint Vincent Mystics, 91-73, for their first title in over a decade.

However, once they landed in B.C., St. Thomas knew they would be up for a tall order with the Humber Hawks as their opponent.

Coming out on top at the OCAA championships, Humber oozed confidence, knowing they had a chance to defend their title. The Hawks' Adrian Aluyi gave his squad a boost with the game's first basket, before a couple of different starters got involved in the scoring early. In the first two minutes, Humber accumulated seven points.

From there, the Hawks were in flow state, doing more than tripling the lead of the Tommies. Malik Grant, Isaiah Brady-Clarke and Dwayne Burke led Humber's offence, recording six points each and 18 points collectively.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the court, St. Thomas relied on their starters, Marcus Wilson and Vincent Lyttleton, to generate most of the scoring for their squad. The two of them recorded seven and five points each by the end of the quarter for 12 of St. Thomas' 16 points.

After ten minutes of action, the Hawks led the Tommies, 31-16.

Into the next frame, St. Thomas came out strong, boasting a six-point lead less than two minutes in. Marcus Wilson, Evan Valanne, and Jeven Eddy each worked to accumulate two points in that run. The three of them racked up six, five and four points respectively for 15 of their squad's 23 points by the end of the quarter.

However, it was a totally different story for Humber, whose offence looked completely unrecognizable. Through most of the second the Hawks were held back into single digits on the scoreboard and didn't break through until 0:43, when Nathan Savage made a layup from inside the paint. Savage recorded two points in the third and 13 by the end of the night.

At halftime, Humber took a three-point advantage over the Tommies with a score of 42-39, even though St. Thomas outscored them 23-11.

After the break, the Tommies showed they didn't travel all this way to quit, keeping the third tightly contested. At the five-minute mark, they closed Humber's lead to a single point, thanks to a three-pointer scored by Lyttleton with 6:01 left on the clock. By the end of the quarter, he led St. Thomas in points with 12.

But in the dying minutes, both sides continued to trade points, making it hard to decipher who would come out on top. Thankfully, Savage and Benni Kazadi pulled through to win the quarter for the Hawks by a hair's breadth, with a tight score of 64-63.

In the final quarter, Humber locked in to take an early 7-0 lead over their opponent, forcing the Tommies' head coach John Hickey to call a timeout with 8:36 left on the clock. Unfortunately, that brief stoppage only re-energized the Hawks further, allowing them to gain another seven points, resulting in a second timeout for St. Thomas in the opening minutes.

As time drained from the clock, that brief re-group allowed the men in green-and-gold to get within two points of tying the game. However, even with the late surge, the Tommies couldn't find a way to overpower the reigning CCAA champions before the time ran out.

In the end, Humber came away with an 82-78 victory after four quarters to move on to the semifinal round.

Humber Highlights

• Humber is now 19-6 all-time in the CCAA quarter-final round - including four straight
• The Hawks improve to 2-0 against St. Thomas at nationals and 9-1 all-time against the Atlantic conference.
• The last time the Tommies won a CCAA medal was in the 2012 National Championship. They took bronze in a 75-68 victory against Red Deer College.
• Humber extends its national win streak to six consecutive games.

What's Next?

Humber is set to face the No. 8 VIU Mariners in the semifinal round on March 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 11 p.m. EST and will be streamed live on CCAA Live.

The Hawks are 2-2 all-time against VIU at nationals and 6-3 against the host team. Humber is 16-8 all-time against the PACWEST.